Internal crisis made us lose Osun election – APC national chairman

National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu has said the internal crisis within the party caused the loss of the governorship election in Osun State.

Incumbent and APC candidate Gboyega Oyetola failed in his reelection bid, losing to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Ademola Adeleke.

According to the Returning Officer for the election and Vice Chancellor of University of Lagos, Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, Adeleke polled 403,371 votes while Oyetola trailed behind with 375,027 votes.

Speaking in an interview with BBC Hausa, Adamu said the Osun election will not affect the party’s chances at the 2023 general elections.

“We lost the race not because we are incapable but because of the crisis within. We had a massive gathering of supporters a few days before the election in Osogbo. No one could ever anticipate that we would lose the election.

“Osun defeat doesn’t in any way mean that we will lose at the general election. We only lost one state out of the 22 we have; you see, we are still strong.

“We will sit and check ourselves. We must ask ourselves what is right and wrong and what needs to be corrected,” Adamu said.

Oyetola has been in a running battle with his predecessor Rauf Aregbesola, with many of Aregbesola’s followers defecting to the PDP before the election.

Many who didn’t leave the APC allegedly worked against the party during the election.