Opinion

By Emeka Omeihe 

PENULTIMATE Saturday’s governorship election in Osun state has come and gone with the declaration of incumbent Governor, Ademola Adeleke of Accord Party as the winner. He secured 511,067 votes to beat his closest rival, Bola Oyebamiji of All Progressives Congress (APC) who got 444,815 votes in the hotly contested off-cycle poll.

With the declaration of the result by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the outcome of that election has for now, been settled. That is not to foreclose other constitutional remedies available to political parties that may not feel satisfied with the poll outcome.

 But that election result is remarkable in the way it is perceived by political parties, Politicians and the larger public. It has come to represent different things for different people depending on the divide from which it is being viewed.

Divergence of views on what the result outcome represents could be discerned from the congratulatory message sent by President Bola Tinubu to Adeleke even when the result was yet to be officially announced by INEC. In that message, the President said its outcome reflected the will of the people, the confidence the people of Osun state have in Adeleke and a fitting assurance that democracy will continue to flourish in the country.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC), said while congratulating Adeleke that the election demonstrated that political power and government machinery could not necessarily override the will of the voters. “In a democracy, you may control the government and all the forces it commands, but you cannot control the people’s mind or obtain their consent by force” the party stated. 

Inter-Party Advisory Council, Osun state chapter shared similar view when it described the outcome of the poll as an affirmation of the people’s resolve to keep the governor in office for another four years. There are others who see the election as evidence of the federal government’s commitment to free, fair and credible elections.

That was perhaps, what Adeleke implied when he thanked the president “for making sure democracy lives on, because you fought for it”, while acknowledging what he called the president’s support for free and fair election in the state. Adeleke went further to reaffirm his earlier endorsement of the President’s second term bid. 

Apparently capitalising on his statements, the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo quickly congratulated Adeleke for his historic victory, public and unequivocal endorsement of president Tinubu for the 2027 election. He said of the governor, “you are a man of integrity and honour. Agreement is agreement”.

Keyamo’s reaction conveyed the unmistakable impression that by thanking the president and re-affirming support for his 2027 ambition, Adeleke was just fulfilling an understanding with the presidency. Its reading is that there was an understanding between the governor and the presidency on the direction of the poll before the actual contest.

Adeleke’s campaign team did not take kindly to that insinuation. It rejected the suggestion of a political bargain as an attempt to undermine the resilience of Osun people, insisting that the governor’s support was based on the president’s reforms and performance. 

“Do not undermine the resilience of the Osun people. There is no agreement”, the campaign team said.

But the APC Osun state had a different perspective on the election outcome. Director-General of the state’s governorship campaign, Oluwole Oke said the governor did not secure the highest number of valid votes. According to him, the party will examine all issues arising before and during the election against the Electoral Act and other relevant laws before announcing its position.

When this is paired with an earlier statement by its director of media and information, Kola Olabisi that an election cannot be said to have been concluded without exploring all constitutionally allowed legal options, it would seem the party will challenge the poll outcome at the tribunal. That would raise issues about the president’s views on the significance of Adeleke’s victory and Keyamo’s claim of an agreement that facilitated it.

Or, could it be for fear of a tribunal challenge that Adeleke re-endorsed Tinubu’s 2027 presidential ambition immediately after his victory and proceeded to pay a visit to him? But can the Osun state APC really go against an election outcome the president praised in such glowing terms? 

Nothing is impossible in this clime. Not with the declaration as winner of a contestant who came fourth in a governorship election in Imo state by the court.

There are off course, consequences depending on the way these questions are resolved. A challenge to Adeleke’s victory at the tribunal risks alienating his team of supporters. That may also put at risk his support for the president’s 2027 re-election bid.

It is possible some influential party chieftains from Osun state may be pressing to explore the legal option to the fullest. They may also want to diminish the governor’s electoral value just as they did when he attempted to join the APC. But the lessons of Adeleke’s victory should be instructive enough to that tendency.

 It is difficult to sustain the insinuation of an agreement in the face of these developments. Not with the high level of violence that led to the death of about 30 people in the weeks preceding the election. Not with the incendiary language of political discourse that put the lives of the people in mortal danger. Not with the command by a leading senator to his party members to kill Accord party members.

It was during that election period that we learnt for the first time, that party members could be killed with votes. “Kill Accord Party members with votes” is now being pushed forward to cover up an obvious invitation to lawlessness and disorder. 

That is not the language of decent political discourse. It is not the tone of understanding, tolerance but do-or-die politics that has been the country’s greatest undoing. It is difficult to conceive of an agreement in the rancorous and deadly political campaigns that hallmarked the Osun election.

A governorship election that saw to the deployment of 30 commissioners of police, 15, 000 other police personnel, the military and civil defence operatives (with a Deputy Inspector-General coordinating), spoke eloquently of how precarious and deadly the security situation was. How do we account for the presence of APC bigwigs including the senate president and governors in Osun state just because of one singular election? 

Vote buying trended heavily during the voting period. Allegations of prospective voters being paid between N10, 000-N20, 000 for each vote, marked an all time high in the annals of that electoral malfeasance. These are not the signals you get when there is an agreement between major contesting parties. It is not what you get when parties are playing according to the rules. It is not the culture of free, fair and credible electoral conduct especially from the point of view of the contestants.

It was a crude and rough encounter where the rules of engagement were observed in the breach. Adeleke’s victory given all that transpired before, during and even after the election was a triumph of the sovereignty of the electorate. It serves some lessons.

A.I

Aug. 24, 2026

Tags: Emeka Omeihe Osun poll

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