Do not Hand Oyo North to the Opposition – Apc Youth Oke Ogun to APC Leaders

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE APC LEADERSHIP: DO NOT HAND OYO NORTH TO THE OPPOSITION

A Statement by the Concerned APC Youths of Oke Ogun

We write as concerned young men and women who bleed the broom, committed, card-carrying members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) spread across the length and breadth of Oke Ogun, from Saki to Iseyin, from Igboho to Kishi, and from Itesiwaju to Kajola. We write not as dissidents, but as loyalists who love this party too much to watch it walk into an avoidable disaster with its eyes wide open.

The 2027 general elections are approaching, and the stakes could not be higher. At stake is not merely a senatorial seat; at stake is the soul of the APC project in Oke Ogun and the legislative backbone that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu needs to drive his Renewed Hope Agenda to its promised destination. An APC Senator from Oyo North is not a luxury; it is an absolute necessity. It is precisely because of this urgency that we must speak plainly about the unsettling whispers reaching us from the corridors of power regarding the Oyo North Senatorial District ticket.

The name currently being circulated, and in some quarters actively promoted, as the potential APC candidate for Oyo North is that of Mrs. Ogunesan Olawumi Hannah, a former civil servant who has lately stepped onto the political stage. We do not question her personal record or her individual aspirations; every citizen has the right to aspire. However, the question before the party leadership is not about personal ambition. It is about strategy, electability, and the collective will of the people whose votes determine the outcome.

The people have spoken quietly, persistently, and with increasing urgency.

The pulse of the APC youth across Oke Ogun does not beat in favor of Mrs. Ogunesan. This sentiment is not born of personal animosity; it is a political reality grounded in grassroots engagement, ward-level conversations, and the honest temperature-taking that happens when young party faithful gather. We discuss these issues not in air-conditioned offices, but under trees, in local “assemblies,” at community meetings, and in the open spaces where real electoral work is done. The feedback is unyielding and consistent: Mrs. Ogunesan does not command the popular enthusiasm required to win a senatorial race in a fiercely contested district like Oyo North.

Oke Ogun is not a soft zone. It is a territory with a deep political memory, fiercely independent-minded communities, and an electorate that swiftly punishes perceived arrogance or imposition at the ballot box. The opposition knows this, and they are watching closely. Nothing would delight them more than the APC handing them a gift-wrapped victory by fielding a candidate whom the party’s own base refuses to mobilize behind.

The party hierarchy must be reminded of a critical factor, even if it risks stating the obvious: the Oyo North senatorial contest in 2027 will run concurrently with the presidential election. The Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Presidency will all be decided on the same ballot day. This is not a minor administrative detail; it is a strategic reality that changes everything.

President Tinubu will be running for a second term. His ability to deepen his ongoing reforms, including the fuel subsidy removal, foreign exchange liberalization, and the social investment architecture, depends heavily on a sympathetic, cooperative legislature populated by members of his own party. History teaches us that a hostile or indifferent Senate is a graveyard for executive ambition.

If we truly want Mr. President to succeed, if we believe in the Renewed Hope Agenda, and if we are committed to ensuring that the investments and sacrifices asked of Nigerians yield fruit, then we must send loyal APC senators to the Red Chamber. Every seat matters. Oyo North matters.

A senatorial candidate who cannot animate the party’s youth, who lacks street-level support across the length and breadth of Oke Ogun, and who struggles to project the energy needed to drive voter mobilization from Iwajowa to Olorunsogo is not just a weak candidate, she is a direct liability to the presidential ticket. When the base is demotivated, turnout drops. When turnout drops in Oke Ogun, the consequences ripple upward, damaging every APC candidate on the ballot.

The party must recognize that ticket coherence is a vital electoral asset. A strong, popular, youth-energizing senatorial candidate in Oyo North will pull in numbers that lift the president. Conversely, a weak, imposed, and resented candidate will suppress them. The mathematics is simple.

We say this with the greatest respect, but with equal firmness: if the APC imposes Mrs. Ogunesan Olawumi Hannah against the expressed preferences of the youth constituency and grassroots membership, it risks losing the election before a single ballot is cast.

Elections are not won in Abuja or in the living rooms of internal power brokers. They are won in Ago-Are, Okeho, Saki, Igboho, Iwere-Ile, Kishi, Baba Ode, and Ilero. They are won in the polling units where young men and women must choose to wake up before dawn, collect their PVCs, and stand in queues for hours. Those young people are the army that secures election victories. Right now, that army in Oke Ogun is asking questions and receiving no satisfactory answers.

The party leadership should not mistake silence for acceptance. The youth of APC Oke Ogun have been patient, disciplined, and loyal. However, patience has its limits, and a loyalty that is serially taken for granted will eventually find other expressions.

We are not threatening; we are advising. There is a distinct difference. A threat comes from those who have given up on the system. An advisory comes from those who still believe the system can correct itself, provided it chooses to listen.

The APC hierarchy must conduct a thorough, honest, and independent assessment of the potential senatorial candidates for Oyo North, choosing an approach that goes beyond the insular calculations of internal godfathers and takes the voices of ordinary party faithful seriously. The candidate who can win is the one who excites the base, commands genuine respect across the district’s local government areas, and can stand confidently before the electorate as their authentic representative, not an imposition from above.

We are the sons and daughters of Oke Ogun. We grew up in these communities, we know these roads, we know the people, and we know what moves them. We have given this party our energy, our time, and our unalloyed loyalty, not for financial inducement, but because we believe in what the APC can achieve for our people. That belief is still alive, but it must be met with trust, and that trust must be demonstrated in the party’s decisions.

The APC has a genuine, highly winnable opportunity in Oyo North. All that is required is the courage to listen to the people closest to the ground. Field a candidate whom the youth can collectively own and whom the communities can rally behind, and we will move mountains between now and election day. We will go door-to-door, work the polling units, and deliver Oke Ogun entirely for the party and the President. That is our solemn pledge, if only the party meets us halfway.

The right decision, made now, can mark the beginning of something historic. We are ready. The question remains: is the party hierarchy ready to trust us?

Concerned APC Youths of Oke Ogun

Speaking for the Grassroots, Defending the Broom.