The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has expressed confidence in winning the 2027 general elections, saying recent reconciliation efforts within the party have strengthened its chances of reclaiming power in the state.
The party’s optimism followed the decision by former Senate Leader and its 2023 governorship candidate, Senator Teslim Folarin, to publicly direct his supporters to work with other APC stakeholders towards securing victory for the party in 2027.
Folarin’s position, announced amid ongoing efforts to resolve internal disagreements within the party, has been described by political observers as a significant boost to the APC’s reconciliation drive in Oyo.
In a statement issued on Tuesday and made available to journalists in Ibadan, the state APC Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, said the party’s reconciliation initiatives were beginning to produce positive results.
Sadare attributed the progress to the commitment and intervention of President Bola Tinubu, whom he described as a leader with the experience and political capacity required to resolve disagreements among party stakeholders.
“Our eyes have been on the ball as our main goal is about winning, at least, a million votes for President Tinubu in the January poll and also making sure that all the candidates of APC are returned elected in the 2027 general elections,” he said.
According to him, the party’s prospects have improved significantly following what he described as a high level of success in its efforts to restore unity within the Oyo APC.
Sadare said the party had anticipated disagreements arising from its primary elections and consequently established reconciliation committees comprising prominent stakeholders and other credible members.
“Having acknowledged the inevitability of post-primary crisis, we moved ahead of time to float different committees of notable stakeholders and credible persons to drive our reconciliation campaign and we were able to get the desired results,” he said.
He, however, maintained that the intervention of Tinubu had played a particularly important role in convincing some aggrieved members to put aside their differences and focus on the party’s electoral objectives.
The APC spokesperson listed Folarin, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari and Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, among prominent party figures he said were now fully committed to the party’s efforts.
“With the likes of Sen. Teslim Folarin, Sen. Abdulfatai Buhari and Chief Adebayo Adelabu fully on board, we are good to go as our total victory is assured this time,” Sadare said.
Despite the party’s confidence, he said the reconciliation process would continue in order to bring more stakeholders into the fold.
He added that APC candidates would also intensify their engagement with voters and campaign on the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda as well as the Oyo AHEAD Project associated with Senator Sarafadeen Alli.
The development comes as political parties in Oyo State begin positioning themselves ahead of the 2027 elections, with the APC seeking to consolidate its structure and resolve internal disagreements that affected its cohesion in the previous electoral cycle.
