39-Year-Old Entrepreneur Olajide Esan Emerges AAC Governorship Candidate, Vows to End ‘Weaponised Poverty’

The race for the 2026 Osun State Governorship Election officially welcomed a new contender today, Saturday, December 13, 2025, as the African Action Congress (AAC) announced the emergence of 39-year-old entrepreneur, Olajide Esan, as its governorship candidate. Esan, who also runs a successful car dealership, secured the party’s ticket through a consensus arrangement at a primary election held at the AAC party secretariat in Osogbo. The exercise was duly monitored by officials from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Speaking after the primary, the Osun State Chairman of the AAC, Tayo Adeyemi, confirmed that Esan emerged with the full backing of party members across the state, describing the exercise as free, fair, and a true reflection of the party’s democratic ideals.

In his acceptance speech, Esan launched a stinging critique of Nigeria’s current political system, arguing that the nation’s problems are systemic and deliberately created by the ruling class. “The big political parties are oppressing us in this nation. Their type of leadership has weaponised poverty and they have subjugated the public by oppressing them. We have a systemic problem in Nigeria. The system of this country has set us all up to become criminals,” he stated.

Esan, running on a platform of radical reform, vowed to fight this oppression and introduce unprecedented transparency if elected. He pledged to create a specialized ministry dedicated to citizen welfare and promised to implement a digital transparency regime, stating, “My government will create a website that we will display all the public funds. You will all see how money is being spent.” He also charged Osun residents to unite against vote-buying and vote for the AAC in the 2026 contest.