The All Progressives Congress (APC) has never pretended to be a model of internal democracy, but what is currently unfolding in Osun State is nothing short of a political farce. The brazen disqualification of top aspirants carried out in the dark, driven by unseen hands, and defended with laughable excuses has cemented what many Nigerians have long observed: imposition is not a flaw in the APC; it is the party’s operating system.
Osun has now become the latest theatre where this toxic culture plays out with embarrassing predictability.
A Screening Exercise or a Scripted Comedy?
The screening and subsequent disqualification of top contenders in the Osun APC governorship race has drawn outrage across the party’s rank and file. Aspirants who have served the party faithfully for years were axed without credible explanations, further confirming fears that the entire exercise was designed from the start to clear the path for a preferred candidate.
One aspirant described the process as “a political ambush.”
Another called it “a selection by conspiracy.”
However, it was a party stalwart who provided the most unfiltered look behind the scenes. The most searing assessment came from Senator Iyiola Omisore, who did not mince words. According to him, the disqualification saga is:
“The jokiest political absurdity of the year.”
He went further to describe committee member Oyebamiji as a mere “lackey” taking orders from former governor Gboyega Oyetola. That remark alone sums up the sorry state of internal politics within the party: a system where loyalty to individuals matters more than fidelity to fairness or process.
A Party Addicted to Imposition
The APC’s appetite for imposition is neither new nor accidental. It is a deep-seated habit—one that has undermined trust, destroyed internal cohesion, and driven away some of its brightest political minds. Across states and across election cycles, the same toxic storyline keeps repeating itself:
- Powerful blocs handpick candidates long before the primaries are even announced.
- Screening committees are used as political weapons to eliminate opposition.
- The will of grassroots party members is routinely overturned.
- Rebellious aspirants are punished for independence or perceived disloyalty.
The Osun fiasco is merely the latest installment in this tragic political pattern.
💣 Babayemi’s 2019 Bombshell Returns to Haunt the APC
Perhaps the most dramatic twist in this saga is the re-emergence of a warning issued six years ago by one of the very aspirants now disqualified.
On February 8, 2019, while running as a senatorial candidate under the ADP, Dotun Babayemi delivered a blistering critique of the APC. He stated emphatically:
“Imposition of candidates is the hallmark of APC.”
At the time, his words were dismissed by APC loyalists as the rant of an opposition candidate. But history has a remarkable sense of irony. Today, Babayemi now fully inside the APC has been disqualified in the same manner he once condemned.
His 2019 statement was not a political attack. It was a prophecy.
And Osun 2025 is the tragic fulfillment of that prophecy.
⚖️ The Ethical and Philosophical Betrayal of Democracy
Beyond bad politics, the Osun disqualifications represent a profound moral and philosophical failure. The leadership has violated the bedrock principles upon which any credible democratic entity must stand.
The first principle breached is that of Procedural Justice. Political legitimacy is not solely derived from an eventual victory, but from a fair and transparent process. By manipulating the screening exercise through unseen, unaccountable forces, the APC has declared that the process is irrelevant, thereby stripping the eventual outcome of any moral authority.
Furthermore, this act shatters the Social Contract between the party leadership and its members. A political party is held together by an implicit covenant: members agree to abide by rules in exchange for guaranteed fairness and a genuine voice. The leadership’s resort to imposition voids this covenant, replacing democratic order with political coercion.
This signals a dangerous crisis of Integrity within the party. When leaders prioritize personal loyalty and factional gain over fidelity to the party’s constitution, they reveal a fundamental lack of moral virtue. They are not merely making a strategic error; they are demonstrating a deep contempt for the democratic values they claim to uphold, treating the party structure not as a covenant of equals, but as a tool of private dominion.
📉 Osun: A Microcosm of APC’s Imploding Structure
What is happening in Osun is not merely about who gets the ticket. It is a deeper reflection of a party battling internal decay, manifesting as:
- Complete factional capture of party machinery.
- Manipulated primaries driven by personal vendettas.
- Disenfranchisement of loyal, dedicated members.
- Collapse of trust in the official screening process.
- Over-centralised control that suffocates legitimate state structures.
Instead of strengthening its democratic pillars, the APC appears committed to recycling the same undemocratic behaviors that have cost it goodwill, unity, and electoral advantage in multiple states.
💥 The Consequences Are Already Visible
A party that cannot conduct credible primaries cannot govern credibly.
The consequences of this imposition culture are predictable and devastating:
- Mass defections and internal sabotage.
- Costly legal battles that drain party resources.
- Widespread voter apathy and disenfranchisement.
Osun APC is now walking into a major election fractured, weakened, and politically delegitimized. And unless drastic reforms are made, the party risks losing not just elections, but its identity.
Conclusion: APC Must Choose Between Democracy and Dictatorship
The Osun disqualification scandal has once again exposed the deep rot within the APC. It is not a coincidence. It is not a misunderstanding. It is not even mere factional rivalry. It is a reflection of a party that has formally institutionalised imposition as a political doctrine a doctrine that is both strategically bankrupt and morally indefensible.
As the storm continues to rage, Babayemi’s words from 2019 echo across Nigeria with renewed clarity:
“Imposition of candidates is the hallmark of APC.”
And Omisore’s blunt verdict labeling the process “the jokiest absurdity of the year” may be the most honest assessment of the APC’s internal democracy to date.
Osun is simply the latest victim.
The bigger question is: Who will be next?
By Otunba Shina Adewoye
Public Policy Analyst, United Kingdom
7th December,2025
