The Pulpit and the Power: The Radical Governance Model of Pastor-Politician Aderemi Oseni

In the landscape of Nigerian politics, where the lines between service and self-interest often blur, Honourable Aderemi Oseni stands as a striking anomaly. He is a man who occupies two of the most influential seats in the country: a seat in the House of Representatives (representing Ido/Ibarapa Federal Constituency) and a pulpit as the Regional Pastor of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), Ogba Mega Region.

For Oseni, these roles are not in conflict; they are a unified mission. Whether he is dissecting federal road budgets with surgical precision or preaching to a congregation, his objective is the same: to fill a “leadership vacuum” he believes has stalled the Nigerian project for decades.

The Road Maintenance Revolution: “Value for Money”

One of Oseni’s most incisive contributions to the 10th National Assembly has been his insistence on data-driven oversight for road infrastructure. As the Chairman of the committee overseeing the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), he is blunt about the “terrible situation” inherited by the current administration.

His approach to road construction is rooted in a pragmatic philosophy: quality must trump quantity. He argues that the historical failure of Nigerian roads is a crisis of supervision, not just a shortage of cash.

“The truth is that the funds were not there when the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu came. What we are witnessing now is a transition where both allocation and implementation have improved,” Oseni explains. “But for funding, if you have ₦100 million for a job of ₦1 billion, just do the ₦100 million it can do and leave the rest. There is no point in covering ten kilometres for ₦100 million and ending up doing a shoddy job. It is a matter of poor supervision and poor qualitative assessment.”

To enforce this, Oseni and his colleagues introduced a 14-point legislative agenda designed to hold contractors accountable. He is a staunch advocate for the Minister of Works’ shift toward concrete road pavement, viewing it as a long-overdue solution to the short lifespan” of Nigerian asphalt.

The Spiritual Ethics of the Green Chamber

To many, the National Assembly is a den of lions, but Oseni navigates it with the calm of a man who fears a higher power. He rejects the label of “jobless politicians,” insisting that governance is a calling for the prepared and the principled.

He is particularly scathing about the legacy of corruption, offering a grim prophecy for those who treat the public treasury as a personal vault.

“I stand to be quoted: the end of almost all of those who stole public money is never good. Four, five years after leaving office, they start begging, despite all they have stolen, because they used the money to buy what they really do not need. When you are greedy, anything you have is not your own.”

For Oseni, entering politics was an act of “governance evangelism.” He believes that staying home and complaining from the sidelines is no longer an option for those who claim to have integrity.

“If people like you and I had been in politics before now, the country would not be where it is today,” he notes. “My vision is to rewrite history and correct the mix-up in how the nation’s leadership handles our resources.”

The 2023 Blueprint: Winning Without the “Jamboree”

Oseni’s entry into the House of Representatives was not a quiet one. He won by a landslide so decisive that it became a national reference point. While other candidates were holding expensive rallies—which he dismisses as “jamborees”—Oseni was in the trenches, dividing each local government and every ward in his federal constituency into manageable units and visiting everyone of them personally.

“I didn’t do the normal things people do, going to a field and doing a jamboree. It’s a jamboree because it’s the same people attending everyone’s campaign. I visited every corner of my constituency. By the time the actual campaign started, it was too late for any other candidate to face me. By 2pm on election day, the result of my election from one of the local governments had been released and I won flatly. The incumbent that I contested against had to hurry out of the local government before 3pm, because according to him, the game was over. In another LG, I was declared winner before the official result was announced and by the morning of the following day, my result was the first to be announced across the country. I won by so much margin that no one thought of even challenging the result at the tribunal.”

The Road to 2027: Agodi and the Ibadan Factor

The whispers of Oseni’s gubernatorial ambition for Oyo State are no longer whispers—he has confirmed them “absolutely.” He, however said he has not openly made any declaration in that regard because of the need for proper consultation. According to him, his party, the All Progressives Congress {APC} has a culture that only allows flagbearers of the party to emerge through the traditional route, which ensure that the candidate to be presented is not just one that has capacity, financial war chest or well read but one that believes in the ideology of the party.

