The All Progressives Congress (APC) has disqualified several high-profile aspirants from participating in its December 13, 2025 Osun State governorship primary, clearing only two contenders to vie for the party’s ticket.
Among those barred are former deputy governor and ex-National Secretary of the APC, Senator Iyiola Omisore; another former deputy governor, Benedict Olugboyega Alabi; Dotun Babayemi; Akin Ogunbiyi; Senator Babajide Omoworare; Kunle Adegoke (SAN); and Babatunde Haketer Oralusi.
Their disqualification was contained in the report submitted on Friday by the seven-member screening committee chaired by Barr. Obinna Uzor. According to the committee, only Hon. Mulikat Adeola Jimoh and Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji met all constitutional and regulatory requirements, earning full clearance to contest in the primary.
The screening panel explained that its decision followed a petition from the Osun APC Renewal Group, which alleged that two aspirants failed to meet the mandatory nominator criteria as prescribed by the APC Constitution and Primary Guidelines. The committee said the issues raised were “weighty, substantial and germane to the integrity of the screening process,” prompting it to apply the same scrutiny to all nine aspirants.
After a two-day exercise, the panel concluded that only Jimoh and Oyebamiji secured proper nominations from the requisite number of fully registered and financially up-to-date members across all Local Government Areas.
The report noted that Omisore, Omoworare, Babayemi, Ogunbiyi, Alabi, Adegoke and Oralusi did not fulfil the requirement of obtaining nominations from at least five financially compliant party members in each local government—an obligation outlined in Articles 9.3(i) and 31.2(ii) of the APC Constitution, and Paragraph 6(c) of the 2025 Governorship Primary Guidelines.
The cases of the disqualified aspirants have been forwarded to the APC National Working Committee (NWC) for further review and a possible reversal ahead of the shadow election.
Meanwhile, the Screening Appeal Committee, chaired by Senator Tola Odebiyi, is scheduled to meet in Abuja on Saturday to review petitions from the affected aspirants and other aggrieved party members.
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