The Presidency has weighed in on the political conversation ahead of the August 15 Osun State governorship election, with a presidential aide arguing that the state needs a competent chief executive rather than an entertainer or professional campaigner.
Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, made the remarks in a post on X on Wednesday while declaring his support for the All Progressives Congress candidate, Bola Oyebamiji.
Ajayi’s comments followed a governorship town hall organised by Arise TV for candidates contesting Saturday’s election.
Oyebamiji is contesting against incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party and Najeem Salam of the African Democratic Congress, among other candidates.
Reacting to the performances of the candidates at the town hall, Ajayi argued that voters should approach the election as a recruitment process for someone capable of managing the state’s finances, institutions and development priorities.
“That is a useful way to look at the Osun election. The state is not recruiting an entertainer, a professional campaigner or a permanent opposition politician, but a CEO,” Ajayi said.
He described Osun as a financially constrained public institution requiring a governor with strong managerial abilities.
“It is recruiting a chief executive to manage a financially constrained public enterprise called Osun State. On the evidence of what I saw at the town hall, Oyebamiji made the stronger case that he understands that job,” he added.
Ajayi said his assessment was based on the candidates’ policy articulation, knowledge of relevant facts, approach to the state’s finances and evidence of managerial competence.
According to him, Oyebamiji performed better on those measures.
“If the exercise is judged strictly on policy articulation, command of facts, fiscal realism and evidence of managerial competence, I will candidly say Oyebamiji came out ahead,” he said.
The presidential aide added that the APC candidate appeared to view governance primarily as a management responsibility rather than a platform for political performance.
Ajayi’s remarks come as political activities intensify across Osun ahead of the governorship election, with the major candidates and their supporters making their final appeals to voters.
His reference to an “entertainer” was not accompanied by an explicit identification of which candidate he was describing.
Voters in Osun State are expected to head to the polls on Saturday, August 15, 2026, to elect the governor who will lead the state for the next four years.
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