Filling a Vacuum
Faced with the question of what he wants to do if he eventually becomes Oyo State governor, Oseni pointed out that “we don’t have problems in Oyo State, just as we do not have problems in any part of the country when it comes to governance. The problem we have is leadership! The vacuum of leadership is the problem we have as a nation. When you look at what the Bible says in Proverbs 29:11; it says people will rejoice when the righteous is at the helm of authority and people will mourn when the wicked one is in power. It is quality leadership that we want to present. What Nigeria has as a nation is more than enough to take care of the people of this country, but because of leadership, we are where we found ourselves. Most of the things happening in the country is as a result of poor leadership. I want to give qualitative leadership and change the narrative.”

Speaking further on 2027 and his strategy for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu, the federal awmaker revealed that he has already put in motion a group known as the Remi Oseni Committee of Friends, a movement that already boasts over 260,000 members with identity cards.

“I have a movement called Remi Oseni Committee of friends, which I started since 2023 for the 2027 election. I already have over 260,000 members in that group with identity cards. So, if I want to run for any election in 2027, it’s already a done deal. The main focus, however, is for these members to encourage others to vote for my President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his re-election in 2027. And the target is to see how we can get him a minimum of one million votes in Oyo State. I decided to lead that campaign to give him one million votes in 2027

Power Shift Agitation in Oyo
Honourable, from all indications, is a realist about the “Ibadan Factor.” While there is a clamor for a power shift to other zones, Oseni argues that you cannot fight “grace”, insisting that Ibadan’s massive voting population is a mathematical reality that must be negotiated with, not ignored.

“Ibadan is the largest area of the state. Nobody can wake up from any part of Oyo State and hope to win without Ibadan compromising and supporting them. It is not about ‘we want it and we take it’; it is about negotiating for a win-win situation.”

Speaking further, Oseni said he has done a lot and made several useful contributions on the question of power shift, but insisted that it is unfortunate that no one can fight grace.

“Ibadan is the largest area of the state and when it comes to political calculations and analysis, there is nothing you can do with them presenting governorship candidates for the state. This is because every party wants to win elections and to achieve this, you must present candidates from areas with the largest voting population. I have mentioned to stakeholders that nobody can wake up from any part of Oyo State and hope to win without Ibadan compromising and supporting them. They need to negotiate with Ibadan and get the support so that both sides will see it as a win-win situation. Late Alao Akala that became governor did not get it because he came from Ogbomosho but by way of grace and circumstances. He couldn’t have become governor at all under a normal circumstances, except there was a prior negotiation from the beginning of the administration. You must negotiate with the leaders of Ibadan, the leaders of your party and the leadership of every other political party outside of your own, so that their candidates too will emerge from other areas outside Ibadan. You must negotiate with them from the on-set”, he said.

A Passmark for Tinubu
Oseni’s assessment of President Tinubu’s administration is perhaps the most robust defense of “Jagabanomics” to date. He points to student loans, tax reforms, and agricultural mechanization as proof of a shifting tide.

As a businessman in the downstream oil and gas sector, he offers a unique perspective on the removal of the fuel subsidy. While many complained, Oseni claims the removal saved the industry from a slow death.

“Immediately it was removed, I can tell you sincerely that I became a multi-billionaire because all my petrol stations are ‘wet’ every day now. Before, when you had 30 stations, you might only have four with products. The margin is now reasonable, and it has empowered middle-level operators. This is a president that is everybody’s president.”

He highlighted some of the achievements of President Tinubu to include

• Education: The Student Loan initiative as a “great equalizer.”
• Health: Declaring a state of emergency on cancer treatment, leading to patients getting subsidized treatment.
• Finance: Triple revenue targets met by the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS).
• Infrastructure: Massive “bold mega projects” currently underway across all zones.

Conclusion: A Leader in Wait
Honourable Aderemi Oseni is a man playing a long game. He is not just looking for a title; he is looking to apply a “spiritual standard” to a secular system. With a massive movement already behind him and a seat at the table of power in Abuja, he is positioning himself as the bridge between the Oyo of today and the Oyo of his vision.

As he puts it: “My declaration should not be about people clapping for me; it should be about the things they are looking for in a flagbearer.”