Governor Seyi Makinde has approved automatic return tickets for all serving first-term local government chairmen in Oyo State as preparations intensify for the forthcoming local government elections. The decision, aimed at strengthening unity within the ruling party ahead of the 2027 general elections, was reached during a high-level stakeholders’ meeting held on Sunday, August 2, 2026, at the Local Government House, Oyo State Secretariat, Ibadan.
Governor Makinde, who arrived at the venue at approximately 11:33 p.m., presided over the well-attended meeting alongside key stakeholders of the party. The meeting focused on resolving issues surrounding the emergence of chairmanship and councillorship candidates across the state’s 33 local government areas, with party leaders making submissions on developments within their respective councils.
Addressing the stakeholders, the governor appealed for understanding and cooperation, stressing that the decisions reached at the meeting should be accepted in the overall interest of the party. He noted that maintaining internal cohesion was essential if the party was to approach the 2027 general elections as a united and formidable political force. He assured aggrieved leaders that genuine concerns from any local government would be addressed through consultation.
During deliberations, Governor Makinde proposed that every serving first-term local government chairman under the Omituntun 2.0 administration should be granted the opportunity to seek a second term. The proposal received overwhelming support from the majority of stakeholders present. However, the governor acknowledged that a few local governments still had unresolved grievances and pledged to personally intervene to ensure amicable resolutions.
The governor also maintained that in local government areas where the tenure of the incumbent chairman is ending, no candidate would be endorsed unless there was broad consensus among party stakeholders. He directed that any local government where disagreements or protests arose over the choice of a candidate should be set aside for further deliberation until an acceptable resolution was reached.
Despite the automatic return tickets granted to serving first-term chairmen, Peoples Conscience gathered that some party leaders raised objections in a few local government areas, including Ibarapa East, where the Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly hails from. In contrast, stakeholders in Ibarapa Central and Ibadan North unanimously endorsed their incumbent local government chairmen without any recorded protest.
In Ibarapa North, where the incumbent local government chairman is completing his constitutionally permitted tenure, seven out of the ten recognised party leaders endorsed the current Vice Chairman, Hon. Bisi Akande, as their preferred chairmanship candidate. However, one of the three dissenting leaders lodged a protest as it was also alleged that the same individual who is a party chairman in Ibarapa North tore the signed list containing the resolutions and candidates endorsed by the majority of the recognised party leaders in the local government, prompting Governor Makinde to suspend the announcement of the candidate pending further consultations. Nevertheless, reliable party sources informed Peoples Conscience that Hon. Bisi Akande remains the preferred choice of the majority of stakeholders in Ibarapa North. Findings by this news outfit indicate that the full list of qualified chairmanship and councillorship candidates is expected to be published on Wednesday, August 5, 2026.
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