Nigeria: Why Ondo's Two Political Power Centres Must Find Common Ground for Tinubu's 2027 Project

What the report says

Observers in Ondo State are urging two prominent All Progressives Congress figures, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa and Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, to ease their tension and work together ahead of President Bola Tinubu’s expected 2027 political plans. The AllAfrica-distributed report, based on a This Day article published in Lagos on 4 October 2026, says both men rose to their current positions through Tinubu’s intervention or backing, making their dispute look more like an internal family matter than a standard political clash.

The article recalls that Aiyedatiwa, then deputy governor, survived an impeachment push in 2023 after Tinubu summoned the parties to Abuja and ordered the matter dropped. That sequence allowed him to stay in office, later become governor after the death of Rotimi Akeredolu, and then win a full term. Tunji-Ojo’s rise was different but also tied to Tinubu: his appointment as minister in August 2023 gave him a national platform and visibility through reforms in passport processing and immigration automation.

According to the report, the current friction has not yet produced a shared strategy for Tinubu’s re-election effort. Aiyedatiwa is said to rely on the advantages of incumbency and control of state party structures, while Tunji-Ojo is building parallel grassroots networks, including a pro-Tinubu group. Ondo APC chairman Babatunde Kolawole is quoted in the article as describing both men as brothers with a common goal.

The report suggests the practical case for cooperation is strong because the two camps appear to cover different parts of the electorate. More broadly, it reflects how internal party competition can complicate coalition-building in a key state before a national election.