National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress Rauf Aregbesola has firmly denied speculation that he is plotting a return to the All Progressives Congress, insisting his political future lies squarely with the ADC.

Speaking in Ilesa, Osun State, at a leadership and stakeholders’ meeting that drew representatives from all 332 wards in the state, the former Osun governor said rumours of his reconciliation with the APC were being pushed by those unsettled by the ADC’s growing profile.

Aregbesola described the claims as baseless and laughable, stressing that since his exit from the APC over three years ago he has had no reason to look back. He accused his former party of abandoning what he called the foundational vision and people-oriented ideals that once defined its appeal.

According to him, the APC has strayed from the core responsibilities of government, which he identified as welfare and security. He argued that both had been neglected and thrown into the dustbin, leaving citizens disillusioned and opening space for alternative platforms like the ADC.

At the Ilesa meeting, Aregbesola also presented the ADC’s governorship candidate for the forthcoming Osun poll, Dr Najeem Salaam, to party members and stakeholders. He urged them to rally behind Salaam as the face of what he framed as a new, values-driven politics in the state.

Aregbesola said the ADC had faced sustained attempts by entrenched interests to frustrate its rise but maintained that the party had continued to grow and record notable victories. He charged ward leaders to intensify grassroots mobilisation, arguing that the battle for Osun’s political future would be won in communities, not on social media.

He predicted a strong outing for the ADC in the 2027 general elections, saying the party was positioning itself as a credible alternative for Nigerians dissatisfied with the current order. He called for discipline, unity and sacrifice among members, warning that internal rancour had been the undoing of many parties.

Aregbesola’s stance follows the earlier decision of his Omoluabi Progressives group to quit the APC, citing ostracism, arbitrary suspensions and poor handling of internal crises. That rupture has now hardened into a clear declaration: his political home, he insists, is the African Democratic Congress.