By Divine Sam

The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has protested the short notice given for the inauguration of the State Presidential Campaign Committee for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid, insisting that the party’s leadership was not consulted before the announcement.

The party expressed its displeasure on Thursday, hours before the scheduled inauguration of the 344-member campaign council announced by Governor Ademola Adeleke.

The announcement was made on Wednesday by the governor’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, who disclosed plans for the inauguration of the committee tasked with coordinating Tinubu’s re-election campaign in the state.

Those listed on the committee include former Osun Governor Adebisi Akande; Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola; APC National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru; the party’s governorship candidate in the 2026 election, Bola Oyebamiji; and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Foluke Etteh.

Other prominent figures named include Senators Iyiola Omisore, Jide Omoworare and Sola Adeyeye; former Deputy Governor Titilayo Ponle; Yinka Ajayi; Akintunde Adegboye; and Mumini Olabanji.

The list also features representatives of the APC, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Accord, alongside candidates and political leaders from the parties at the national, state and local government levels.

However, the composition of the council and the reported inclusion of opposition figures generated uncertainty, with concerns emerging over whether consultations had taken place before the announcement.

An APC source in Osun, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to comment publicly, said the party had not held a meeting with the governor’s camp on the management of the presidential campaign since Adeleke’s appointment as state coordinator.

“The two camps have not met. We just saw the list like everyone in the state. There is uncertainty around it, but I can’t officially say what the APC reaction will be,” the source said.

Reacting in a statement signed by the state APC chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, the party acknowledged the importance of Tinubu’s re-election campaign but insisted that the exercise should have been properly coordinated.

Lawal said the APC had accepted Adeleke’s appointment as the state coordinator of the President’s re-election campaign, expressing confidence that cooperation among the participating political groups could strengthen Tinubu’s chances.

However, he faulted the manner in which the campaign council was announced, saying the party had not received formal communication about the planned inauguration.

Lawal said the party “did not have knowledge of any inauguration beyond the social media listing of some names yesterday afternoon by the spokesman for Governor Adeleke, Malam Olawale Rasheed, to the chagrin of the leaders, members and supporters of our party.”

He added that the short notice had left many party leaders and stakeholders without adequate time to prepare for the event.

“In as much as we consider the re-election of the national leader of our party, President Tinubu, as a collective task which we have been working vigorously and assiduously to achieve through various means, it is our view and conviction that such an exercise should be properly scheduled.

“We are talking about the re-election of the President of the nation under the largest democratic party in Sub-Saharan Africa and not the election of a council chairman or that of a councillor, which is the reason such an exercise should be approached with the highest official protocol required to ease the accomplishment of the exercise. Aside from the fact that not all social media news should be taken as genuine, less than 12 hours’ notice is so short that many people who would have been around are already shut out.

“It is our belief that listing the names of members of the State Presidential Campaign Committee less than 24 hours before the event proper without any prior meeting with the leadership of the party in the state was a ploy to set the state chapter of the party against the President, which can neither fly nor sit, as we consider the project as our baby which shouldn’t be handled with levity,” Lawal said.

The APC chairman further alleged that the arrangement could create unnecessary tension between the party and Adeleke, who was appointed to coordinate Tinubu’s campaign in Osun.

He said the party would make efforts to prevent any avoidable misunderstanding from undermining the President’s re-election campaign.

Lawal stressed that the Osun APC was not against making concessions or working with other political groups to secure Tinubu’s re-election, but maintained that proper consultation and official procedures were necessary to achieve the desired outcome.

He said the party’s objection was not to the campaign itself, but to the process adopted in announcing the committee and scheduling its inauguration.