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From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
The July 16 governorship election in Osun State has come and gone, but the intrigues and politicking that played out will serve as a lesson for the politicians.
Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, who was the returning officer for the election, declared Ademola Adeleke of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the election and, thereby, returned as the governor-elect
The PDP won in 17 local governments with a total votes of 403,371 to defeat Governor Adegboyega Oyetola who polled 357,027 votes.
Jubilation took the air following the declaration of Adeleke, yesterday, as sons and daughters of Ede, the hometown of the governor-elect trooped out for the celebration.
Timi of Ede, Munirudeen Lawal, put on a face cap with the inscription of ‘Timi of Ede’ and sat at the entrance of his palace to receive guests. He commended the people for their support for the governor-elect, saying: “I am happy because our son is now the governor-elect and we thank God for that. It is a victory for the whole people of Osun because he had a wide spread of votes across the state.
“It is not only votes from Ede alone that gave him the victory, but, rather, it is the synergy between the people of the state that brought him to power.”
Meanwhile, while the monarch was receiving guests, there was wild jubilation in Ede immediately after Adeleke was declared the winner. Hundreds of the indigenes trooped out en masse to the major streets in the town, singing and dancing in celebration of Adeleke’s victory.
The jubilation was extended to the state capital in Osogbo, where the supporters of Adeleke descended on the billboards of Oyetola on the streets and started tearing them.
The celebration went on in Ile-Ife, where a man identified as Sunday Akingbala, reportedly shot himself while celebrating the victory of Adeleke. He was taken to the Seventh Day Adventist Church Hospital in Lagere, Ile Ife, but later referred to Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital.
Oyetola reacts
Governor Oyetola, who is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said he has taken cognisance of the results of the governorship election and would decide on the next line of action.
In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Ismail Omipidan, Oyetola said the party would be responding appropriately after studying the results and consulting with critical stakeholders of the party.
He called on his supporters to remain calm and urged the people to go about their businesses without let or hindrance, saying the security operatives should ensure the maintenance of law and order.
APC internal crisis affected chances of Oyetola
Former governor and Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, had declared a battle with Governor Oyetola and he boycotted the election, leaving his allies to work for candidates of their choices.
His aide and younger brother were sighted at a polling unit in Ifofin, Ilesa, where he was said to be working for the PDP. While some allies of Aregbesola openly declared and joined PDP before the election, others stayed in the party and played their game according to their mind. This unsettled misunderstanding affected the chances of Oyetola in no small way.
Some members of the splinter group of APC, The Osun Progressives (TOP), where Aregbesola belongs, have been making jest of Oyetola on social media.
Also, the obvious disappointment of the APC-led Federal Government played out in the election as some people insisted they were tired of APC and were not ready to hear about the party. The economic situation, high cost of living and others lamented by the masses were visited on Oyetola.
Lack of good relations by Oyetola’s cabinet members with people
Political observers noted that some of those who formed the cabinet of Oyetola were not in tune with the people and they lacked the appropriate electoral value to assist the party in winning the election in their areas.
Someone said: “The kitchen cabinet is populated by sycophants who mostly advised the governor wrongly. Some of the public statements by the stalwarts of the party in the media and the public were not in the best interest of the party.”
Fear of workers
There is obvious fear among the workers that Oyetola may not continue the full salary if he was re-elected. The fear of what happened during the administration of Aregbesola still gripped the workers who said the second term does not usually favour them.
Monarch’s support helped Adeleke
The outburst of Ataoja of Osogbo, Jimoh Olanipekun, against the government of Oyetola was said to have incited some indigenes of the town to vote against the APC.
There had been disagreement between the monarch and Oyetola over the movement of the housing base of the Air Force that was supposed to be cited in Osogbo, but was moved to the boundary of the hometown of Oyetola in Iragbiji.
For the first time, Osogbo and Olorunda that have the highest number of voters and have been the strongholds of APC were won by the PDP.
Obi congratulates Adeleke
Presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, yesterday, congratulated Ademola Adeleke, the Osun governor-elect in the last saturday governorship election in the state
Obi, in a statement said: “I extend my warmest personal congratulations to Ademola Adeleke on wining the Osun State gubernatorial election.
I also congratulate the candidate of our Labour Party, Lasun Yusuff, and his running mate, Adeola Atanda, for a hard fought battle and their spirit of resolve and sportsmanship, despite the outcome.
“To our the Obidient Movement Family and our supporters nationwide, the outcome of this particular election is not a verdict on our exponentially growing strength nationwide, especially when viewed against the fact that we are barely one month old in the party and we had to contend with forces that have been entrenched in the state for the last two decades. “However, within this very short period of only a few weeks, the Labour Party has made its presence and political impact felt nationally. We must strengthen our collective resolve not to relent in our noble march to take back our country.
“Much work remains to be done, hence we must focus the totality of our efforts now on the 2023 general election. In the fullness of time, our message of rescue and recovery will resonate through out the length and breath of the nation and most Nigerian electorate will buy in into our mission to take back Nigeria, for the purpose of rescuing it from continued decline, shift the national psyche from consumption to production and from sharing dwindling resources to creating wealth and frontally combating poverty.”
