A coalition of youth and women’s groups in Osogbo has called on the ruling All Progressives Congress to zone its 2026 governorship ticket to Osogbo town.
The coalition made the demand in a joint statement released on Tuesday at Osogbo, saying the call was based on Osogbo’s strategic electoral weight, not sentiment.
The group noted that Osogbo has historically played a decisive role in shaping electoral outcomes in Osun State.
InfoStride News recalls that during the INEC Continuous Voter Registration exercise, Osogbo and Olorunda recorded over 300,000 registered voters, representing 15% of total voter registration in the state.
It said the figure, the highest from any single town, reflects a disciplined and highly mobilisable electorate.
“No other town comes close. The numbers speak to a disciplined and highly mobilisable voting population,” the statement read.
The coalition said consultations with traditional rulers, elders, business leaders, and youth networks showed strong readiness to mobilise massively if the APC fields a candidate of Osogbo origin.
“That volume of committed voters has shaped outcomes in close contests. Any party that carries Osogbo convincingly enters an election with a decisive advantage,” the group said.
The group also noted that with Sen. Ajibola Basiru’s exit from the race, two aspirants of Osogbo origin remain in contention — Kunle Rasheed Adegoke and Prof. Rafiu Durodoye.
The coalition said both aspirants enjoy goodwill across traditional, youth, and civic constituencies in Osogbo, adding that their ambitions reflect the town’s confidence in its ability to provide state leadership.
“Their ambitions reflect the town’s confidence in its capacity to lead,” it stated.
The group urged the APC screening committee to prioritise Osogbo-born aspirants as the process continues, and called on the party to directly engage both candidates and assess their alignment with stakeholder expectations.
The statement added that the appeal was directed to the APC because other major political parties, including the African Democratic Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, have already reserved their 2026 governorship tickets for the West Senatorial District.
It said the APC, still in the screening phase, has a “genuine opportunity to recognise Osogbo’s standing and demonstrate commitment to balanced representation.”
The coalition emphasised that the call was made in a spirit of partnership and readiness to support a unified, community-rooted campaign, adding that selecting an Osogbo-born candidate would acknowledge the town as a key voter base and stakeholder critical to victory.
“This support is not peripheral. It is central to the task of winning,” the coalition said.
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