By Lawrence Adesola ADEBIYI
For Oyo State APC to experience true peace and record victory in the 2027 polls, genuine reconciliation is non-negotiable.
Peace is not achieved by mere pronouncements or photo opportunities; it is built by putting the square peg in the square hole, giving all stakeholders rightful place based on merit, contribution, and popular support.
In recent times, several leaders and loyal party members have been sidelined. Impositions have been handed down without due consideration for the consequences they carry. People have been sidelined, their voices ignored, their contributions unappreciated, yet the party expects them to remain silent and united behind decisions they had no hand in shaping. This is neither fair nor sustainable.
The grievances being expressed by aggrieved Oyo APC members should not be misread as disloyalty or an attempt to cause division. As the Yoruba say, “oní ilù ò ní fẹ́ kí ìlú tú”, the one who owns the town does not wish for the town to scatter. Those speaking up are not trying to break the party; they are only voicing their concerns so the necessary corrections can be made before it is too late.
For genuine reconciliation to take place, the party leadership must be willing to:
– Release the results of the primaries, transparency builds trust.
– Allow those with genuine majority support to take their rightful positions, for the good of the party, not a select few.
– Engage aggrieved leaders sincerely, not as a formality, but as a real process of healing and inclusion.
– Address impositions that have caused disaffection, before they harden into permanent divisions.
– The 2027 election is not far off, and a divided house cannot win. Oyo State APC must choose wisely now, reconcile genuinely or risk repeating the mistakes of the past.
