By Charles Pemu 
In a preemptive strike ahead of the 2026 governorship election, Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has declared that he will “soundly defeat” any of the aspirants from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a statement released by his spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, Adeleke dismissed a number of APC hopefuls—including Senator Iyiola Omisore, Senator Ajibola Basiru, Dotun Babayemi, Abiodun Oyebamiji, and Senator Mudasiru Huseni—as “politically deficient politicians” who cannot match his administration’s “sterling records.”
The governor’s office was responding to critical statements allegedly made by Senator Omisore and Prince Babayemi regarding the state of governance in Osun. Rasheed faulted the aspirants for launching their campaigns by attacking a sitting governor whom he claimed has a 75% approval rating.
Rasheed specifically targeted Senator Omisore, crediting Governor Adeleke with the construction of a road leading to Omisore’s family house in Ile Ife, which had been neglected for years. The statement also questioned Omisore’s public service record, citing abandoned projects such as the Ife stadium and waterworks.
The governor’s spokesperson also asserted that the people of Osogbo have already told Senator Basiru, the APC National Secretary, to “forget any support for the 2026 race,” citing Adeleke’s popularity as a “development champion” in the state capital.
Rasheed also took aim at Prince Dotun Babayemi, labelling him a politician with a “weak political footing” who made a “public gaffe” by criticizing major infrastructure projects in Osogbo. The spokesperson highlighted Adeleke’s reconstruction of a collapsed bridge in Babayemi’s hometown of Gbongan as evidence of the governor’s developmental focus.
Reacting to the statement, Senator Basiru dismissed the comments as a sign of the governor’s idleness. “My response ‘like his boss, he is idle. Otherwise, he will not be wasting his energy on people he considers ‘unelectable,’” Basiru said. He noted that he has not formally declared his aspiration for the governorship, and that the governor’s spokesperson’s comments were premature.