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The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Oyo State convenes today for its governorship primary election under a political arrangement that has been months in the making. At the center of that arrangement is Hon. Engr. (Dr.) Aderemi Abas Oseni, whose decisive win in Monday’s Oyo South Senatorial District primary has not only secured his place on the 2027 ballot but has also consolidated the grassroots structure now driving support for Senator Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli’s emergence as the party’s governorship candidate.
What began as a three-way contest for the APC governorship ticket has evolved into a coordinated strategy anchored on discipline, presidential intervention, and an extensive ward-level mobilization network. The outcome of today’s primary, party insiders say, reflects a deliberate effort to avoid rancor and present a unified front ahead of 2027.
On Monday, Hon. Remi Oseni won the APC primary for the Oyo South Senatorial District hands down, with party officials reporting a peaceful process across all collation centers. The result was widely anticipated within APC circles, given Hon. Remi Oseni’s track record as the member representing Ido/Ibarapa East Federal Constituency and his reputation for constituency-driven representation.
Political analysts attribute the margin of victory to two factors; Remi Oseni’s personal political capital and the reach of the Remi Oseni Committee of Friends, ROCOF. The foundation has evolved into one of the most active grassroots platforms within the Oyo APC, with coordinators and mobilizers present in every ward across the state. ROCOF’s ability to mobilize, organize, and deliver votes at the ward level gave Hon. Remi Oseni a structural advantage that other aspirants could not match.
“There was no violence because the process was managed through structure,” a delegate from Ibarapa East explained. “When you have ROCOF in every ward, you don’t need to rely on a crisis to win.”
Hon. Remi Oseni’s initial ambition was to become the governor of Oyo State. His campaign gained early traction, drawing support from party members who cited his legislative record and grassroots engagement. However, the race shifted following the intervention of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.
According to multiple APC leaders familiar with the consultations, President Tinubu appealed to Hon. Remi Oseni to step down from the governorship contest and allow Senator Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli to emerge as the consensus candidate. The directive, they said, was aimed at preventing a divisive primary and preserving party unity ahead of 2027.
Hon. Remi Oseni accepted the request and formally withdrew from the governorship race. In return, he accepted the party’s backing to contest and ultimately won the Oyo South Senatorial District ticket on Monday.
“Remi Oseni is always after the progress of the party,” a senior APC stakeholder in Ibadan stated. “He was contesting for governorship, but when the President pleaded with him, he stepped down for Sharafadeen Alli. That is discipline, and it is why the party remains strong.”
With Hon. Remi Oseni now the APC candidate for Oyo South Senate, his political machinery has been redirected to support Alli’s governorship bid. ROCOF’s thousands of coordinators across Oyo State have been activated to mobilize delegates and ensure turnout for Senator Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli in today’s primary.
Party leaders in Oyo APC confirm that there is no ward in the state where ROCOF does not have a presence and a say. The foundation’s structure, they argue, provides Sharafadeen Alli with immediate access to a statewide grassroots network that can translate into a decisive delegate vote.
“ROCOF has a lot to do in today’s governorship primary elections,” an APC leader from Ogbomoso noted. “There is no ward in Oyo State that ROCOF will not have a say. That is why we expect massive votes for Sharafadeen Alli across the state.”
The expectation within the party is that Sharafadeen Alli will enter today’s exercise with a secured delegate base, reducing the risk of fragmentation and post-primary disputes. The strategy, insiders say, is to use the primary as a transparent mechanism to ratify a consensus arrangement while maintaining the appearance of internal democracy.
The Oseni-Alli alignment reflects a broader calculation by the national APC leadership to manage succession politics in Oyo State early. By consolidating support behind Senator Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli for governor and securing Hon. Aderemi Abas Oseni for Oyo South Senate, the party aims to balance interests across the three senatorial districts and present a ticket with both statewide appeal and grassroots penetration.
For Sharafadeen Alli, the support of Hon. Remi Oseni and ROCOF provides immediate electoral strength and a ready-made campaign structure. For Hon. Remi Oseni, the senatorial ticket preserves his political relevance while allowing him to remain central to the party’s governorship campaign.
The arrangement also aligns with President Tinubu’s approach to party management in key states; intervene early, broker consensus, and use primaries as a transparent tool to avoid litigation and post-primary defections.
Three elements will define today’s exercise, delegate turnout, the cohesion of ROCOF’s mobilization, and the ability of party agents to maintain order. Party officials say logistics have been put in place to ensure a smooth process, with security agencies deployed to all voting centers.
If the current alignment holds, Sharafadeen Alli is expected to emerge as the APC governorship candidate with minimal friction. The bigger test, party leaders acknowledge, will be translating this internal cohesion into a competitive campaign against the incumbent Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 2027.
Today’s APC governorship primary in Oyo State is less a contest of competing ambitions and more a ratification of a pre-arranged political settlement. Hon. Engr. (Dr.) Aderemi Abas Oseni’s victory on Monday as the Oyo South Senatorial District candidate demonstrated his electoral strength, while his withdrawal from the governorship race secured the path for Senator Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli.
With ROCOF’s structure active in every ward, the party enters today’s exercise with a mobilization advantage that could make the outcome decisive. For APC in Oyo State, the immediate task of selecting a candidate appears resolved. The focus now shifts to leveraging this unity to reclaim the governorship and retain Oyo South in 2027.
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