Osun 2026: I Have A Covenant Of Prosperity With Osun People As I Seek APC Ticket – Senator Babajide Omoworare

Senator Babajide Omoworare is one of the leading governorship aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in this interview he bears his mind on the political situation station and his bid to liberate the people of the state from the current political boundage in the state

Excerpt:

Your party, APC, in Osun State has faced challenges in recent elections. What is your assessment of the party’s current state, and how can it be repositioned for future success?

Osun State APC is more than stable, and we are poised to takeover the reins of governance in Osun State at the next election. A lot of people are joining our party from every nook, cranny and corner of the state. Our leaders did what they should do immediately after the last election by reflecting and retrospecting on factors that contributed to the challenges in the immediate past elections. Some of these findings have been implemented and they are yielding good results. In this regard, I must say a very big thank you and give kudos to the President, to Chief Bisi Akande, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, the state chairman, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, all the party’s state executive officers; the assemblage of elders called Agba Osun and to all Osun APC leaders and members for holding fort.To reposition the party for future success, we should keep motivating our party members. Yes, we are expected to have some rough edges that require smoothening, and we should so smoothen those rough edges. We should oil our reconciliatory machinery so that we will nip controversies and conflicts in the bud. We must keep deploying strategies, develop plans and organise ourselves until we succeed. We have seasoned loyal party men and women that are equipped to accomplish these.

How true is the speculation that you intend to contest the 2026 governorship election under APC in Osun?

Presidents and governors are always ordained by God and not political shrewdness, astuteness and sagacity. Forces terrestrial and forces celestial must consult and converge or confluence before a president or a governor emerges. So, I am not naive. I know becoming the governor is not a walk in the park. However, it would amount to gross disservice on my part, to my state if I fail to offer my services to Osun State and its good people. We cannot all just resign our fate to this false notion or belief that Osun is a civil-service state, blue-collar workers and artisans, living in sleepy towns and villages with rusty roofed houses. Developmental momentum must escalate in Osun State, we must upscale our ideas, ideals, goals and standards. We must deploy strategic thinking and planning into governance in Osun State. It’s time we ran an efficient government founded on knowledge, when it will be taken for granted that government will pay salaries and pensions. When payment of emoluments will not count as achievement. So, with every sense of humility, if I have the education, experience, exposure, pedigree and knowledge to run a government of prosperity for the sake of my people, why shouldn’t I run to be Governor? If I have the credentials and virtue, isn’t it incumbent on me to run when I know I’ll run a good government? I’m qualified as a politician. I’m qualified as a technocrat. I’m a professional in politics. I’m a student of Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s exceptional developmental strides in Western Nigeria. I’ve under-studied Chief Bisi Akande’s prudent and effective management of human and material resources. I’m a proud alumnus of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu School of Politics and Policies, Bourdillon Campus. I studied statecraft under him and his use of capital in developing infrastructure and human capacity. As a progressive and political development economists, I have invested hugely in learning human capacity development and the welfare of the citizenry. Equally important, and with every sense of responsibility, is that we need to win the next governorship election in Osun State and I will win that election for APC. I was taught the rudiments of electioneering by the President, including but not limited to election management and how not to lose elections. Managing elections and winning elections has its unique skills and know-how. It involves coordinating and harnessing to the fullest, the capacities, attributes and expertise of all the cadres and formations in the party. It’s like an army, all the formations must operate harmoniously. With gratefulness to God and in appreciation of my party men and constituents; I have contested elections five times and I haven’t lost any. I have won elections hoisting the banners of every of our progressive platforms in this republic, that is, AD, AC, ACN and APC. I won’t lose on 8th August 2026 if I’m fielded by my party. If I’m given the opportunity, I will win again for APC. I’m not sitting idly, expecting others who probably may not win, not to run. If I don’t knock, the door may not open.

Do you think your ambition will not further exacerbate the party’s crisis?

