Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele has called on the All Progressives Congress (APC) to draw strategic lessons from the outcome of the Osun State governorship election and work towards delivering at least 10 million votes for President Bola Tinubu in the South-West in 2027.
Bamidele, who is also Chairman of the South-West Caucus of the National Assembly, made the call in a statement on Monday while reacting to the re-election of Governor Ademola Adeleke.
Adeleke, who contested on the platform of the Accord Party, secured 511,067 votes to defeat the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who polled 444,815 votes. Najeem Salam of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) came third with 17,180 votes.
The Senate Leader described the election as another demonstration that political authority in a democracy ultimately derives from the electorate.
He urged all contestants to accept the outcome and called on Adeleke to reach out to other political parties and their supporters in the interest of peace and development in Osun.
Bamidele said the governor's victory had imposed a responsibility on him to bridge the political divisions that characterised the election.
“The decision of the majority does not only confirm the re-election of Governor Adeleke. It equally places the burden of victory on the elected candidate,” he said.
He urged Adeleke to look beyond the party that sponsored his candidacy and incorporate ideas and contributions from other political parties and contestants into his administration.
The Senate Leader similarly appealed to Oyebamiji to congratulate the governor and contribute policy ideas that could assist the state government in improving the welfare of residents.
‘APC did not lose’
Bamidele said he did not regard the outcome as an outright loss for the APC, noting Adeleke's previous political association with the party and his support for Tinubu.
“For me, the APC did not lose the election given the background that Governor Adeleke was coming from as a member of the APC before he defected to the Peoples Democratic Party,” he said.
“Governor Adeleke’s re-election, therefore, is not just the victory for ACCORD, but also for us in the APC.”
He said the result should encourage the APC to reassess its approach and build stronger alliances ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
According to him, the 51.57 per cent voter turnout in Osun showed that there was considerable room to increase participation in future elections across the South-West.
“With synergy in our ranks, the election outcome simply suggests that we can achieve at least 60 percent voter turnout in all South-West states in 2027,” he said.
Bamidele said increased voter participation, combined with effective coordination among political actors, could make the APC's ambition of securing 10 million votes for Tinubu in the region achievable.
“Second, with strategic collaboration with all political actors, the election outcome suggests that our task of mobilising 10 million votes for President Tinubu’s re-election in the South-West alone is already on the horizon if we effectively leverage the gains of the Osun poll,” he said.
He therefore urged the party to make the mobilisation of voters a key component of its preparations for the 2027 election.
Bamidele also advocated a review of the APC's campaign strategy, saying the party must expand its engagement beyond conventional political structures.
He specifically listed artisans, traders, farmers, entrepreneurs, youths, women, labour unions, civil society organisations, traditional rulers and other stakeholders as groups that should be brought into the party's mobilisation efforts.
He said stronger engagement with these groups would be critical to improving the APC's electoral performance and securing broader support for Tinubu across the South-West in 2027.
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