The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, on Wednesday began a strategic two-day visit to Oyo State, arriving to a rousing welcome at the Alakia Airport, Ibadan, as the party stepped up its preparations for the 2027 elections.

Yilwatda’s arrival coincides with the formal commencement of the 2027 presidential and National Assembly campaign season, giving his Oyo visit an added political significance.

INEC had fixed August 19, 2026, as the opening date for campaigns for those elections.

He was received by the APC governorship candidate in Oyo State, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, alongside party leaders, stakeholders and a large gathering of supporters mobilised from across Ibadan’s 11 local government areas.

Alli described the visit as timely and significant, saying the presence of the APC national leadership would energise members and strengthen efforts to rebuild the party ahead of 2027.

According to him, Oyo APC is determined to put its internal disagreements behind it and present a united front to voters.

“His presence will further energise our members, reassure our supporters, and strengthen our collective resolve to present a united front before the people of Oyo State,” Alli said.

Yilwatda is also expected to engage key stakeholders during the visit, including party leaders and governorship aspirants who have expressed grievances over the outcome of the party’s governorship primary.

That engagement is particularly significant given the lingering disagreements within Oyo APC following the emergence of Alli as the party’s governorship candidate.

Six aspirants had earlier rejected the outcome of the primary and raised concerns about the process.

The national chairman’s visit comes at a delicate moment, with reconciliation and unity seen as crucial to APC’s chances of challenging Governor Seyi Makinde’s bid to install a successor on the APM platform in the state.

Yilwatda is also expected to meet the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, as part of his engagements in the ancient city, adding a traditional dimension to the political visit.

The biggest political spectacle of the two-day programme, however, comes on Thursday, August 20, when Yilwatda will commission the APC campaign office at Dandaru, Ibadan.

The commissioning is expected to provide the clearest signal yet of the party’s transition from internal organisation to full-scale grassroots mobilisation for the 2027 contest.

For Oyo APC, the Dandaru office is more than another party facility. It is being positioned as a strategic command centre from which the party will coordinate its campaign machinery, mobilise supporters and drive its message across the state.

Its commissioning by the national chairman is therefore expected to attract a strong gathering of APC leaders, aspirants, elected representatives, grassroots organisers and supporters from across the 33 local government areas.

The event also comes as APC seeks to project a new image of cohesion after months of internal disagreements.

Alli himself has called on party leaders and members to embrace reconciliation, discipline and collective interest.

“The task before us is greater than any individual. It is about the future of Oyo State and the welfare of our people,” the governorship candidate said.

With the presidential campaign season now officially open, Yilwatda’s Oyo mission has consequently assumed the character of both a peace-building exercise and a campaign mobilisation drive.

The APC leadership is seeking not merely to win the argument within the party, but to convert its structures into an effective electoral machine capable of confronting Makinde’s APM in 2027.

Yilwatda’s two-day itinerary is consequently being watched closely, particularly for signs that the national leadership can bridge the divisions surrounding the Oyo governorship ticket and rally the various camps behind Alli.

The success of that reconciliation effort may prove just as important as the campaign office being commissioned on Thursday.

For a party that has repeatedly fallen short in its attempts to capture Oyo Government House, the message from Ibadan is becoming increasingly clear: unity first, campaign next, victory in 2027.

APC has also continued to project its national organisational strength ahead of the elections, with Yilwatda previously putting the party’s verified membership at about 12.9 million.

In Oyo, however, the immediate test is closer to home — whether the national chairman can turn a warm airport reception into genuine reconciliation, a functioning campaign structure and, ultimately, an electoral breakthrough for the APC.