Even when he faced turbulent weather from the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) for the better part of his administration, Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke’s commitment to President Bola Tinubu and his second-term ambition remained consistent, even at the expense of his own re-election.
At both public and private fora, Adeleke would canvass votes for himself and do same for the President on the premise that the President’s economic reforms would need another four years to yield target results.
Tinubu was said to have acknowledged Adeleke’s open advocacy for him and welcomed his alleged defection plan to the APC before the plan met a brick wall. But no sooner had Adeleke defeated Tinubu’s party in the August 16 governorship election with 511,067 votes in 19 local government councils against the APC candidate Alhaji Bola Oyebamiji’s 444,815 votes in 11 local government councils, than the pragmatic Tinubu warmly received Adeleke in the Villa where the latter presented his certificate of return to his host.
Tinubu would take a step further by approving Adeleke as Osun State coordinator of his campaign council, the inauguration of which held in Abuja last week where Adeleke shone like the brightness of the firmament.
The Governor was back in the state and on Thursday, he shone again at the state presidential campaign inauguration in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, where members of his Accord, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the APC harmonised under his leadership and promised to work collectively for the success of Tinubu in the January 2027 election.
Former Interim National Chairman of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande, attended the occasion and paid tribute to Adeleke whom he admitted graciously accepted the APC to secure maximum votes for the President’s re-election.
Also in attendance was the National Secretary of the APC, Senator Ajibola Basiru, who had been earlier scheduled to be in Kaduna. He said he needed to delay his trip because home affairs were more pressing in that context. Like Akande, Basiru also acknowledged Adeleke’s energy and versatility, both of which, he noted, the Governor displayed at the national inauguration last week, hence his alignment with the decision which made him the state coordinator.
Basiru emphasised that the season of political differences is over and urged all members to mobilise their supporters to achieve the desired results for which the campaign council was inaugurated under the headship of Adeleke.
He used the event to assert his political status in national politics, saying: “Everybody who matters in Osun politics is here today. As the National Secretary of the APC, I am, by my position, the most senior political office holder in Southern Nigeria today.”
Perhaps for effect, the Governor re-enacted his Abuja dance steps on his way to the podium where he officially welcomed leaders of the coalition to the inauguration and affirmed that the alliance was more than mobilising and promising 1.5 million votes to the President.
He said it was a harmonisation of the state’s first eleven of which the President is proud, declaring: “We have all the strikers, the defenders and the midfielders. This rainbow coalition of Accord, APC and PDP structures is superbly potent to deliver Osun overwhelmingly to Mr President come next year January.”
The Governor described the President as a man of unquantifiable importance to the state and Nigeria as a whole.
He, however, made a clarification ostensibly to allay fears expressed by some candidates, especially those from his party. He explained that the coalition is strictly put together for the presidential election only, while the parties would revert to their individual identities at other elections.
“While we will join hands to deliver Mr President on his party platform, coalition partners are free to work for their party candidates during the senatorial, House of Reps and House of Assembly elections. What ties us together is the presidential, not the legislative elections,” he stressed.
Adeleke also assured that the festering local government crisis would be resolved as soon as the ongoing discussion is concluded, urging all sides to wait for the good news.
“We must accept God’s will and rally round the President irrespective of our previous disagreements,” he admonished.
Witnessing the inauguration were two former Deputy Governors, Senator Iyiola Omisore and Mrs Titi Laoye-Ponle. Also in attendance were Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun, Professor Olu Aina, Professor Sola Adeyeye and others.
Their presence reduced the absence of former Governor Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, Oyebamiji and others to insignificance. A former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ajibola Famurewa, picked a hole in the absentees’ action.
“When political stalwarts like Chief Bisi Akande, Senator Iyiola Omisore, and key leaders gather to drive the party forward, no serious politician should offer excuses for staying away. Out of genuine love for the party, state, and President, everyone should set aside differences, join forces, and move the campaign train forward together,” he told a medium.
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