President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has a clear mandate to consolidate the All Progressives Congress ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Mr President cannot afford to treat Oyo State as another footnote in his 2027 re-election calculus. The state remains the political fulcrum of the South-West, and its disposition will determine whether the APC consolidates its hold on the region or slips into the fragmentation that has repeatedly weakened it.
At the heart of Oyo APC’s future lies an urgent need for harmony between two men whose influence, though expressed differently, is indispensable: His Imperial Majesty, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, and Senator Teslim Kolawole Folarin, the Renewed Hope Ambassador for Oyo State.
Without their alignment, Oyo APC risks repeating the fragmentation that cost it dearly in past elections. With their cooperation, the party can present a united front and deliver unprecedented votes for President Tinubu’s re-election.
The history between both leaders is well documented. Their fallout over earlier governorship tickets as well as subsequent contest in 2019 derailed a promising opposition merger and handed the APC’s opponents an easy victory. That chapter, however, appears to be closing. In 2023, Oba Ladoja publicly endorsed Folarin and urged his followers to forgive past grievances and vote for him. Folarin, for his part, has repeatedly acknowledged Ladoja’s role in his political rise, describing the Olubadan as an enigma whose counsel matters.
What is required now is to institutionalise that reconciliation into a working political framework.
Senator Folarin has already begun the hard work of mending fences within the party. His 14-Federal Constituency tour has brought together erstwhile rivals—Chief Adebayo Adelabu, Senators Sharafadeen Alli, Abdulfatai Buhari, Yunus Akintunde, and others—under the Renewed Hope banner. Yet, party structure alone cannot win Oyo. Traditional authority, grassroots mobilisation, and elite consensus are equally critical. And in Ibadanland, no voice carries more weight than that of the Olubadan.
President Tinubu, as the leader of the party and a native of the South-West, is best placed to broker this final convergence. A direct intervention to convene a meeting between the Olubadan, Senator Folarin and all APC aspirants in Oyo State will serve three immediate purposes.
First, it will curb the destructive ambition that often derails the party during primaries. A fair consensus process, presided over by the Olubadan with Folarin as coordinator, will force aspirants to align with the party’s broader interest.
Secondly, it will reinforce discipline and unity. When the traditional head of Ibadanland and the President’s point man in Oyo speak in one voice, defiance becomes politically costly.
Thirdly, it will boost voter mobilisation. The combined moral authority of the palace and the party’s Renewed Hope machinery can drive the aggressive voter registration drive needed to improve Oyo’s 2023 turnout by at least 35 per cent.
The model is not new. In Lagos, Kano and Borno, the alignment of traditional institutions with party structures has produced electoral stability and predictable outcomes. Oyo deserves no less.
President Tinubu should therefore direct Senator Folarin to formally seek an audience with the Olubadan and convene a statewide meeting of all APC aspirants. The message must be clear: 2027 is not about personal ambition but about delivering Oyo for the Renewed Hope agenda.
Time is running out for half-measures. Oyo APC cannot win fractured. Mr President needs to wade in for all hands to work in concert, so it can win convincingly. The President needs Oyo state for him to be re-elected as president and must make this happen.
The time for piecemeal reconciliation is over. The time for total synergy is now.
Oyo is watching. Nigeria is watching. The President must act.
