The puzzle began with an empty seat. Seven aspirants walked into a meeting with the president. One stayed away. That absence shaped the story more than any handshake inside the Villa.
emerged quickly. President Bola Tinubu hosted APC hopefuls from Osun and urged them to avoid factional quarrels that once cost the party valuable ground. By the end of the meeting, the aspirants aligned behind Bola Oyebamiji as the consensus candidate for the 2026 race.
Their withdrawal created a clean path for the former NIWA managing director. It also deepened the shadow over Iyiola Omisore, who had been disqualified days earlier by the screening committee. Officials cited a failure to secure the required number of financially updated nominators from all local governments.