Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports.
After decades of marginalization, Ademola Adeleke of the Osun West Senatorial District, specifically Ede, emerged as the state’s governor-elect – the baton of governorship has frequently been exchanged between the state’s two main senatorial districts, Osun Central and Osun East.
Ademola Adeleke of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, defeated Governor Gboyega Oyetola of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, with 403, 371 votes.
In the popular vote, the incumbent governor was defeated. The ruling APC and its candidate have suffered a crushing defeat, but what went wrong for Oyetola?
In many ways, Oyetola laid the groundwork for his own demise. He made some critical errors that turned the people, supporters, and especially his predecessor, former Governor Rauf Aregbesola, against him and led to their support for the opposition’s mission. Here’s where it all went wrong:
Aregbesola feud remains unresolved
Oyetola’s demise was largely due to his unwavering animosity toward his former boss. Oyetola was Aregbesola’s Chief of Staff.
Their disagreement stemmed from Aregbesola’s preferred candidate, Moshood Adeoti, a former State Government Secretary.
Aregbesola, who was dissatisfied with Oyetola’s candidacy, is said to have been forced to work for Oyetola, who has the full support of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in 2018.
Against this backdrop, Aregbesola has been severely afflicted. The interior minister and his larger supporters campaigned openly and secretly against Oyetola’s reelection.
Remember how The Osun Progressives (TOP), an Interior Ministry-aligned group, waged a bloody campaign against Oyetola?
During the primaries, they backed Moshood Adeoti, a former state government secretary, to win the APC governorship ticket against Mr Oyetola. Adeoti was defeated in the primaries by Mr. Oyetola and went to court to challenge the results; the legal battle was a major distraction for the governor.
The enmity reached a climax when Aregbesola flew out of the country and refused to vote in the governorship election on July 16th at the Oyetola mega rally and his Ilesha country home.
Apart from Aregbesola’s removal from Oyetola, the governor’s structure was also underfunded, which hampered election planning and organization.
The alleged stolen mandate and BIVAS
The results of the Osun 2022 state governorship election suggested that the people of Osun state spoke so loudly – that votes do matter and Adeleke is preferred by the people, despite his danceable and ‘unserious’ personality.
The vast majority of Osun residents are still reeling from the state’s 2018 governorship election, with many believing Adeleke was robbed of his mandate.
Osun voters expressed their dissatisfaction with the implementation of the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) in the context of a free and fair election. BIVAS, an electronic device designed to read PVCs and authenticate voters, denies the incumbent the ability to infiltrate the electoral process because signed results sheets are immediately captured and uploaded to INEC servers.
Remember that the Osun governorship election was declared inconclusive in 2018. INEC called for rerun elections in seven local governments in 2018, which Oyetola won by a razor-thin margin.
People perceived this year’s election as retaliation for Oyetola.
This was exacerbated by the APC government at the center, which has failed to meet the expectations of the people since taking office in 2015.
Municipal government
Oyetola did not appeal to the psyche of the vast majority of Osun residents by speaking the language they best understood in a state dominated by Muslims. People frequently complain about hunger.
While his opponent is well-known for his charitable work, Oyetola is viewed as stingy and unpopular. He is also accused of not providing enough welfare and sharing palliatives to alleviate poverty’s hardships.
Rauf Aregbesola, for example, used to distribute rams to Muslim clerics for the Sallah celebration during his predecessor’s tenure. Aregbesola has a system in place to keep his broad base of support intact.
This is part of what Oyetola failed to properly manage. He was widely despised for being perceived as too elitist, refusing to identify with Islamic clerics.
Insurgency among Osun workers
Osun State civil servants and workers worked directly or indirectly against Oyetola’s reelection bid.
Prior to the election, there was widespread concern about the welfare and payment of retired civil servants and state workers.
Osun civil servants were dissatisfied with Oyetola despite the release of N1 billion for the payment of pensions to state retirees and the facilitation of promotion.
The settlement of retired Primary School teachers and Local Government workers, as well as the payment of contributory pensions to retired officers of the civil service and parastatals, were among the inherited issues that Oyetola faced.
The Davido-Portable love story
Another blunder is Oyetola’s choice of Portable for the campaign.
Portable, an unruly musician, tainted Oyetola’s political reputation. For obvious reasons, the ‘Zazu’ crooner could not compete with Davido’s philanthropic and political value, Ede, who is well-liked by his fans in his home country.
While Portable’s outburst wreaked havoc on social media, Davido was out on the streets canvassing votes for his uncle’s governorship bid.
Adeleke was elected on the basis of sympathy votes cast by Osun State residents.