Number one, there is no crisis in Osun APC. At least, none that I am aware of and I’m sufficiently on ground to know if there is any crisis. In politics, there is a difference between controversy, conflict, crisis and catastrophe. At best, there are caucuses within the party, which is not unusual. And there will always be differences. What matters is our ability to close ranks, and oil our mediatory machinery and reconciliatory mechanism. APC in Osun State is united and the leadership makes effort to resolve grey areas, whenever such is noticeable. Politics is about disagreeing, with the ultimate view to agreeing. As we say in mediation and conflict resolution – “getting everybody to Yes’. Even when these are fully resolved today, it doesn’t mean there won’t be controversies and conflicts tomorrow. The hallmark of political leadership is the capacity to detect cleavage on time, and nipping controversies in the bud by resolving them before they blow out of proportion. I promise you, my running will further unite APC in Osun State. Throughout my political career, I appreciate that politics is about people and getting organised. You can only win elections when your party contest as a team and fight like a well organised, coordinated and motivated army. You can’t win when your party is divided. I contest to win.

Your party may decide to zone outside your senatorial district?

As a party man to the core and a fourth-generation afenifere, I’m aware that Southwest progressive leadership do not take decisions in vacuo. Our party uses both conventional and unconventional methods to gather intelligence with a view to taking informed decisions. I think there is a deliberate and calculated attempt to confuse the leadership of the party and mislead the general citizenry that there is zoning in Osun State. It is an illogical political machination of a few, who hope to benefit therefrom to the detriment of the party and the state. History, precedence, data and its and analysis have shown that there has never been zoning in Osun State right from 1991/92 era when SDP won Osun gubernatorial election. For the avoidance of doubt, late Senator Isiaka Adeleke from Ede in Osun West senatorial district won the election. He contested against late Senator Bayo Salami of NRC from Osogbo, Osun Central senatorial district. The SDP candidate could have been Hon. Oladosu Oladipo from Ikirun in Osun Central. If that was the case, would we say it was zoned to Osun Central or Osun West?There was no zoning when our leader Chief Bisi Akande won in 1999, he was simply the best candidate. Baba is from Ila-Orangun in Osun Central, Senator Olu Alabi contested on the platform of PDP from Osogbo in Osun Central, while Senator Isiaka Adeleke contested on the platform of APP from Ede in Osun West. Peradventure Senator Iyiola Omisore won the AD ticket from Ile-Ife in Osun East in 1999, the three top parties would have fielded candidates from the three senatorial districts. He might have gotten the ticket if Chief Bisi Akande did not throw his hat in the ring. Consequently, it is crystal clear that there was no zoning.Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola of PDP from Okuku in Osun Central contested and became the Governor in 2003. If there was zoning, why did he recontest against Rauf Aregbesola of AC from Ilesa in Osun East in 2007 when Osun Central had already spent eight years in the government house? Governor Rauf Aregbesola defended his mandate in 2014 against Senator Iyiola Omisore. Both of them are from East by sheer coincidence, as Senator Isiaka Adeleke from West could have clinched the ticket of PDP. We all read about the different manoeuvring and intrigues that took place in their party, which eclipsed with a purported or alleged assault at Ideal Nest Hotel in Osogbo.We fielded Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola from Iragbiji in Central for the 2018 and 2022 gubernatorial elections, when Senator Ademola Adeleke was fielded by PDP from Ede in West, respectively. These show there is no zoning. It is on record that both Governor Oyetola and Senator Omisore confirmed that there is no zoning in Osun State during the televised debate in 2018. I often ask myself rhetorically, isn’t the governor of the state at the moment from Osun West senatorial district? How can you have something in your possession, yet, you are clamouring for it, and claiming that it’s your turn? That stands logic on its head. Apart from the four military administrators that we’ve had since the creation of Osun State on 27th August 1991, we’ve had six democratically elected civilian governors. Three have come from Central, that is, Baba Akande, Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Adegboyega Oyetola. Two have come from West, namely, Isiaka Adeleke and Ademola Adeleke. Only Rauf Aregbesola has been governor from East. If there is zoning in Osun State, why are at least two aspirants from Osun Central contesting in APC at the moment when Central has hitherto produced three Governors? For the umpteenth time, this shows without ambiguity that there is no zoning in Osun State. Every qualified Osun indigene has a right to contest and every vote counts, every vote matters, whether you are from a big constituency or a small local government. Irrespective of where the candidate of our party is from, it is our duty to go to the poll and deliver for our party. It is not an excuse that because the party did not pick a candidate from an area, that was why we didn’t do well there. In such a situation, something else must be wrong that requires investigation and appraisal. After all, the essence of party politics in democracy is to use the party as a vessel or vehicle to run for elections and win with a view to forming a government of your party to serve the people. With apologies to Uncle Bola Age, we must “organise, organise and organise”. We must deploy all our arsenal, strategies, resources, strength and cerebral capacity to campaign, mine votes and win the next election in every part of the state. It is typical of every party in Osun State to be strategic when it’s time to choose candidates. They usually look for the candidates or alliances or network that will win, or choose from an area that will boost the party’s votes. What is constant in Osun is that the party on sit will field its incumbent and the opposing party will field a candidate that can win. We should present a person with no baggage, who will be sellable to the people. A person who will unify the party. A person who knows winning election is not a tea party, a person that wins elections and will win the next gubernatorial election. The party should not sacrifice merit and opportunity to win on the altar of zoning. We must present a person with proven progressive background, exposed politically, and has the professional ability to implement the manifestoes of our party, with experience and capacity to deliver good governance to the people of Osun State.

