By Osaretin Osadebamwen
The All Progressives Congress (APC) defeated itself in Osun State, according to APC chieftain Farouk Aliyu, who says the party’s loss should serve as a wake-up call to its governors ahead of future elections.
Aliyu, who spoke on Arise TV Monday morning on the outcome of the Osun governorship election, said the defeat exposed weaknesses within the party and demonstrated that incumbency alone cannot guarantee electoral victory.
He said the development should compel APC governors across the country to improve their performance and reconnect with voters, warning that Nigerians can no longer be taken for granted.
“It’s a wake-up call for us,” Aliyu said. “Nigerians, and also INEC, I honestly commend INEC that, look, no matter what people think of INEC, at least they have done the IReV thing, the uploading, and so on.”
According to him, the Osun outcome should force APC leaders in government to reassess their approach during the remaining period before the 2027 general elections.
“To us in APC in government now, we need to wake up,” he said. with “What has happened in Osun, we should not take people for granted.”
Aliyu stressed that APC governors must govern in ways that earn the confidence and loyalty of the electorate, rather than relying on the advantages associated with incumbency.
“We need for the remaining time, the need to correct certain things in the way we govern the country or the states,” he said.
His comments came as he identified several factors that contributed to the APC’s defeat, including internal disagreements, dissatisfaction over its candidate, overconfidence among party supporters and the assumption that federal influence would guarantee victory.
Aliyu acknowledged that some APC members in Osun were unhappy with the party’s candidate and, because of their dissatisfaction, failed to give the campaign the support it needed.
“There are people who were not happy with our candidate,” he said. “Some people were happy with the candidate. So, in terms of choice of candidate, probably that’s what we have to look at.”
He said the failure to unite the party behind its candidate was a major weakness, describing the situation bluntly: “APC defeated itself in Osun State. Certainly, that’s what happened.”
Aliyu also admitted that some APC supporters took Governor Ademola Adeleke for granted, believing that the party’s federal influence would make victory almost automatic.
“Members of our party, I think, also had an overkill,” he said. According to him, some supporters believed that “federal government will come and just drive everybody and write the results.”
That expectation, he said, created complacency and caused APC supporters to underestimate Adeleke and his political structure. “The people also took Adeleke for granted,” Aliyu said, adding that supporters assumed, “What is it? I will win the election.”
He further acknowledged that public sentiment surrounding issues such as the freezing of Osun State’s accounts contributed to the party’s difficulties. He noted that similar experiences involving the withholding of Lagos State funds during President Bola Tinubu’s tenure as governor had generated strong sentiments in the past.
Aliyu, however, defended President Tinubu against claims that federal might was deployed to force an APC victory, saying the expected intervention did not happen. “When people thought that Mr. President will use the federal might, he didn’t,” he said.
He also credited the incumbent governor’s performance as another important factor, saying public opinion that Adeleke had performed well contributed significantly to his re-election.
“Above all, the incumbency factor played a great role in Osun State,” Aliyu said. “The sitting governor, who did very well for his people, according to what members of the public in Osun State are saying, that he did well.”
The APC chieftain consequently warned governors elected on the party’s platform to learn from Osun and improve governance, insisting that performance remains critical to electoral survival. “The governors need to do things in such a way that people will stand by them, vote for them,” he said.
