The Executive Director, Marine and Operations, Nigerian Ports Authority, Olalekan Badmus, speaks with Ismaeel Uthman on the political tension in Osun ahead of Saturday’s governorship election

Your party, APC, is seeking to unseat the incumbent Governor, Ademola Adeleke. Why should Osun voters replace the current administration with yours?

Let me approach this from the standpoint of performance and evidence. The fundamental question before Osun people is: which administration has demonstrated the capacity to manage the state’s resources responsibly, build sustainable institutions and deliver development that can outlive a political tenure? For us in the APC, the record of the immediate past governor  Adegboyega Oyetola’s administration provides an important reference point.

When Oyetola assumed office in 2018, Osun was facing financial challenges, but his administration increased the state IGR through prudent financial management. It also upgraded healthcare facilities, implemented the state health insurance scheme, completed road projects and continued some inherited programmes rather than abandoning them. Now, the present administration under Governor Ademola Adeleke also has projects and achievements it has presented to the public. But an election is not simply a competition over who can produce the longest list of projects. The deeper question is: what is the long-term economic direction of Osun State? Where are the sustainable jobs for our young people? How do we move from simply constructing roads to using those roads to connect farmers to markets and attract industries? How do we increase internally generated revenue without putting unnecessary pressure on ordinary citizens? How do we strengthen education, healthcare and technical skills so that our young people can compete anywhere in the world? How do we attract private investment and make Osun a destination for business rather than a state where government remains the dominant economic player? Those are the questions that should define the 2026 election. And that is where the APC’s argument should be examined against its record: fiscal responsibility, infrastructure development, healthcare investment, economic management and institutional continuity. We are not saying that the Oyetola administration was perfect, but there is a record that can be examined, achievements that can be measured and lessons that can be applied. The choice before Osun is therefore not simply APC versus Adeleke. It is a choice about the kind of governance we want going forward: governance that is measured by projects and by financial sustainability, economic growth, job creation, institutional strength and the quality of life of the people.

What are your party’s strengths that give you confidence that the APC will win the coming election?

The greatest strength of our party is found in the electorate. The ordinary people of Osun have decided that enough is enough, and that the governance of lopsidedness must come to a halt on Saturday. What we have witnessed over the past three years is an administration whose developmental gaze has narrowed almost exclusively to Ede, at the visible detriment of every other important axis of the state. This lopsidedness is not merely a political talking point; it is a lived reality for our people. Roads that ought to have been rehabilitated remain in disrepair. Markets that should have been modernised to boost commerce remain neglected. Public institutions that should have benefitted equitably from state resources have instead watched development concentrate elsewhere. This pattern is inimical not only to the sense of fairness that every Osun indigene deserves, but also to the overall economic productivity of the state as a whole, because a state cannot truly progress when its engines of growth are deliberately confined to one corner. Our confidence, therefore, is rooted in the quiet resolve of a population that has watched, weighed, and now wants a change of direction — one that the candidacy of Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji represents.

The Secretary to the State Government, Teslim Igbalaye, recently boasted that Governor Adeleke would defeat the APC by no fewer than 100,000 votes. Are you concerned about that?

Politics conducted with humility recognises that the final verdict belongs to the electorate, not to any spokesperson’s confident arithmetic. What I am certain about, however, is that God will speak for APC on Saturday, through the votes of the people. Our campaign has been built on genuine engagement — ward by ward, constituency by constituency — and it is that groundwork, not idle boasts, that will determine the outcome.

The APC lost the 2022 governorship election to the PDP. What has changed politically since then that gives the party confidence of winning the 2026 election?

