Osun 2026: Adeleke has abandoned the people – Babayemi

…Promises better future for the state under APC

…Damagun hopeful PDP ‘ll overcome leadership challenges

CYRIL MBAH, Abuja

One of the nine aspirants from Osun State seeking the governorship position under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Dotun Babayemi, has accused Governor Ademola Adeleke of abandoning the state while focusing more on securing a new platform to contest for re-election in August 2026.

Babayemi alleged that Osun State has suffered various forms of neglect and under-development under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration and he urged voters and the people to rally behind the APC to fast-track the development of the state.

The aspirant made these remarks while speaking with newsmen after returning his completed Expression of Interest and Nomination forms to the APC National Secretariat to officially become one of the participants waiting for the party’s primary election scheduled for November 13, 2025.

He said, “We all know, for example, that the sitting governor is not going to run on the platform of the PDP.

We already know that he is looking to move to a different party, probably the Accord party or to APGA, one of those parties and if he does that, there’s not enough time for him to get the brand recognition to be able to make an impact.

That’s the first thing.
“The second thing is that we are also aware that 50% of the people who are sitting in PDP today want progressive governance and we are sure that with our candidacy, we’ll be able to pull people from different parties to come and join what we already have in the APC.

We expect that a significant number of people from the PDP will join us.
“We expect that a significant number of people are already reaching out to say that they are just waiting and knowing the work we have put into this and our acceptability by the people, the talk about an anointed candidate, I am not aware of that.

Our party is a progressive party. It’s about the people. Our people are connected with us today and it’s not just our people in the APC, our people in the state believe that it’s time for a new direction.”

While declaring that Governor Adeleke has largely abandoned the state and the people, Babayemi listed his efforts to reach out to the people and give them hope adding, “With the last few years, we had a situation where we did not have a government that is focused on governance.

The focus of the current government in Osun is on entertainment, even though Osun is full of resources, natural resources, human resources.

I have had the opportunity to visit many local governments basically to listen to the people.

“Subsequent to that, we have now gone to 299 wards as of today, out the 332 wards in the state. This has put us in a position to have first-hand knowledge of the challenges and the opportunities within Osun State and what the government should address.

We have fantastic human resources that are not put into usage.
“The government of the day has completely abandoned the people and their focus has been on the urban areas.

There needs to be a balance between the urban and the rural renewal which we should focus on. In going to the rural areas, what we see is that Osun is a state that has incredible natural resources.

The bulk of our people are farmers, almost 65 percent but today they are unable to transport their produce from the farms to the market because there are lapses, there are no infrastructure.

The state government that should be concerned about them has abandoned the responsibility.”
“Why did we go round the wards? We did it for a few reasons.

One, it was important to get the message of the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Renewed Hope Agenda, to pass that message to our people in the language they understand.

A lot of our cocoa farmers in Osun just knew things have gone well. It was when we got there, they said now we understand why things are working. “God has answered our phone calls on Asiwaju’s network.

We went out there to be able to assess infrastructural requirements, to assess what is happening to our youths. Osun State should be a state that charts a dream and our youths.

We have them in abundance, our intelligent youths and this we can achieve and every farmer can prosper.”

The aspirant bemoaned the activities of illegal miners and stressed that when he becomes governor, the gold mine deposits in the state would be properly exploited to increase the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

“There’s been a lot of migration from our rural areas. 70% of our areas win Osun are rural. So, the first thing I will do as governor is to bring them back.

That is where we expect to boost the economy from. That’s our starting point. Once we get the road networks.

It’s not that we are going to tar every road once we’re able to get the farm produce from the farms to the market. Once we have achieved that, it will boost even the IGR of the state. There are no farmers today. There are no farmers that are paying taxes, but there are many miners.

“Osun has some of the highest deposits of gold in this country after Zamfara. We are right at the bottom of the shift of the gold shift belt. So, everything comes down there. We have over 75,000 miners that are mining gold in Osun today. The money goes into people’s pockets. There’s no value to the government. There’s no value to the community. So, those are some of the things that we’re going to address up-front. We have a policy that is critical. 50% of our population are youths. We are going to ensure within the first six months of our office that we get every youth upgraded with at least one skill, to do something right. We take them off the streets, and we upskill them so that they can become valuable to themselves, the community and the environment.”
Babayemi also promised to work hard to bring the people of Osun into the camp of the APC adding, “We need to work on our people.

There seems to be a disconnect between the people of Osun and what Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has done with the renewal agenda. I was given permission to do so. I was the first person to visit the 30 local governments.

I did not ask anybody to come to Osogbo the capital to contribute or help, because I wanted to take the opportunity to assess and listen to the people. “Subsequent to that, when we went back to the party to give them feedback, we realized that there was a lot of work to be done.

That prompted the party Secretariat, where we submitted the report, to say, we need to visit the 332, wards that make up Osun state. I have visited every village. I know where the issues are. I have gone to every town in Osun. “There is no aspirant in the history of the Southwest that has achieved what we’ve done today, we have built trust with the people.

They trust us. Now that trust translates to the party,because if someone in APC can take the pain to see what they see, understand their challenges, understand their needs.

The essence of this is to be able to put together the right policies, the right manifesto that will address and move the state forward.

Osun is supposed to be the engine room, the powerhouse of the Southwest.
“Osun state is the only state that neighbors every other South West, in the western states, apart from Lagos. This is why I want to give them a sense of belonging, an opportunity to own that vision, to see a better tomorrow.

We are sure that come 8 of August 2026, APC party is going to finally be able to remove the entertainment government in Osun State and come with a government that is focused, that is for the people, by the people,” Babayemi declared.

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