How Tinubu, Adeleke, Davido emerged as defining personalities in Osun election — APC youth leader

The National Youth Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dayo Israel, has identified the trio of President Bola Tinubu, Governor Ademola Adeleke and Afrobeats singer, David Adeleke, popularly knwown as Davido, as the most influential personalities that shaped the outcome of Saturday’s Osun State governorship election.

Governor Adeleke of the Accord Party won the hotly contested election for a second term in office, defeating his main challenger, APC’s Bola Oyebamiji, and 13 other candidates.

Mr Adeleke polled 511,067 votes while Mr Oyebamiji received 444,815.

In his post-moterm on the outcome of the election, Mr Israel blamed APC’s defeat in the governorship election partly on weak mobilisation structures and its failure to effectively engage young voters.

“There are bitter truths our party must confront before the 2027 general election,” Mr Israel wrote on X on Sunday, in his reflection on APC’s loss in Saturday’s election, and maintained that “three personalities emerged as the defining figures of this election.”

He named President Tinubu, Mr Adeleke and Davido, who is the governor’s nephew, as the defining personalities.

Tinubu’s role

Mr Israel commended Mr Tinubu for what he described as restraint during the election, saying the president did not deploy the powers of his office to influence the outcome in favour of the APC.

He said President Tinubu had the power to deploy federal institutions and security agencies in ways that could have affected the contest but chose not to do so.

“President Tinubu may have lost Osun for the APC, but he won something larger for Nigeria: another opportunity to demonstrate that the vote of the Nigerian people must matter,” he said.

He said Mr Tinubu’s attitude towards the election was consistent with his conduct during previous off-cycle elections won by opposition parties since he became the president.

“This restraint is consistent with the President’s conduct in other off cycle elections under his administration, including Anambra and Bayelsa, where opposition parties retained power. President Tinubu has demonstrated that his commitment to democracy is not limited to elections that favour the APC. That is statesmanship, and it should be acknowledged even when the result is painful for our party.”

President Tinubu may have lost Osun for the APC, but he won something larger for Nigeria: another opportunity to demonstrate that the vote of the Nigerian people must matte

Adeleke factor

Mr Israel also identified Governor Adeleke’s grassroots connection as one of the factors that helped him retain the support of voters.

He explained that the governor’s dancing and public persona had often been dismissed by political opponents, but argued that these traits helped him establish an emotional connection with ordinary voters.

“Governor Adeleke’s dancing was never a weakness. It was a political language,” he said.

“It humanised him, made him accessible, and created emotional proximity with ordinary voters.”

According to Mr Israel, Mr Adeleke’s singing, dancing, accessibility and public worship helped reinforce his connection with voters in a state where politics is strongly influenced by community, culture and local identity.

He cited former Osun governors Bisi Akande and Rauf Aregbesola as politicians who also understood the importance of cultural identification in building a political base.

“Politics is not only policy. It is emotion, identity, presence and belonging,” he stated.

“Governor Adeleke stayed close to his grassroots while some opponents dismissed the very traits that strengthened his connection with the people.”

Mr Israel noted that the APC should learn from the result and avoid confusing elite acceptance with grassroots support.

“A candidate may dominate elite discourse and still fail to move a ward. Another may be mocked in elite spaces and still command overwhelming loyalty on the ground,” he said.

“Elections are not won by approval ratings in Abuja. They are won by understanding people as they are.”.

Davido’s role

Mr Israel also said Davido’s influence in the election helped Governor Adeleke connect with younger voters and gave the governor’s campaign a strong cultural and digital appeal.

According to Mr Israel, Davido played an active role in mobilising young people for the governor’s campaign, rather than merely serving as a celebrity presence at campaign events.

“Davido did not treat his role as symbolic. He was placed at the centre of youth mobilisation and used his influence, networks, music, digital reach and personal credibility to connect the campaign to a generation,” he said.

“He brought artistes, influencers and young voices into the process. Alongside emerging political and professional actors such as Pelumi Olajengbesi, he helped give the campaign a youthful, energetic and culturally resonant face.”

Mr Israel stated that the APC, on the other hand, relied heavily on a structure dominated by governors, senators and former office holders, while failing to sufficiently deploy young people with the ability to mobilise their peers.

“While the opposition deliberately activated its most recognisable young figures, our party largely relied on a structure dominated by governors, senators and former office holders,” he noted.

“These leaders are important, but we must ask a hard question: how many young Nigerians do they genuinely inspire, mobilise or emotionally connect with?”

He questioned whether the party had identified and empowered young members willing to put their influence, creativity and networks behind the APC, rather than turning to them only during elections.

Mr Israel said his assessment was based partly on his experience during the 2022 Osun governorship election, when he travelled across the state and participated in efforts to reconcile aggrieved members of the party.

He recalled working with former party leaders, including Moshood Adeoti in Iwo, as part of efforts to bring divided members together before the election.

He stated that some of the same problems that affected the APC in 2022 resurfaced in the latest election.

“We did not lose 2022 because there was no effort. We lost because division, weak reconciliation and fragmented mobilisation overwhelmed that effort,” he said.

Mr Israel explained that the party’s National Youth Wing was not meaningfully involved in preparations for the 2026 election, despite his attempts to offer support.

He described the situation as part of a broader institutional problem in which the party’s recognised structures were sidelined in favour of ad hoc arrangements during elections.

“This is not about individuals. It is about an institutional culture that sidelines its own structures while relying on ad hoc arrangements during elections,” he stressed.

“No organisation that disregards its own constitutional organs can consistently win complex statewide contests.”

He also criticised the APC’s failure to hold formal meetings of its National Working Committee to review the campaign, assess its performance and adjust its strategy.

According to him, the absence of such structured oversight since the inauguration of the campaign council was a strategic weakness.

Mr Israel noted that the party’s youth and women wings should be treated as political structures with clearly defined constituencies, rather than being brought in mainly to provide crowds at rallies.

“The National Youth Wing should not be activated only to fill stadiums or sidelined for support groups. A Women’s Wing should not be reduced to decoration at rallies,” he said.

“These are political structures with constituencies that must be organised, engaged and deployed as part of a deliberate strategy.”

Other comments

Mr Israel congratulated Governor Adeleke and the people of Osun State on the outcome, while also commending Mr Oyebamiji, APC members, agents and volunteers who participated in the campaign.

He stressed that the result should prompt the APC to undertake an honest assessment of its mobilisation strategy and internal structures ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“The Osun governorship election has been won and lost,” he stated. “That margin is substantial enough to demand honest reflection, not excuses, blame shifting or the familiar ritual of assembling another committee whose report may never change how we campaign.”

Although 15 candidates contested the election, it was essentially a two-horse race between Governor Adeleke and APC’s Oyebamiji as 13 other candidates altogether took insignificant share of the votes.

Mr Adeleke’s victory made the second consecutive triumph over APC in the state, after his failed attempt at the governorship seat in 2018.

Mr Adeleke, as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), narrowly lost the 2018 governorship election to Adegboyega Oyetola.

However, in a comeback in 2022, also as PDP governorship candidate, he defeated Mr Oyetola to win his first term in office.

The governor, who defected from crisis-plagued PDP last year to join Accord Party, won Saturday’s election to clinch second term in office.