President Bola Tinubu has appointed Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke as coordinator of his 2027 presidential re-election campaign in Osun State.
The appointment was contained in a revised list of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council released on Tuesday, October 11 and made public by APC National Publicity Secretary Felix Morka.
According to the list, Adeleke will coordinate Tinubu’s campaign in Osun while other governors have been assigned similar responsibilities in their respective states. The council is scheduled for inauguration on Wednesday, October 14, 2026 at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Adeleke’s inclusion is notable because he is not a member of the ruling APC. He won re-election as governor on August 15 under the Accord Party, polling 511,067 votes to defeat APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji who polled 444,815 votes.
His appointment places him among prominent opposition figures named to lead the campaign. The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, a PDP chieftain, was named campaign coordinator for Rivers State and the FCT, while Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo of APGA was named coordinator for Anambra.
Explaining the cross-party appointments, Wike said at a media parley in Abuja that the president wanted to accommodate those outside APC who have something to offer.
“My thinking is that the president, in his wisdom, said there are those who are not members of our political parties but have something to offer to his re-election, and it’s proper to accommodate them,” Wike said.
He added, “We have said that the re-election of Mr President should not just be APC, because here is a platform. The constitution does not say an individual can run, you must have a platform, and that platform is APC.”
The revised council list names Tinubu as chairman, with Vice President Kashim Shettima and APC National Chairman Professor Nentawe Yilwatda as vice chairmen. Senator Abdulaziz Yari retains his position as Director-General, while former Osun Governor Chief Bisi Akande and former Deputy Governor Senator Iyiola Omisore were named advisers.
Adeleke had reportedly sought to join the APC before the governorship election but was blocked. Ahead of the poll, he and the leadership of Accord Party adopted Tinubu as their preferred presidential candidate, citing regional solidarity and federal projects such as the Sokoto-Badagry Highway and the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
“My support is just based on, he’s a Yoruba man, and he’s from the South-West,” Adeleke had said on Channels Television.
Reacting to the appointment, the Imole Campaign Council’s Director-General, Senator Olalere Oyewumi, pledged that the council would mobilise 1.5 million votes for Tinubu in 2027.
“The appointment is a well-deserved one. We assure the President that his confidence in the ability of Governor Adeleke to deliver Osun in the presidential election will not be misplaced,” Oyewumi said.
“We promise the President, just like Governor Adeleke said some time ago, that we will deliver 1.5 million votes to ensure his victory in the coming presidential election.”
The council added, “A vote for President Tinubu is a support for Governor Adeleke.”
