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What Osun’s 2026 Election Teaches Nigeria Ahead of 2027 By Victor Olubiye As a reporter who witnessed and reported many of the events surrounding the Osun governorship election since 2025, I got to understand that the election was about more than the contest between political parties and candidates. It became a test of political structures, alliances, incumbency, grassroots mobilisation, digital influence and, ultimately, the choices of voters. The outcome of the election offers several lessons that Nigeria’s political actors may need to consider as the country moves towards the 2027 general elections. One of the clearest lessons is that political parties matter, but candidates can matter more. Ademola Adeleke’s political journey provided a striking example. He left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Accord in December 2025 amid the crisis within the party, yet his political realignment did not automatically translate into electoral defeat. The election also showed that incumbency ...

  # OsunDecides2026 Political Parties Candidates By Victor Olubiye The story of the 2026 Osun governorship election did not begin on election day. Long before voters arrived at polling units, the state had already witnessed months of political realignments, defections, internal party crises, legal controversies, campaign battles and rising tension. As a reporter who followed the political developments surrounding the election, the contest gradually took shape around some of the biggest names in Osun politics, including Governor Ademola Adeleke, former governor Rauf Aregbesola, former governor Gboyega Oyetola, Iyiola Omisore, Olagunsoye Oyinlola and President Bola Tinubu. One of the earliest developments was the series of political realignments that began taking shape in 2025. Aregbesola's emergence as a major force within the African Democratic Congress (ADC), followed by his early indication that the party would challenge for Osun, gave the opposition landscape a different shape a...