Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The National Youth Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Dayo Israel, has delivered a blunt and surprising post‑election assessment, declaring that Governor Ademola Adeleke's public dancing was never a weakness but a sophisticated "political language" that helped him build an unshakeable emotional bond with Osun voters. In a statement that has jolted the ruling party, Israel, writing on his official X handle in a post titled "Osun has spoken: The bitter truth APC must hear before 2027," argued that the APC's defeat in Saturday's governorship election was a direct consequence of the party's failure to understand the electorate and its tendency to confuse elite sophistication with electoral value.
Israel, a member of the APC's National Working Committee, said the party underestimated Adeleke, who was often derisively described as the "Dancing Governor," by dismissing his personality and connection with the people. "For years, some members of the political elite have reduced Governor Adeleke to his dancing. That assessment has always underestimated both the man and the nature of Osun politics," Israel wrote. He insisted that Adeleke's ability to sing, dance, engage directly with the grassroots, and worship publicly built a bond that technocratic political analysis failed to capture. "Governor Adeleke's dancing was never a weakness. It was a political language. It humanised him, made him accessible, and created emotional proximity with ordinary voters," Israel stated.
The APC youth leader warned his party that electoral success is not determined by elite approval or sophisticated policy debates but by emotion, identity, presence, and a sense of belonging. "A candidate may dominate elite discourse and still fail to move a ward. Another may be mocked in elite spaces and still command overwhelming loyalty on the ground," he said. Israel also credited Afrobeats superstar Davido, the governor's nephew, with playing a pivotal role in the campaign by mobilising young voters. "Davido did not treat his role as symbolic. He was placed at the centre of youth mobilisation and used his influence, networks, music, digital reach and personal credibility to connect the campaign to a generation," Israel said, asking pointedly: "Who are the Davidos in the APC?".
Beyond the cultural missteps, Israel identified internal divisions, weak grassroots structures, and inadequate engagement of youth and women wings as critical factors in the APC's loss. He criticised the composition of the party's expanded national campaign council, noting that it was dominated by governors, senators, and former office holders. "We must ask a hard question: how many young Nigerians do they genuinely inspire, mobilise or emotionally connect with?" he queried. He also lamented that the National Working Committee did not meet to formally review the campaign's progress after the council was inaugurated. "In any serious political organisation, that absence of structured oversight is not a minor administrative gap. It is a strategic weakness," he said.
Israel, who also identified Adeleke as one of three personalities who defined the election, urged the APC to reconcile its internal divisions and begin building campaigns around genuine grassroots connections long before the 2027 general elections. "President Tinubu gave us a democratic contest. Governor Adeleke understood his people. Davido understood his generation. The question is whether the APC understands its own lesson," he concluded. "Silence will not win 2027. Osun has spoken. The APC must now listen".
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