If you visit any part of Osun state right now, you are likely to still find the people in jubilant mood. Right now, even in the most hidden towns of the state, the excitement is palpable, you could feel it in the air. There is a new dawn beckoning in Osun. In another couple of months, there will, barring all unforeseen circumstances, be a change of government in Osun state. The incumbent governor, Gbenga Isiaka Oyetola of the APC, will hand over to the governor elect, Senator Ademola Adeleke of the PDP. After a hard fought electoral contest, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Ademola Adeleke, scored 403,371 votes to emerge victorious over the incumbent governor who polled 375,027 votes.
Although 15 political parties took part in the election, the race was actually between the PDP and the APC, a rivalry that was formed in the 2018 governorship election.
It must be said that not many saw this coming. Not even members of the PDP were expecting a resounding victory as witnessed in the concluded election. In 2018, Mr Adeleke won the first round of the election but was later defeated in the rerun with only 482 votes. However, in last Saturday’s poll, the margin of victory is 28,344 votes.
Adeleke won in 17 of the 30 local government areas. He also won some local governments in the strongholds of the APC, such as Ilesa West and Ife North. He also won a decisive victory in Osogbo, the largest voting bloc of the state. Senator Adeleke’s popularity was defined by victories in strategic local governments and a brilliant challenge in areas expected to be the stronghold of the APC. He also maintained a clean sheet in his own Osun West domain.
It was no secret that there were cracks in the Osun APC ling before the elections. The party was divided between factions loyal to the incumbent governor and those of the past immediate governor, the current minister for interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. It was crisis that had been lingering for about four years running and remained unabated until it finally aided the PDP to nail it’s coffin in the state.
Thus, the party approached the election on Saturday split from the middle. The governor and his advisers failed to make good on their promise to emerge victorious without Aregbesola’s support and blessings.
In order to clearly distance himself from the elections, Aregbesola travelled out of the country before the election. Although there were speculations that he and Oyetola had mended fences before the election took place, but his action proved otherwise. He should’ve stayed back in Osun to galvanise support for the incumbent and line ou his supporters behind him.
There is little argument that the governor is a gentleman, who kept many of his promises to the people. His performance in debt repayment, salaries to workers and stability of the state’s solvency are not under scrutiny, but yet, his overall performance still left a lot to be desired. According to City People investigations, there were quite a handful of reasons why the people of Osun voted against governor Oyetola. The following are a few of the reasons.
Clearly, the people were tired and frustrated. The economic hardship in the country is also biting hard in the state and they needed a change. They held the governor responsible for the high cost of living, insecurity and uncertainty, largely blamed on the ruling APC nationwide. The APC and all its candidates will have to bear this burden in the coming 2023 general elections. Although, most of the electorates spoken to said they would vote APC and Bola Tinubu in the presidential elections next year.
Another key reason why the people of Osun voted against their governor, Oyetola and went for Senator Adeleke of the PDP instead, is the fact that the Adelekes have been of massive support to the indigenes of the state in terms of offering various forms of financial empowerment to help them cushion the harsh effect of the biting economy. It thoroughly irked the people that the government very little in terms putting together empowerment programmes that would alleviate the suffering and offer them support. And this is where the Adelekes beat the government hands down. While the Oyetola led administration did not do enough to provide adequate stomach infrastructure for the people, the Adelekes had made available several empowerment arrangements and foundations that cater solely for the economic upliftment of the people. And naturally, the people figured that for Senator Adeleke and his family to be doing all of these for them despite that they are not in government, they not only deserve their votes, they would also certainly do more them when Adeleke gets into power and has government structure at his disposal to cater for the people.
Another factor that worked against the APC and Governor Oyetola was the fact that the Adeleke family, spear headed by the scion of the family, Adedeji Adeleke, the billionaire elder brother of Senator Ademola Adeleke, pumped a lot of money into the prosecution of Adeleke’s governorship aspirations. Even on the election, it was widely reported that they matched APC naira for naira in terms of vote buying. In fasct, in some cases, they outbid the APC. A lot of the little skirmishes reported at the polling units among voters on Saturday was mainly because of money. CITY PEOPLE can report that the people were “sensitized” to come out en masse partly by the fact that monies would be available to buy votes and they would be willing to sell. They got money from all the parties willing to dole out to them in different values: N10,000, N5,000, and so on. One voter even complained that she was supposed to get N10,000 from one of the parties, but the sharer of the money shortchanged her.
This next reason is also another major reason why the incumbent governor lost his bid for reelection. Those close to the governor have hinted that his kind of politics would not stand the whirlwind of the dancing senator whose populist mien is infectious. “Oiling” the party machinery was necessary to keep the house together and enhance comradeship within the fold. CITY PEOPLE gathered long before the election that party leaders at the grassroots had complained of the failure of the government of Mr Oyetola to make funds available to them to help “keep the people happy.”
“Oyetola is not the kind of person who throws money around,” a source said. “He is going to carefully examine the proposal and determine carefully what is to be done and what amount is going into it before you can get the money out. But money is what speaks in this clime.”
Another APC loyalist who asked not to be named, said “we knew he would lose because he is not like an Aregbesola who would bulldoze his way to get what he wants.
“Even if he is losing this election, he would rather lose it than fight dirty to retain office.”
It was also reported that Governor Oyetola was not in good terms with many Osun monarchs. It was suspected that his style of not paying attention to the traditional rulers’ needs and taking good care of them degenerated into a frosty relationship with most of them. On the other hand, Senator Ademola Adeleke was taking very good care of all the traditional rulers and was able to get their commitment and assurance that they would rally support for him and get their people to vote for hi. As it turned out, they all kept to their words.
WALE LAWAL
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