By Our Reporter
The spokesperson for the Ademola Adeleke Governorship Campaign Council, Pelumi Olajengbesi, has said Governor Ademola Adeleke’s endorsement of President Bola Tinubu for a second term did not contribute to his victory in the August 15 Osun State governorship election.
Olajengbesi, who spoke with Yusuf Oketola, said Adeleke won the election on the strength of his popularity and the goodwill of the people of Osun State.
He described the governor’s victory as a reflection of the wishes of the electorate, citing what he described as Adeleke’s achievements in infrastructure development and workers’ welfare.
“Adeleke is a very popular candidate. The people of Osun State voted for him. Tinubu did not provide any support to Adeleke,” Olajengbesi said.
He alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) deployed the resources and machinery of government against the Osun State Government during the election but was still unable to defeat Adeleke.
According to him, the governor did not receive any political favour from the Federal Government despite his subsequent endorsement of Tinubu for the 2027 presidential election.
Olajengbesi also defended Adeleke’s decision to support Tinubu, saying the endorsement was based on the governor’s assessment of the President’s economic policies and their impact on state governments.
He argued that increased federal allocations had enabled state governments to pay salaries and undertake infrastructure projects.
“The reason for the governor’s support for the President is very clear. Before Tinubu’s emergence, most of the state governments were suffering. They found it very hard to pay salaries and to meet up with their basic expectations and responsibilities as states,” he said.
Olajengbesi, however, acknowledged that some Osun residents could be unhappy with the governor’s decision to endorse Tinubu, particularly because of what he described as the experience of fear, intimidation and harassment during the election.
He nevertheless maintained that the people would support Tinubu or whoever Adeleke chooses to support in 2027.
APC accused of vote-buying
On allegations that the Osun governorship election was highly monetised, Olajengbesi denied that Adeleke’s campaign or the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) bought votes.
He alleged that APC members paid as much as N50,000 to voters in some areas.
“Accord Party did not distribute, share or buy a single vote. The election was won by the party with the support of the people of the state,” he said.
Olajengbesi further alleged that huge sums of money were deployed to Osun State by the APC during the election, claiming that the amount could have reached N110 billion.
He said he was preparing a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), calling for an investigation into the alleged funds.
“I am doing that personally for the sake of posterity. EFCC must investigate the funds deployed to Osun by APC,” he said.
He also alleged that the money was brought into the state in cash and claimed that new N1,000 notes were distributed during the election.
The APC has not been independently established as the source of the alleged N60 billion or N110 billion sums mentioned by Olajengbesi in the interview.
‘APC bitter over election result’
Reacting to the APC’s rejection of the election result, Olajengbesi said the party was unhappy because it lost the poll.
He dismissed allegations of irregularities and questioned the statement credited to the APC campaign leadership challenging the credibility of the election.
According to him, the election was credible because voters turned out and results were transmitted through the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
“The APC is bitter about the result of the election. Hence, you cannot blame them. You can’t beat a child and tell the child not to cry,” he said.
He further claimed that the results were available on IReV before the completion of collation, arguing that this demonstrated the transparency of the process.
His comments come amid continuing political disagreements over the conduct and outcome of the August 15 election, which saw Adeleke secure another term in office.
The APC has continued to question aspects of the electoral process, while Adeleke’s camp has maintained that the result reflected the choice of Osun voters.