What can you say you achieved in the Senate?

By way of of preliminary observation, please note that I also served in Lagos State House of Assembly and I was also a Senior Presidential Advisor on Legislative Issues and National Assembly Matters, which gave me a bird-eye view of the functions of both legislative and executive arms of government. As a lawmaker, your function doesn’t stop at lawmaking and oversight of the executive in parliament, but you also act in representative capacity as a bridge to and from your constituency. A legislator participates in and must claim all the successes that the executive arm achieves as the implementing arm of government, after all, the incubation of the policies are done in the legislative arm of government and it takes the cooperation of legislators to successfully implement the budget or execute projects. As a parliamentarian, I ensured that projects were budgeted for, awarded, funded and completed. Let me start from Lagos State. In Lagos, liaising with the relevant ministries, departments and agencies, I influenced a lot of projects in my constituency, including the siting of a General Hospital, a Magistrate Court; the construction and rehabilitation of network of roads; a Sports Gymnasium, electricity transformers, street and traffic lights, rehabilitation of Ibari Water Works, reconstruction of Yaya Abatan bridge, expansion of Ishaga motor park and I provided effective solution to environmental degradation caused by gully erosion. I also tried my best on the floor, initially as Chairman, Judiciary Committee and two other committees, and later as Majority Leader, leading the house in processing most policies that formed the foundation of modern Lagos State during the tenure of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, then as the Governor. As a Senator, I influenced numerous projects ranging from construction of roads, water-works, injection power stations, mega-schools, renovated schools, facilitated solar street lights, transformers, UBEC and MDG/SDG schools, skills acquisition centre, boreholes, de-flooding and erosion control projects. In collaboration with federal parastatals like PRODA, SMEDAN, NAPTIP and NICO, we trained and provided vocational tools for over one thousand constituents in diverse areas, like agriculture and agro-processing, food production, ICT & computer training, arts and crafts etc. I used my office to secure private sector as well as State and Federal Government employment for over one hundred and fifty young persons. On the floor of the Senate, I contributed to the process of law making and I had notable bills including those that culminated to the amendment of the Constitution. I always found my voice on the floor in defence of my constituency, my party and the less-privileged Nigerians.My personal focus was codified into “THE BOND OF HOPE” (Health, Opportunity, Poverty-Alleviation and Education) and I set up Afara, the Bridge for Community Development Initiative (ABCDi) to engage with foreign development agencies. With ABCDi, I personally renovated town halls, schools, motor-parks and constructed ultramodern toilet complexes, sponsoring youths on leadership and entrepreneurial exchange programs abroad and attracting investments from young Nigerian entrepreneurs abroad. I trained young people in digital literacy out of my Constituency Offices in Ilesa and Ile-Ife while I also organised summer schools in collaboration with FUMS, NIDSA and FISU, I procured and distributed free UTME, WAEC and NECO forms to help the less-privileged students and I brought UMTE experts to tutor students on UTME examinations. I collaborated with the Resident Doctors of OAUTHC to organise five Health Fairs catering to the health needs of over three thousand constituents across my senatorial district.When I served as the Senior Legislative Advisor to the President I privately funded the renovation of the Naval Entrepreneurial School to make it habitable. It is now captured in the federal budget and there are an average of five hundred naval officers and ratings in Ile-Ife at the moment. I also attracted Federal Government projects including construction of fifteen SDG sponsored blocks of classrooms, which were sited in all the nine Federal Constituencies in Osun State, the construction of a Stadium in Erefe, eleven inner-city roads fitted with Solar Street Lights and an extension of Solar Street Lights to several other roads. Meanwhile, I was not distracted in performing the functions of my office.

