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Former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has commended President Bola Tinubu for allowing the will of Osun voters to prevail in the August 15 governorship election.
Fayose said Tinubu could have deployed the powers of the Federal Government to help the All Progressives Congress (APC) win the election but chose not to do so.
Speaking on TVC News on Tuesday, Fayose compared Tinubu’s handling of the Osun election with his experience during the 2018 Ekiti governorship election, which the APC’s Kayode Fayemi won.
He said, “The only thing I heard towards the end of the election was that, ‘the federal government would take it by force’. If the federal government wants to take an election, they will take it.”
Fayose recalled that the Federal Government withdrew his security personnel and allegedly disrupted communication at the Ekiti State Government House days before the 2018 election.
“Let me give you an instance. Ekiti was taken from me in 2018 by all means possible,” he said. “Those features (in Ekiti) did not play out in Ede. Three days before the election, the government house was jammed. You can’t talk to anyone on the phone.”
“All my security details were taken to the police headquarters in Ado-Ekiti. I was left with an orderly. That is when you are talking about federal might,” he added.
The former governor also alleged that Lawal Daura, then Director-General of the Department of State Services, coordinated the security operations during the 2018 election.
“Under Buhari, they can take anything. Governor Makinde chose Daura as running mate. Daura, the former DSS boss, coordinated that election,” Fayose said.
He praised Tinubu for what he described as a more tolerant approach to political opposition and electoral contests, saying, “If not for Tinubu, who has been very magnanimous in his actions. You know the way they talk to him on social media. Have you seen him go after them for arrest?”
Fayose added, “We have to thank God for this president for showing that it is possible to have an election of our dreams. Tinubu appointed INEC chairman, IGP, and army chief. Don’t tell me that that combination will not take any election if they want to take it.”
His comments followed the victory of Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, over the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji. Adeleke secured 511,067 votes against Oyebamiji’s 444,815, while ADC candidate Najeem Salaam polled 17,180 votes. The result, Fayose argued, showed that federal power did not determine the outcome of the Osun election.
