Dare Babalola
Governor Ademola Adeleke has criticised the Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over its threats to involve federal authorities in the upcoming elections, stating that federal power is intended for promoting good governance, not facilitating election rigging.
The governor rebuked the party for tarnishing President Bola Tinubu’s reputation with threats to utilise federal institutions to manipulate upcoming elections.
In a statement signed by the governor’s spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, Adeleke stated this while addressing leaders and officials of the Accord party across the state’s 332 wards.
Adeleke emphasised that President Tinubu, as a committed democrat, would not condone such undemocratic actions, clarifying that federal authority is not a tool for election rigging.
“The President is using federal power to deliver on good governance, like the ongoing reconstruction of the Ibadan–Ilesa road, the loan programmes for students, and the pledge to institute state police, among others. Neither the President nor the top leaders around him support the threats by the Osun APC to disrupt upcoming Osun polls.
“I task Osun APC to stop denigrating the names of Mr President and the Federal Government. Instead of supporting Mr President and showing the world that the number one citizen is a democrat in words and actions, Osun APC’s campaign slogans have been entirely anti-people and anti-democracy.
“Osun people are passionate about free and fair elections. Our people insist on their votes deciding who wins and who governs them. Our duty as candidates is to market our manifestoes and seek their votes. Only electoral bandits boast of rigging in a democracy,” the governor told party chiefs and leaders.
“I call on Osun people to sustain and heighten their preparedness for August 15. Your votes will determine the winners. No force can override the people or God. Ignore those threatening you with federal power, they do not have the support of Mr President,” the governor noted.
The main speaker at the event, Rt. Hon. Lasun Yusuf, charged leaders to be on electoral war footing through house-to-house mobilisation and defence of votes and voting processes, declaring that the people own the power and their votes must count.
Chairman of the Elders’ Forum, Senator Olu Alabi, called on elders across local governments to launch electoral preparations to deliver their areas for Accord and ensure the re-election of Governor Ademola Adeleke.
The Chairman of Imole Movement, Prof. Wale Oladipo, and the State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Sunday Bisi, reaffirmed the endorsement of Governor Adeleke by the PDP, directing that PDP structures across the state should work to deliver votes for the governor.
House Speaker Rt. Hon. Adewale Egbedun, who was accompanied by members of the Osun State House of Assembly, urged leaders at the meeting to target over two million membership registrations for Accord, vowing that the governor will be overwhelmingly re-elected on August 15.
