The search for a single person to blame for the APC’s electoral setback in Osun may be politically convenient, but it does little to explain what actually happened. If the objective is to rebuild the party, restore confidence and prepare for future contests, the conversation must rise above personalities and confront the broader political realities that shaped the outcome.
This is not about absolving anyone of responsibility. It is about assigning responsibility fairly.
Alhaji Isiaka Adegboyega Oyetola, like every political leader, can be examined, questioned and held accountable for decisions within his sphere of responsibility. But turning him into the principal explanation for a complex electoral outcome risks simplifying a problem that was anything but simple.
Oyetola’s political journey has been closely associated with the political movement led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the evolution of the APC.
At several critical moments in the party’s history, including the internal crisis that followed the removal of Adams Oshiomhole as national chairman, Oyetola chose dialogue, reconciliation and the preservation of relationships over political confrontation.
Whether one agrees with every aspect of that approach or not, it reflected a political philosophy centred on keeping the larger family together.
That should not be interpreted as weakness. In politics, the willingness to build bridges can sometimes be as important as the ability to fight battles.
OSUN’S ELECTORAL HISTORY CANNOT BE REDUCED TO ONE MAN
The politics of Osun has a long memory.
The APC entered successive elections carrying not only its achievements but also the political baggage of previous administrations. Controversies surrounding public-sector policies, salaries, workers’ grievances and other difficult decisions had created constituencies of both support and resentment.
As the party’s candidate and later governor, Oyetola inevitably became the face of the APC. That is how electoral politics works: candidates inherit both the strengths and weaknesses of the political organisations they represent.
But inheriting a political burden is not the same thing as creating it.
That distinction is important. Oyetola has done noble for the party in redeeming its losses.
Instead of endlessly asking, “Why did Oyetola lose?” more importantly when he was not on the ballot, a more useful question is:
Why was the APC unable to convert its political strength into electoral victory?
That question opens a much more honest conversation.
An election is won through a combination of factors: candidate appeal, party unity, grassroots mobilisation, campaign organisation, messaging, voter engagement, polling-unit structures, effective leadership coordination and the commitment of political stakeholders.
When several of these elements weaken simultaneously, the candidate becomes the visible face of a much larger organisational problem. And that is the cross borne by Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji (AMBO) in the just concluded election.
That is why an honest post-election assessment should examine the entire political structure—not just the candidate.
INTERNAL DIFFERENCES MUST BE EXAMINED, NOT EXPLOITED
One of the clearest lessons from any electoral setback is that a political party cannot afford to fight itself while confronting an opponent.
There were competing interests, disagreements and allegations of divided loyalties within the political environment surrounding the Osun APC. These issues deserve scrutiny, but they should be examined with evidence rather than through accusations or political vendettas.
The objective should not be to label individuals as traitors or enemies.
The objective should be to understand where the party’s structure became ineffective, where coordination broke down, where grievances were left unresolved and where personal political calculations may have conflicted with the collective interest.
A serious political organisation must be capable of asking difficult questions without turning every question into a war between factions.
AMBO AND THE FUTURE OF THE PARTY
The emergence of Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, popularly known as AMBO, should equally be viewed within the broader search for a credible political alternative for Osun.
His experience in banking, finance and public administration, including his service as Commissioner for Finance under both Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, gives him considerable knowledge of governance.
But competence alone does not win elections. A strong candidate requires a strong, united and disciplined political organisation.
The lesson, therefore, should not be whether one individual is the problem or another is the solution. The real question is whether the APC can build a political structure capable of converting its strengths into sustainable electoral success.
OYETOLA AND THE TINUBU POLITICAL FAMILY
Oyetola’s political relationship with President Tinubu is also part of the larger story.
His political loyalty has survived moments of uncertainty, internal party disputes and electoral victories and defeats. Whatever one’s political preferences may be, there is a difference between supporting a political project when everything is going well and remaining committed when the political weather becomes difficult. That history deserves recognition.
It does not make Oyetola infallible. Nor should it place him beyond scrutiny. But it does make the attempt to portray him as the sole architect of the APC’s difficulties difficult to sustain. It showcases politics of scapegoatism which is neither profitable nor healthy.
THE APC NEEDS A POST-MORTEM, NOT A WITCH-HUNT
The party now has an opportunity to turn disappointment into institutional learning.
That requires reconciliation where reconciliation is possible, accountability where accountability is necessary and structural reforms where structures have failed.
The APC needs stronger grassroots organisation. It needs better coordination between leaders and followers. It needs mechanisms for resolving internal grievances before they become electoral liabilities. And it needs a political culture in which personal ambition does not routinely override collective objectives.
Most importantly, the party must learn to resolve internal disagreements before election day—not after the votes have been counted.
Oyetola should not be treated as a sacrificial lamb for a setback that involved multiple actors, interests and circumstances.
He may have made mistakes. Other leaders may also have made mistakes. The party may have made strategic errors. Some political actors may have failed to play their expected roles.
All of these possibilities can be examined without turning the process into a campaign of personal condemnation.
The APC will gain nothing by finding one person to carry the burden of collective responsibility.
It will gain everything by finding the truth.
HISTORY WILL REMEMBER MORE THAN THE RESULT
Political offices come and go. Elections are won and lost. Alliances evolve. But political records endure.
Oyetola has experienced victory and defeat, governed Osun and served at the federal level. His political career cannot reasonably be reduced to the outcome of one election. The same principle applies to every other actor in Osun politics. Rather than asking only who lost, the APC should ask:
What went wrong? Who did what? What worked? What failed? What must change? And how do we prevent a repeat?
Those are the questions that can rebuild a party. The APC does not need another cycle of blame. It needs honesty, reconciliation, discipline and strategic renewal.
The Osun setback should be treated as a collective political lesson, not an opportunity to settle old scores.
If there were strategic failures, they must be corrected. If there were unresolved grievances, they must be addressed. If structures failed, they must be rebuilt. If personal interests undermined collective objectives, the party must have the courage to confront that reality.
But none of this requires making Oyetola the scapegoat.
The APC did not lose because of one man. It lost because a complex political contest was shaped by a combination of factors that deserve a serious and honest examination.
The way forward is therefore not to find someone to blame. It is to find the truth, learn the lessons and build a stronger APC for the next contest. It requires taming the wild bear of ambition of certain individuals within the discipline of collective interest.
That is the responsibility of every leader, every stakeholder and every member who genuinely wants the party to succeed.
Kunle Adegoke SAN, Notary Public and candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the oncoming Osun Central Senatorial District election, 2027. He writes from Osogbo.
