Ahead of the August 15 Osun state governorship election, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has continued to express optimism that its candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji (AMBO) would emerge victorious.
This is just as the APC National Secretary, Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Bashiru, asked Governor Ademola Adeleke, a candidate of the Accord Party in the election to stop casting aspersions on President Bola Tinubu and other party’s leaders over an election that is about 11 days away.
The call came after Deputy President of the Senate and Secretary of the APC National Campaign Council, Senator Barau Jibrin, said with the overwhelming support of Osun people across all 30 local government areas, the party is confident that its flag-bearer will win.
The APC National Secretary Bashiru spoke with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday against the backdrop of comments by Adeleke allegedly blaming president Bola Tinubu and the immediate-past governor of the state, Adegboyega Oyetola, over happenings in the state ahead of the election in the state.
The Osun governor at a campaign rally in the state alleged that extrajudicial killings were occurring in the state and urged President Tinubu not to turn a blind eye to the development.
Adeleke allegedly threatened that a repeat of the 1983 political crisis would be visited on Osun state should he lose the August 15 governorship election.
“President Bola Tinubu, something is happening in Osun that you have not moved to put an end to. They are killing our people. You are the President; you are the father for all of us. Osun has said they won’t allow rigging.
“There won’t be rigging in Osun. Remember what happened in 1983. It started in Yorubaland. When they cheated Bola Ige and Ajasin. Osun will not agree. We want a free and fair election. President Tinubu, I am passing this message to you. We have endorsed you; why are they still killing us?” he queried
But the APC Chief Scribe dismissed Adeleke’s claims, asking him to run an issue based campaign if he truly has what to show the people of Osun that should earn him a second term.
Bashiru said the governor’s outburst was born out of fear of imminent defeat, asking how a sitting governor can be crying over rigging in an election that is coming up in “eleven days from now when in politics 24 hours is enough to change things.”
The former lawmaker said the fear of Adeleke is well understood as he has no projects and programmes to campaign and solicit Osun peoples’ votes.
He pointed out that in infrastructure, over 20 roads in Osun are in dilapidated state while in social services like education there is about 30,000 teachers’ deficit.
Bashiru maintained that if such roads had been fixed, they would have boosted the economy of the state and if that teachers’ deficit was addressed, employment would have been created while adding value to the educational sector.
The APC National Secretary told Adeleke and his faction of the Accord Party that merely endorsing President Tinubu’s re-election is not a guarantee for the governor’s second term as he must face his political woes squarely.
Bashiru insisted that the growing popularity of APC and its governorship candidate, Oyebamiji, evident at the large turnouts during rallies is a nightmare for Adeleke who resorted to cheap blackmail to gain political sympathy.
The National Secretary reinforced the position of the Osun state chapter of the APC, urging Adeleke, to desist from heaping blame on President Tinubu and the immediate-past governor of the state, Oyetola over his political woes.
The state chapter in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Kola Olabisi in Osogbo on Tuesday, expressed dismay over the allegations against Tinubu and Oyetola, saying Adeleke was responsible for fuelling, promoting and bankrolling political violence in the state.
Olabisi stated that competition was strange to Adeleke, the reason he was “crying of political persecution all over the place without any tangible proof to establish his frivolous allegations.”
He reminded the governor that the endorsement of Tinubu as his presidential candidate in the 2027 election was not forced on him and the decision would not be the reason why he should not be prepared for a free and fair contest in the forthcoming Osun governorship election.
Olabisi said: “Why worry if it is true that Governor Adeleke has done well for his state, as the forthcoming 15th August, 2026 governorship election will be a yardstick to measure his claim in this regard?”
