Osun APC kicks as APP sues governorship candidate over credentials

The All Progressives Congress governorship candidate for Osun State, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, is fighting on multiple fronts ahead of the August 8 election, contending with legal challenges, accusations of financial impropriety from the incumbent government, and internal party tensions that have threatened to undercut the APC’s bid to reclaim the state.

A suit filed before Justice Adefunmilola Demi-Ajayi of the Federal High Court in Osogbo is already targeting the APC’s conduct in producing Oyebamiji as its candidate. Court records from March 2, 2026, show that the case filed by Senator Iyiola Omisore against the APC and others was called and adjourned, with the matter linked to Omisore’s disqualification from the December 2025 primary that produced Oyebamiji as the consensus candidate.

Omisore was among seven aspirants barred by the APC screening committee from the December 13, 2025, primary, on grounds that they failed to meet the mandatory condition of being nominated by at least five financially compliant party members from each local government area, as stipulated by the APC Constitution and party guidelines. Only Oyebamiji and one other aspirant were cleared.

The Action Peoples Party, which is among the 14 parties fielding candidates in the Osun race, is also reported to have initiated legal proceedings over credential-related concerns — adding to the judicial scrutiny surrounding Oyebamiji’s candidacy as the election enters its final campaigning phase. The APC has not issued a formal response to that specific challenge.

On the political battlefield, the Osun State Government has mounted an aggressive pre-election offensive against the APC candidate. Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration accused Oyebamiji of corruption involving a $20 million World Bank primary healthcare grant during his time as Commissioner for Finance, alleging the fund became a slush fund under the Oyetola administration. The government further accused him of mishandling state-owned mining licences and supporting anti-worker policies including the non-payment of pension debts and half-salary implementation.

The APC was swift to push back. The party’s Director of Media and Publicity in Osun, Kola Olabisi, dismissed the allegations as “mere theatrics,” insisting Oyebamiji was not involved in any corrupt practices and describing anyone making such accusations as “jittery” in the face of his electoral strength. “Anyone accusing him of such corruption is not being truthful,” Olabisi said.

Oyebamiji emerged as the APC’s consensus candidate on December 13, 2025, when 1,660 delegates drawn from Osun’s 30 local government areas and 332 wards affirmed him at a primary held in Osogbo, with Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo presiding. A former Commissioner for Finance under both Governors Rauf Aregbesola and Gboyega Oyetola, and most recently the Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority, Oyebamiji has presented himself as a technocrat capable of restoring fiscal discipline to Osun State.

INEC’s final list of candidates for the August 8 election, published on March 9, confirmed Oyebamiji as the APC candidate, with candidates from 14 parties cleared to contest. Notably, the PDP, whose internal leadership crisis prevented it from conducting a valid primary is absent from the list, meaning incumbent Governor Adeleke is expected to contest on an alternative platform.

Political disputes have also erupted over claims of presidential endorsement, with Oyebamiji’s campaign dismissing reports of an alliance between President Tinubu and Governor Adeleke as false and misleading, while groups aligned with Adeleke accused Oyebamiji and former governor Oyetola of conduct that could embarrass the President.

With legal proceedings unresolved and the campaign atmosphere increasingly charged, the August 8 Osun governorship election is shaping up as one of the most contested and litigious state polls of the 2026 electoral cycle.