Due to a number of variables, the All Progressives Congress (APC) may lose the next Governorship Election in Osun State. It should be remembered that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) battled it out in the previous governorship election.
The Governorship polls were first ruled inconclusive in 2018, until the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) performed a rerun in a few local governments and APC was eventually proclaimed the victor of the Governorship Election.
Nonetheless, the APC won the 2018 Governorship Elections in the state by a razor-thin margin. However, because of internal party strife, the APC may struggle to win the governorship race in 2022.
One of the reasons why the APC may struggle to win the governorship election in 2022 is the leadership dispute between Governor Gboyega Oyetola and his predecessor, Rauf Aregbesola.
According to reliable sources, Governor Oyetola and Aregbesola are feuding over the party’s leadership. Meanwhile, Aregbesola’s faction has already expressed dissatisfaction with the party’s marginalization.
At the conclusion of the state’s recent congress, it was discovered that Aregbesola’s side was not favored. The Parallel Congress was held in Osun State, which was one of the states involved. According to reports, Aregbesola’s camp does not want Governor Oyetola to be presented as the party’s governorship candidate for the 2022 election.
It must also be noted that two governorship candidates have expressed their desire to run for governor in 2022 on the APC platform. Both Rt. Hon. Lasun Yusuf, the former Deputy Speaker, and Rt. Hon. Najeem Salaam, the former Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, have both expressed their desire to run for Governor in 2022.
This indicates that Governor Oyetola may not be handed the party’s automatic governorship ticket. Meanwhile, The Osun Progressives (TOP) was founded to fight in the party for Aregbesola’s loyalists. If the APC leaders fail to resolve the dispute in a timely manner, the party may lose the state in 2022 to the main opposition party, the PDP.
Another reason why the APC may lose the state to the PDP is the manner in which the PDP’s leaders are now managing the party’s business in the state. The PDP is gaining traction ahead of the governorship elections in 2022.
The embattled former State Chairman of the PDP has been promoted to the position of Deputy National Chairman of the Party in the Southwest. At the party’s recently concluded National Convention, Adagunodo was appointed to the position of Deputy National Chairman (Southwest), which was previously held by Arapaja before he ran against Oyinlola for the position of Deputy Chairman (South).
Because Adagunodo belongs to Oyinlola’s group in the state, the position of Deputy National Chairman in the Southwest, which has been awarded to him, would help to ease political tensions in the state.
As a result, PDP leaders in the state are doing all possible to assure the party’s win in the next governorship election, in order to avoid a recurrence of the 2018 governorship election.
