Tinubu didn’t provide any support to Adeleke – Campaign spokesperson, Olajengbesi

Tinubu didn’t provide any support to Adeleke – Campaign spokesperson, Olajengbesi

The spokesperson for the Ademola Adeleke Governorship Campaign Council, Pelumi Olajengbesi, speaks with Yusuf Oketola on the outcome of the August 15 governorship election.

How would you assess Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory in the August 15 election?

Adeleke’s victory is a reflection of the desire of the people of the state. It is the will of the people that Adeleke returns as governor for the second term, having performed excellently well. In the history of Osun State, we haven’t had a governor who has worked very well like Adeleke in the area of infrastructure. We haven’t seen a governor who has placed premium attention on the welfare of the people of the state, particularly the workforce. The outcome of the election is a confirmation that the people genuinely love him.

How much did Adeleke’s endorsement of President Bola Tinubu for a second term contribute to his victory?

The governor’s endorsement of Tinubu does not have anything to do with his victory. Adeleke is a very popular candidate. The people of Osun State voted for him. Tinubu did not provide any support to Adeleke. The APC supported their candidate and released resources for him. They used the instrumentalities and machinery of government against the state government. If you look at the reaction of Davido (David Adeleke), you will understand that he has been realistic with himself because we didn’t get any goodwill. Adeleke did not get any favour from the Federal Government. Adeleke won the election on his own popularity and on the goodwill of the people of Osun.

There has been some criticism of Governor Adeleke’s decision to endorse President Bola Tinubu for a second term. Why do you think some people are unhappy with the endorsement?

Supporting Tinubu in 2027 is by choice for the people of Osun. However, the people have a lot of faith in Governor Adeleke, who is supporting the President. 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. But Mr President has been able to turn the economy around and ensure that state governments get funds to be able to do more projects, address the issue of salaries and take care of the needs of the people. That is why we are seeing infrastructural development happening across the country and in the states.

If you want Nigeria to grow, you need to invest so much in education and infrastructure. When these two are addressed, the state naturally would just be on autopilot and the people will be able to survive. We are experiencing this in Osun because the governor is investing in education and infrastructure. Mr President has done enough for the state and they still want more.

However, I reckon with the fact that some persons might not be happy that the first thing Governor Adeleke did was to endorse the President after his victory on August 15. The reality is that the people of Osun State went through fear, intimidation and harassment in the hands of the Federal Government. The election was not fair and free but the people won at the end of the day because the governor has strong support from the people. In view of that, people can be dissatisfied that Mr Governor is aligning with the President. I know for a fact that the people of Osun will vote for Tinubu or wherever Governor Adeleke is going with.

The Osun election was widely described as highly monetised. How much did your party spend on the election?

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. But I know for a fact that APC was buying votes for as much as N50,000 per vote. In my own constituency, APC was paying N50,000 per voter. What the people did was that they collected APC’s money and still voted for Governor Adeleke. It was true that the election was highly monetised but that was done by the APC. We are currently writing a letter to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission. I am doing that personally for the sake of posterity. EFCC must investigate the funds deployed to Osun by APC. How do you bring cash as much as N110bn? We even have another report that the money is over N60bn. Initially, there was N60bn and another N50bn, making about N110bn in a country where people are suffering, where the economy is suffering.

I understand now that there is a crisis in APC because of how the money was spent. EFCC must investigate that money because it was brought in cash and by private jet. We are seeing mints, new notes of N1,000. The money must have come from the Central Bank of Nigeria and the APC deployed the money across the entire local governments, begging people to vote but the voters declined. I can tell you in the process of the election, the police were biased, over 50 people were arrested and detained for no reason. It was actually a bad experience the people of Osun State had.

The APC has alleged irregularities in the election and questioned the credibility of the result. What is your response to those allegations?

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. I have also read other reports that the national secretariat of the APC does not endorse that statement. The Director General of the APC campaign, Wole Oke, who is the biggest loser in the election, uttered that statement. I don’t think that is the general opinion of APC members. But like I said earlier, the election was transparent. People voted even though it was not free and fair. The poll was credible because people voted and the results were transmitted even before it was collated. We have already seen the result on the IREV. We knew what happened; we had the result.