Osun Election: Osun IPAC elects new leadership, Odeyemi emerges chairman

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By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo

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The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Osun State on Monday elected a new executive committee to oversee its affairs following the expiration of the tenure of the previous state executive.

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The election comes months after the IPAC National Executive Committee appointed a caretaker committee for the state, a move that was rejected by the Osun State chapter.

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At a meeting held at Halatria Hall in Osogbo, representatives of 15 political parties elected Dr. Tosin Odeyemi of the Democracy Leadership Alliance (DLA) as the new state chairman.

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Also elected were Prof. (Mrs.) Adigun Oyewole of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as deputy chairman; Araoye Kazeem of the Action Alliance (AA) as secretary; Adesuyi Olufemi of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) as publicity secretary; and Mustapha Muideen of the Labour Party (LP) as treasurer.

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Other members of the executive are Dr. Gbenga Afeni of the National Rescue Movement (NRM) as organising secretary, Waheed Adediran of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as legal adviser, Tayo Adeyemi of the African Action Congress (AAC) as financial secretary, and Adebayo Olasunkanmi of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) as deputy secretary.

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The event was attended by chairmen and representatives of several political parties, including the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the African Action Congress (AAC).

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In his acceptance speech, Odeyemi described the inauguration of the new executive as the beginning of a new chapter for IPAC in Osun State.

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He recalled that the council’s election, initially scheduled for March 14, 2026, was aborted following the expiration of the tenure of the executive led by Pastor Victor Akande in February.

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According to him, the election was disrupted because members of the committee assigned to conduct the exercise were absent.

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“The National Organising Secretary of IPAC, Chinyere O. Kalu, later informed stakeholders that the election had been postponed and that a new date would be communicated.

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“Since then, there has been no further communication from the IPAC National Secretariat. This vacuum has created concern among stakeholders, especially with the governorship election approaching,” he said.

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Odeyemi said the absence of a functional state IPAC leadership had raised concerns over who would officially represent political parties during consultations and engagements ahead of the election.

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He added that, after consultations, 16 of the 22 registered political parties in the state resolved not to allow the council to remain inactive and proceeded with the process that produced the new executive.

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