What policies do you intend to execute if you become the Governor of Osun?

I’m afraid, the policies are too innumerable to assess in this interview. I have had time to ruminate on good governance in Osun State. Governance is the most serious business in every clime, which should not be left in the hands of those who have no business in government. We hope to run an unusual government that will always think outside the box. Our ultimate objective is to make Osun State, its indigenes and inhabitants prosperous and wealthy irrespective of creed, class, gender or sub-ethnic group. Life will be more abundant for the people.It is the provision of basic needs, strengthening of public welfare, provision of infrastructure and stimulation of the economy of the state that can ensure freedom for all. If I become the governor of Osun State, our government will act as catalyst within the economic space. Every inhabitant of the state will have equal access to immeasurable opportunities and infinite possibilities. Government apparatuses would be utilized for the benefit of all and sundry, including creative-minds, talented and hardworking ordinary people who are interested in becoming start-ups, entrepreneurs, industrialists, etc. by stimulating the agriculture, tourism, ICT and other business ecosystems. We will train, mentor, monitor, and manage an army of thousands of young entrepreneurs every year. All these will increase the revenue of the state without increasing tax. We have distilled my policy blueprint titled COVENANT OF PROSPERITY into six thematic standpoints with timeline of achieving each issue and costs, where applicable, which is amenable because of inflation etc. We will compete with other states in economic growth, development, infrastructure, social amenities, of course, these is relative to revenue, expenditure, population and other indices. All our policies will be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. As a government, we will have KPIs, that is, the Key Performance Indicators and our plans, programs and projects are in form of short term, that is, the low-hanging fruits, as well as the medium term and the long term. We will however be flexible as our policy-conceptualization, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and compliance unit will be dynamic and run bureaucratically, yet professionally. This is to ensure that we will not abandon any project, in fact, we will make sure that all abandoned federal, state or local government projects are completed, in collaboration with federal government and the relevant local government, and possibly with the private sector. We have enumerated these projects and they are a lot. Some will require modification, alteration, adaptation, etc of the concept of the project or design of the infrastructure. It’s better to put them to use than waste capital, unless upon further evaluation, we discover it’s a lost cause.

Can you be more detailed or shed more light on the specific policies?

At this stage of consultations before nomination, I think I have even said more than enough. Suffice it is to say that our watchwords will be prudence, fiscal stability, fiscal discipline, accountability, etc. We will build structures, systems and institutions that will outlive us. Specifically in agriculture, we will ensure food security in the state by ferociously descending of farmlands and provide our state with sufficient food within a short time, supply other states and export. We will not only banish hunger, we will declare war on hunger. Osun state government has not added to Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s farm settlements. We will collaborate with the private sector to establish farms from horizon to horizon. We will generate energy from our ranches, which most likely will be the biggest in Nigeria and also from plants. We will embark on cocoa revolution. We should not be hungry in the midst of plenty as our land flows with milk and honey. Agriculture and food security are not exclusive under the second schedule of the Constitution. The Land Use Act has also given states land, and Section 315 of the Constitution has preserved the contents and provisions of this Act. The Code of Conduct allows civil servants to farm as side hustle. Therefore, there is no justification for hunger in our land. We will attack hunger with vehemence, by so doing, we will say farewell to poverty.I have just mentioned a little bit of our deliverables in agriculture. Apart from farming, it is our responsibility to rehabilitate rural roads, store, preserve, process and bring home about forty per cent of products that waste on farmstead. Hence, we will integrate development. There are various other policies and the integration will include achieving our set goals and objectives in these areas, too. The specifics include but not limited to the wealth creation, infrastructure development including fixing all inner-township roads, human capacity development like education, health, etc. We will also ensure a secure, safe and just society. We will be huge in ICT, innovation, energy and tourism. We will take care of the resources of Osun State as if it’s our inheritance, which of course it is. The ability to multi-task and do all of these and more simultaneously is key. This is the hallmark of a good manager of men and resources. I’m not ignorant of the fact that the intricacies and modalities are complex, but they are not unattainable. However lofty your ideas and ideals are, you have to first win the ticket of your party and win the election. It may not be a bed full of roses to accomplish winning the ticket and winning the election. No serious politician expects it to be. You need all hands on deck, convince party members, and persuade the leadership and principal stakeholders in the party.