Oyo APC in Daze as Top Guber Contender, Senator Alli, Accepts Beaded Crown

The Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been thrown into a state of strategic confusion following the official confirmation that one of its frontline gubernatorial aspirants, Senator Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli, is set to be coronated as a beaded crown-wearing Oba.

The “bombshell” came via a leaked government memo dated March 26, 2026, which approved the elevation of Senator Alli and two other High Chiefs—Akeem Bolaji Adewoyin and Kola Babalola—to the status of Royal Majesties.

While the coronation, scheduled for Friday, April 3, 2026, at Mapo Hall, is a prestigious traditional milestone, it has sent shockwaves through the APC’s 2027 planning committee.

Under the 2024 Chieftaincy Law of Oyo State (as amended) and the longstanding traditions of the Olubadan-in-Council, traditional rulers are strictly prohibited from participating in partisan politics.

For Senator Alli, who currently represents Oyo South in the Red Chamber and was widely considered a “heavyweight” for the APC governorship ticket, this elevation presents a massive legal and political dilemma:

Insiders within the Oyo APC suggest that the move by the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, to fast-track these elevations has “checkmated” the party’s internal permutations.

“Alli was one of our strongest cards for 2027,” an anonymous party chieftain told Gistlife. “If he accepts this crown, he effectively retires from the race. The party is in a daze because we now have to recalibrate our entire South-West strategy.”

The Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Ademola Ojo, clarified in the approved memo that the elevation must happen “immediately” to avoid “unnecessary insinuation that the delay is deliberate and political.”

The government maintains that the promotion is purely to protect the sanctity of the Ibadan traditional institution, though the timing—just as the 2027 “fever” begins to rise—has left political analysts questioning the coincidence.

As the beneficiaries receive their official letters from the Palace, the countdown to April 3 begins. For Senator Alli, the walk across the Mapo Hall stage next Friday may lead him to a throne, but it might also lead him away from the Agodi Government House.

Will the Senator choose the Crown over the Ballot? Only time will tell as Ibadan prepares for what might be its most politically charged coronation in recent history.