Oyo APC at a Dangerous Crossroad: G-5 Guber Aspirants Warn Tinubu Over Party Crisis, Predict 2027 Shame If Nothing Changes
KEHINDE AKINPELU ILORIN
A deepening internal crisis threatens to tear apart the Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as five aggrieved governorship aspirants have issued a stark warning that the party is teetering on the brink of self-destruction. The group, calling “The Group of Five Aggrieved Governorship Aspirants, known as G5” has directly appealed to President Bola Tinubu, cautioning that without urgent and decisive intervention, the party faces a repeat of its electoral failures in 2027.
The warning comes in the form of a strongly worded press release distributed in Ibadan on Tuesday, signed by five prominent figures: former Deputy Governor of Oyo State, H.E. Engr. Rauf Aderemi Olaniyan; Engr. Oyedele Hakeem Alao (Allow Alao); Musbau Asatola Asanike; Barr. Akeem Agbaje; and Dr. Usman Ololade Bakare. These individuals, all of whom contested the 2023 APC governorship primary, represent a significant faction within the party that feels marginalized and ignored.
At the heart of the G-5’s complaint is the assertion that President Tinubu is being deliberately shielded from the grim reality on the ground in Oyo State. The aspirants claim that a small, unnamed cabal is actively censoring information and creating a “vacuum” of knowledge around the national leader.
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“Our primary concern is that there are forces deliberately shielding President Bola Tinubu from firsthand information on the true state of Oyo APC,” the group stated. “A national leader cannot steer the party correctly when ground realities are censored or fenced against his knowledge. The party will bear the consequences of decisions made in a vacuum.”
This accusation is particularly potent, as it suggests a breakdown in the chain of communication and accountability from the local level to the presidency. The G-5 argues that this isolation prevents the president from making informed decisions about the party’s leadership and strategy in the state.
The group painted a dire picture of the party’s morale, warning that a sense of defeatism has already set in. They expressed alarm that some party members have mentally conceded the 2027 governorship election to the opposition, long before any formal campaigns have begun.
“The most troubling sign is that some of our party members are already conceding the 2027 governorship to the opposition before a single ballot is even cast. A house that concedes before the contest is a house with a broken foundation,” the statement read.
Beyond the defeatism, the G-5 accused the party’s current leadership of fostering an environment of “democratic recession,” where dissent is met with accusations of disloyalty. They argue that the party is abandoning its progressive ideals in favor of exclusionary tactics, manipulation, and a reliance on “shortcuts” rather than the will of the people.
“Oyo APC is fast becoming a case study in democratic recession where dissent is treated as disloyalty,” the statement continued. “A party founded on progressive ideals cannot afford to mortgage its future on anti-democratic desperation through shortcuts. If this continues, Oyo APC will face the full regret of failure in 2027.”
The aspirants warned that this exclusionary approach is already pushing members toward the exit, predicting a “mass defection” that could cripple the party’s structure.
The G-5’s message was not just a lament; it was a direct challenge to the party’s current leadership in Oyo. They cautioned that true loyalty to President Tinubu must be demonstrated through “probity, discipline, and democratic stewardship,” not through exploiting his national duties to run a “rudderless and exclusionary agenda.”
Perhaps the most chilling part of their statement was the explicit historical parallel they drew. The group compared the current trajectory to the events that led to the APC’s losses in the 2018 and 2022 governorship elections.
“The rain of shame is gathering just as it did in 2018 and 2022 with the resulting consequences that sent the Party out of Government and dumped into opposition baggage. May it not fall on the APC again. The signs are dawning!” they warned.
This historical context is crucial. The APC won the governorship in Oyo State in 2011 under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) banner, but lost it in 2019 to Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In 2023, the party’s gubernatorial candidate, Teslim Folarin, also failed to unseat the incumbent. The G-5 is arguing that the current internal crisis is the same pattern of dysfunction that led to those defeats.
The G-5 was careful to frame their statement not as a threat, but as a “patriotic call to action.” They stressed that their aim is to save the party from itself and to prevent a disaster that would have repercussions beyond Oyo State.
They, however, claimed that “some people/groups in the Party are more comfortable with the Party loosing again”
“If democracy fails in Oyo State, it weakens the Southwest and diminishes Nigeria’s democratic example,” the group asserted.
However, the tone of the statement leaves little room for ambiguity. It is a final, public warning shot aimed at the highest levels of the party. The group has now placed the ball firmly in President Tinubu’s court, publicly challenging him to intervene and break the influence of the “forces” they claim are leading the party to ruin.
(DEMOCRACY NEWSLINE NEWSPAPER, JUNE 30TH 2026)
