Ex-Osun State Deputy Governor Benedict Alabi on Wednesday declared his intention to run for the All Progressives Congress ticket in the 2026 Osun State Governorship election.

Alabi, who served with the immediate past Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, between 2018 and 2022, announced interest in the APC ticket in Osogbo, Osun State, while speaking with journalists.

He said that the experience he gathered as deputy governor while serving with Oyetola has made him the best option among the aspirants vying for the party’s ticket.

He added that the next Osun governor must be able to deal with complex situations and manage men and resources effectively to redirect the state on the path of progress, urging the APC to consider him for the job.

On the insinuation that Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Oyetola, who is the leader of the party in Osun, had a preferred choice among the aspirants for the APC ticket, Alabi said, “The claim that former governor Oyetola has a preferred candidate and that he anointed Alhaji Bola Oyebamiji is an insinuation.

“If you listen to him when he declared that he is no longer contesting for governorship in Osun State, he said he wished all aspirants success.

“There is no doubt that Alhaji Bola Oyebamiji is close to the Minister, being his Commissioner for Finance while in office, that could not be taken to be an endorsement. So, it is not true, and it is street talk that he has a preferred candidate,” the former governor said.

He said that the former governor Oyetola has no preferred candidate, as he has been with him, and a man of his word.

“He has said it that he has no preferred candidate, and I believe him.

“So, the issue of whether he has a preferred candidate or not does not come into play,” Alabi said.