The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Osun State has dismissed any possibility of Senator Ajibola Basiru winning the governorship election in the state in 2026.
This is as the Osun PDP levelled him unelectable and lacking the popularity required to defeat the incumbent, Governor Ademola Adeleke.
In a statement released by the party’s Director of Media and Publicity, Oladele Bamiji, the PDP advised Basiru to concentrate on winning his party’s primary before aspiring to take on Governor Adeleke at the polls.
The party’s comments came in reaction to remarks made by Basiru’s campaign team, which had earlier urged Adeleke to prepare for defeat in the 2026 guber race.
Bamiji recalled that Basiru, the current National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, lost his senatorial re-election bid in 2023.
Bamiji also argued that this demonstrated his declining political influence.
He said, “I hope Senator Ajibola Basiru and his subjects understand that political ambition is not just by mouth or by speaking grammar around.”;;
He added that if Basiru had performed well during his time in the Senate, he would not have been overwhelmingly rejected in the previous election by his own constituents in the Osun Central Senatorial District.
The PDP spokesman stated that the APC would be doing Adeleke a favour by nominating Basiru, describing him as incapable of offering a serious challenge.
Bamiji who claimed that Basiru lacked the popularity needed to galvanise sufficient support across the state added that he doesn’t have that personality to even come close.
He also said, “Maybe by the time God will want to make it so easy for PDP to win the 2026 governorship election again, Basiru will be put forward as APC candidate.”;;
Basiru’s campaign team had earlier released a statement to mark Governor Adeleke’s 65th birthday, expressing respect for the governor while also signalling their intention to challenge him in the next election.
The statement signed by Prof. Aderemi Ajala, acknowledged Adeleke’s previous victory but accused his administration of underperformance across key sectors of the state’s economy.
The statement said, “The politics we are all involved in is because of the betterment of our state. Their candidate’s ambition was driven by concern for governance.”;;
The statement also pointed to alleged failures in agriculture, education, and health, asserting that the governor’s frequent absence from the state had hindered development.
It also challenged the state government to explain how it had managed state funds received over the last 30 months.
The campaign team maintained that Basiru was best positioned to reverse the declining standards under Adeleke’s leadership and he would be proud of his successor.
DAILY POST recalled that Senator Basiru, who is a gubernatorial aspirant in the Osun APC, had last week Monday in a post on his social media handle publicly, disagreed with the idea of zoning the party guber ticket to the Osun West Senatorial District.
