By Otunba (Dr) Abdulfalil Abayomi Odunowo
In a development that has shocked many within the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Screening Committee for the Osun governorship primary announced the disqualification of seven out of nine aspirants, including a former National Secretary of the party, Senator Iyiola Omisore. The committee claimed the aspirants failed to provide sponsorship from “five fully registered and financially up-to-date party members” from each LGA in Osun State.
But beneath the official language lies a troubling truth: the entire foundation of the committee’s decision is built on a premise that does not exist in reality. Not in Osun. Not anywhere in Nigeria. Because today, no APC member in the country is a ‘financial member’ in the sense the committee claims.
There is no active or verifiable system of monthly dues.
No receipts issued.
No unified membership ledger reflecting financial compliance.
No LGA or ward structure that can confirm anyone as “financially up-to-date.”
This is not an allegation it is the current, uncontested reality of the party.
A Requirement Built on Nothing
The committee’s insistence on financial sponsorship as a mandatory criterion sounds principled, even constitutional. The problem, however, is that you cannot demand compliance with a system the party itself does not operate. The APC has not implemented a functional dues-collection regime in years. No ward chairman, LGA chairman, or state secretariat in Osun or anywhere else can produce a list of members who pay dues monthly or annually.
How then can an aspirant present nominating members who are “financially up-to-date”?
The answer is simple: they cannot. Because no such members exist.
This makes the screening outcome appear less like an objective enforcement of rules and more like a calculated administrative design aimed at narrowing the field.
Working Backwards to a Predetermined Answer
The logic of internal democracy is fairness. But fairness demands that rules be:
• Clear
• Realistic
• Universally applicable
• Based on systems already in force
The APC cannot selectively resurrect dormant constitutional clauses that the party itself has failed to implement. Without a functioning financial membership database, the requirement becomes a trapdoor—one that no aspirant could reasonably escape.
To apply this flawed standard as the decisive criterion for disqualification is to work backward from a predetermined answer and then justify it with constitutional references that have no operational grounding.
The Danger Ahead
The Osun primary is not just a state contest; it is a signal to the entire nation about the APC’s internal cohesion and democratic maturity. When screening processes are based on non-existent conditions, the result is predictable:
• Distrust widens
• Party unity weakens
• Credible aspirants feel targeted
• The grassroots lose faith
• The opposition grows stronger
A ruling party must avoid even the appearance of manipulation let alone the reality of it.
A Call for Institutional Honesty
If the APC is sincere about transparency and fairness, it must begin by acknowledging a simple fact: there are no financial members today because the party has not enforced financial membership.
You cannot fail an exam that was never held.
You cannot punish members for not complying with a system that does not exist.
Before enforcing financial compliance as a criterion for eligibility, the APC must:
1. Rebuild its membership dues structure
2. Issue receipts
3. Create a verifiable financial database
4. Communicate timelines and expectations
5. Give members a fair chance to comply
Only then can such a rule be enforced without bias or controversy. The Osun disqualifications may stand for now, but they will leave a lasting question hanging over the integrity of the process: Were the rules truly applied or were they creatively interpreted to achieve a desired outcome?
Until the APC reforms its internal membership system, any reliance on “financially up-to-date members” as a basis for political exclusion will remain not only untenable but deeply unfair.
Internal democracy cannot thrive on rules that live only on paper.
Signed:
Otunba (Dr.) Abdulfalil Abayomi Odunowo, D.Sc (h.c)
National Chairman
Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu Support Group (AATSG)
Date: Saturday 6th December, 2025
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +234 905 353 5322
Website: www.aatsg.org.ng
As we look to the future, let’s embrace the important role our choices play in shaping the destiny of our nation. Together, let's commit to the path of active and positive citizenship!
Loyal to Country Nigeria, Loyal to any Elected President and finally Loyal to the Truth.
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