Fawaz Adebisi
A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Ogun State, Hon. Jamiu Keshinro, has called on the state Governor, Dapo Abiodun to intervene in the zoning arrangement for the Abeokuta North/Obafemi Owode/Odeda federal constituency seat ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In a letter dated 3rd March 2026, Keshinro urged the governor to prevent the incumbent member of the House of Representatives, Olumide Osoba, from seeking a fourth consecutive term.
Addressing the governor, Keshinro argued that the federal constituency’s House of Representatives seat ought to rotate among the three local government areas that make up the constituency; Abeokuta North, Obafemi Owode, and Odeda, stressing that it is now Abeokuta North’s turn to produce the next lawmaker.
“Since the beginning of this fourth Republic, all the 3 LGs had had a taste of the Reps seat in Abuja, but Obafemi Owode had more,” Keshinro wrote adding that “while Obafemi Owode had the opportunity 3 times and still planning to get it for the 4th time, Abeokuta North and Odeda had it 2 times.”
According to the letter, Abeokuta North last held the seat in 2015, while Odeda occupied it from 2003 to 2011. Obafemi Owode, through Olumide Osoba, has held the seat since 2011 and is currently serving a third term running through 2027.
Keshinro, a former councillor representing Totoro/Sokori ward, described online campaign materials promoting Osoba’s re-election bid as unacceptable, saying the constituency could not afford to keep the seat within a single local government, and, by extension, a single family.
“Has Chief Segun Osoba not being honoured enough by allowing his son, Olumide, to represent us 3 times?” Keshinro queried, lamenting that “is this federal constituency meant for them alone? What about other people who are equally stakeholders?”
Keshinro also raised concerns about the political weight already concentrated in Odeda LGA, noting that the sitting Ogun Central senator, the state APC chairman, and the Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly are all from the local government.
He argued that allowing the Reps seat to remain outside Abeokuta North’s reach, partly through Odeda’s backing of the Osoba camp, amounted to an injustice against the constituency’s most populous LGA.
“We made this demand simply because the current Senator representing Ogun Central, the State Party Chairman and the Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly are all from Odeda,” he said adding that “Odeda has had enough very important positions.”
The petitioner therefore called on the governor to either zone the seat to Abeokuta North or allow a direct primary, expressing confidence that Abeokuta North could prevail in a free contest.
“We are very confident that we are going to win. People of Obafemi Owode and the Odeda are going to support us because they are our brothers,” he wrote.
Keshinro, who described Abeokuta North as “a local government of great men and women,” argued that the area, with 16 wards, the largest in the constituency, deserves its turn at federal representation.
“It will be total injustice to Abeokuta North if Olumide is allowed to go again,” he said.
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