President Bola Tinubu has met with about 76 All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders from Osun State in Abuja as the party moves to resolve internal grievances ahead of the August 15 governorship election.
The meeting, reportedly held at the Presidential Villa, came amid concerns about discontent among some party leaders who allegedly felt excluded from the party’s campaign and decision-making processes.
According to sources cited by Sunday PUNCH, the gathering followed a security assessment presented by National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, which reportedly highlighted concerns about divisions within the Osun APC and their possible implications for the party’s performance at the poll.
The leaders were said to have used the meeting to present their grievances directly to the President, particularly concerns about the distribution of political appointments and the perceived dominance of particular groups within the party.
One of the former lawmakers who attended the meeting said the gathering provided an opportunity for party leaders to speak openly about developments in Osun.
“We were around 76 in number at the meeting. It was an opportunity for the President to know the truth about what is happening in Osun State,” the source said.
The source alleged that some party leaders complained about federal appointments from Osun being concentrated among members of a particular political camp.
According to the source, Tinubu responded by warning party members against allowing internal disagreements to undermine the APC’s electoral prospects.
“Mr President told us that we shouldn’t throw away the bathwater with the baby. He said the party would be at the receiving end if the APC loses the next election,” the source quoted Tinubu as saying.
The President was also reported to have referred to the APC’s previous electoral setbacks in Osun while urging party leaders to work together for the party’s success.
Quoting Tinubu further, the former lawmaker said: “Oyetola had all the resources to win his re-election. But he couldn’t use them. Though he lost the election, I appointed him as a minister. In the real sense, it is the party that lost. So, go and work for the victory of the party.”
Another source who attended the meeting said some participants expressed concern about whether an APC government in Osun would accommodate members across different political tendencies within the party.
The source said Tinubu sought to reassure the leaders that there would be opportunities for members of the party if the APC wins the election.
“You don’t need to worry yourself. If the appointments in Osun are exhausted, there are enough rooms to accommodate everybody from Osun at the federal [level]. So, go and unite and deliver Osun,” the source quoted the President as saying.
The meeting is significant because the APC enters the final days of the Osun governorship campaign with the party seeking to consolidate its support across the state’s political structure.
The party’s National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru, was reportedly involved in coordinating the attendance of the Osun leaders at the meeting.
The Director of Media and Publicity of the Osun APC, Kola Olabisi, confirmed that the meeting took place but declined to provide further details.
“Yes, I am aware. That is all I can say,” Olabisi said.
The development comes as political tension continues to rise ahead of the election, with rival parties trading allegations over the integrity and security of the electoral process.
The Accord Party, which is backing Governor Ademola Adeleke’s re-election bid, has separately alleged that individuals it described as election hackers were operating from a hotel in Osogbo with an alleged plan to compromise the Independent National Electoral Commission’s electronic systems.
The allegation was made by the party’s Osun State Chairman, Victor Akande, who called on security agencies to investigate the claim.
“The hackers were brought in from Lagos and Abuja, and they have set up an operational centre at the hotel. Their target is to compromise the INEC electronic system to input fake election results into the INEC server,” Akande alleged.
The Accord Party also called on INEC to strengthen its digital security measures ahead of the election.
However, the Osun APC rejected the allegation, describing it as false and baseless.
Olabisi said the APC had no reason to engage in electoral malpractice and challenged the Accord Party to report any evidence of alleged hacking activity to the police.
“The allegation that our party is harbouring hackers in a particular hotel in Osogbo is false and without any foundation, and there is no basis for that,” Olabisi said.
“It is the fear of losing the election that is haunting the Accord Party functionaries who are peddling the information. It is nothing but a figment of the imagination of those peddling the rumour. There is nothing like that. If they are sure that we are harbouring any hacker, the right place for the Accord Party to go is the police,” he added.
With the election only days away, the competing narratives have placed greater attention on internal party cohesion, the neutrality of institutions and the security of the electoral process as Osun prepares to vote on August 15.