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“The road unfurls before us; everything is possible.”
—Peter Wentz
By Cosmas Omegoh
At dawn last Sunday, sounds of joy and victory were heard rising from many homes and hamlets in Osun State.
Senator Ademola Nurudeen Jackson Adeleke, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the July 16, gubernatorial election in the state had triumphed.
His victory seismic as it seemed had begun to resonate, after he pulled 403, 371 votes, to defeat incumbent Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Then moments later, the “Dancing Senator” put on his dancing shoes and started the jig in a manner he had never done before.
Progressively, Adeleke’s victory began to produce some of magic moments. Some in their jubilation kept honking their car horns. Some were performing assorted stunts on their motorbikes. One even reportedly by accident shot himself while firing celebratory shots. Such was their mood.
But why did Adeleke’s election victory elicit such frenzy? After all, he was not the first to win a governorship election in Osun State.
In a flash back,in 2018, Adeleke contested the same governorship position. He was on the winning way before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the contest inconclusive. In the rerun election that followed, Oyetola was declared the winner in a controversial circumstance. Adeleke headed for the Appeal Court where he got his mandate restored. But he lost that at the Supreme Court in one out of the many controversial rulings still hunting the apex court till today. Thus Oyetola went on to become the governor.
For Adeleke, losing that election was painful. But he took it in the spirit of a sportsman, waiting for another day.
His road to winning the last PDP primary election was as torturous as his governorship victory. A factional PDP governorship candidate had gone to court praying for its imprimatur on his candidacy. Even after Adeleke won the election proper, a cloud of uncertainty still hovered over his success until on Wednesday when the court declared him the rightful candidate of PDP for the election.
Indeed, Adeleke’s victory is akin to pulling the chestnut out of fire.
Some analysts say he literarily snatched victory from the tiger’s jaw because he overcame series of odds.
Here is an Adeleke who contested against an incumbent that deployed a heavy war chest, including the power of incumbency. Yet he, Adeleke, triumphed, even when in Nigeria, victory over an incumbent in an election is as difficult as water flowing uphill. Not when Oyetola’s APC forms the government at the centre.
Adeleke also won the ruling APC that was desperate to retain Osun State to boosts its chances in next year’s general elections.
Now, recall how days before the election, the APC Who-is-Who poured into Osogbo to take the state by storm. Among them was the party’s presidential standard bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the party chairman, Abdullahi Adamu. They were seen in a viral video declaring the election a must-win, while emphasising that the opposition would cry and kick, but that won’t matter.
Again, the Osun poll was one very dear to Tinubu in more ways than one. First, he is believed by many to hail from Iragbaji, the home town of the incumbent governor. In fact, it is believed that Tinubu and the governor are kinsmen. Tinubu was believed to have largely contributed to making Oyetola governor in the first place. Therefore, a second term for the later would have brought a lot to bear on Tinubu’s presidential ambition. But that didn’t happen.
While giving reasons why Adeleke won, some observers alluded that it was part of the electorate’s way of expressing their anger over his loss the last time. They believed that he was robbed of victory in the 2018 election. And to right the wrongs, they had to vote for him again.
Some people have been pointing to the implicit role played by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. Aregbesola, the immediate past governor of Osun State, and current Minister of Interior, had fallen out with Oyetola and his benefactor, Tinubu.
For long, Aregbesola withdrew his support for Oyetola’s re-election, and by extension the Jagaban of Borgu, and made no pretence about it.
He did that by jetted overseas for an undisclosed business while his party labored in vain.
It was also believed that the alleged poor performance of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s government and his seeming aloofness had their impact on the way things panned out.
Ostensibly, the angry and hungry Osun electorate desirous of change were believed to have made a statement with their votes, although some of them were said to have vowed to vote APC at the presidential level.
It was also believed that the popularity of the Adelekes helped them to swing victory to their side.
The governor-elect’s late elder brother, Isiaka Adeleke, a one-time governor of the state was loved even in death.
Ademola Adeleke himself was said to have earned tons of goodwill from his nephew and popular singer – Davido – who threw his weight behind him.
Besides, the people of Osun West were said to have lent him huge support because they had never produced governor of the state since 1999. Even the fact that many people are craving for a change – all coalesced to give Adeleke the edge he desired to win.
Even when Adeleke has his Certificate of Return in the bag, Governor Oyetola had signaled his intention to challenge his election in court, with no fewer than 50 Senior Advocates of Nigeria lined up for the bid.
For now, many bewildered Nigerians are waiting to see how far he can go.
Aside this, some observers are casting a pall over Adeleke’s willingness to deliver the right dividends to Osun State currently in dire straits.
Critics are unequivocal that the ‘Dancing Senator’ who is already looking forward to transmuting to a ‘Dancing Governor ‘ is more of a showman than a businessman. They warn that the business of governance is by miles difference from being a governor, fearing that it would take a miracle for Adeleke to restore the hope the people have been yearning for.
Adeleke’s traducers keep wondering what magic he would do to shore up the state’s internally-generated revenue to pay the huge workforce, let alone develop infrastructure.
They are united in affirming that he has a tall mountain to climb considering that education, healthcare, job creation, among other sectors are priorities waiting for his immediate attention.
However, they say should he falter, the people’s solace will lie in their readiness to beckon on the next man to rescue them four years after.
This they will continue to do until they find their desired rhythm. Only then will the people’s power be firmly entrenched and the Nigerian ruling class realise that, indeed, power belongs to the people – and going forward, will no longer take the electorate for granted.
But Adeleke’s acolytes are hopeful of even greater success. They believe that what their principal needs to do in order to achieve success is to head-hunt the right human resource to drive the key sectors of the state’s economy.
But until then, the big question waiting for Adeleke is: how far can he go when he takes over the reins of government soon? The answer is blowing in the wind.
Born on May 13, 1962, in Enugu, Adeleke who is also a businessman and philanthropist, hails from Ede.
After his primary and secondary education in Nigeria, he attended Jacksonville State University, Alabama, USA, majoring in Criminal Justice and Political Science. He later returned to Atlanta Metropolitan State College where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice in 2021.
He began his political career in 2001, and once represented Osun-West district in the Senate between 2017 and 2019. He was a former member of APC before decamping to the PDP in 2017 on whose platform he contested for governorship in 2018.
He is married with children.