There were significant gaps in the conduct of the 2022 elections that deserve honest reflection rather than denial. Fairness was conspicuously missing on the part of the opposition, and the efforts of INEC to ensure a free and fair contest were, in our assessment, thwarted by the desperation of the incumbent to hold on to power by whatever means necessary. While my principal was never tight-fisted in the pursuit of power, believing instead in persuasion, service, and the ballot box, the opposition was, regrettably, hell-bent on deploying both conventional and unconventional means to secure victory then. We are not the type of political family to lick our wounds indefinitely and retreat into self-pity. Instead, we have spent the years since 2022 rebuilding, listening, and strengthening our structures at the grassroots. We have engaged critically with what went wrong, reorganised our ward-level coordination, and rebuilt bridges with stakeholders who may have felt neglected in the past. That internal reckoning, painful as it was, has produced a more disciplined and more unified party heading into 2026 — one that understands both its strengths and the tactics it must guard against this time around.

How significant are the recent defections and political realignments in determining the APC’s chances in the election?

Politics, at its core, is about numbers, and numbers are precisely what realignment, adoption, defections, and quiet expressions of support bring to our column. If you examine the current political landscape of Osun, you will observe that we now have more certified election victors — men and women who have actually won elections and earned the trust of their constituencies — standing on our side than at any point in recent memory. We have former governors of this state within our fold. That is not a small or symbolic detail; it represents decades of combined political experience, goodwill and grassroots networks now converging behind a single candidacy. When men who have each, in their own time, carried the mandate of this state chose to stand together behind AMBO, it sends an unmistakable signal to the electorate about where credible leadership is gathering. We are confident that this convergence of experience and structure will count decisively in our favour on Saturday.

The APC has been accused of relying heavily on its control of the Federal Government to win elections. What is the party doing differently in Osun to win voters on its own strength?

Before every election, it has become almost ritualistic for the opposition to blame us for whatever internal battles they are grappling with, and predictably, they will accuse us of deploying federal machinery or leaning on federal influence to tilt the scales. But the recent developments involving the EFCC are enough proofs that Mr. President is a father to the entire nation, applying the law evenly regardless of political affiliation and not a partisan actor bending institutions to favour his party. Being a committed progressive does not, by any stretch of logic, make a man complicit in electoral fraud and it is disingenuous for anyone to suggest otherwise. What we genuinely rely on in Osun is far more organic than federal muscle. We rely on air-tight strategies built from that research, rather than guesswork or assumption. And above all, we rely on the backing of the good people of Osun themselves, who have interacted with AMBO directly, heard his plans, and decided for themselves that his vision aligns with their aspirations. That organic support, cultivated over months of direct engagement, is our real strength, not any federal lever.

Osun has witnessed political tension and violence for over six months, particularly in Osogbo, where you hail from. What assurance do the voters have that the election will be peaceful?

If there was ever a better time for our people to feel confident about coming out to perform their civic responsibility, it is now. Because those individuals who have been promoting violence and harbouring wanted criminals within their ranks are already beginning to feel the heat of accountability closing in on them. Security agencies and relevant institutions are increasingly alert to the patterns of intimidation that have characterised recent months, and that growing scrutiny is, in itself, a deterrent. We understand the genuine anxiety that residents of Osogbo and other affected communities have carried over the past several months, and we do not dismiss it lightly. Our campaign has consistently called for calm, restraint and for every actor, regardless of party affiliation, to allow the will of the people to be expressed peacefully at the polling units. We believe that on Saturday, the combination of heightened vigilance, community solidarity and the sheer determination of voters for their voices to be heard will ensure that intimidation does not have the last word.

What is your assessment of the APC’s chances in Osogbo, particularly against the backdrop of the political tension and violence witnessed in the city?

Osogbo has always been a place where political ground shifts unpredictably from one cycle to the next, but traditionally, and at our core, we are progressives in Osogbo. That identity was not manufactured for this election cycle; it runs through the political history of this city and the values its people have consistently upheld. For that reason, we are fully prepared to rally our people, ward by ward and unit by unit, to deliver a resounding victory to the All Progressives Congress on Saturday. Despite the tension of recent months, I remain confident that the resilience of the people of Osogbo will ultimately triumph over the forces of intimidation. Our structures on the ground remain intact, our volunteers remain committed, and our message continues to resonate in homes, markets, and mosques and churches alike across every other corner of Osogbo. We are ready, and we are confident.