Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has accused the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, of making an open threat to rig the 15 August governorship election in the state.
Mr. Adeleke made the allegation in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, and obtained by journalists in Osogbo on Sunday.
The governor was reacting to comments made by Mr. Oyetola while addressing All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders and supporters in Osun State on Saturday.
The former Osun State governor, Mr. Oyetola, who lost his re-election bid to Mr. Adeleke in the 2022 governorship election, had urged the incumbent governor to prepare for defeat in Saturday’s election.
Mr. Oyetola also dismissed the significance of Mr. Adeleke’s endorsement of President Bola Tinubu for the 2027 presidential election, insisting that the endorsement would not prevent the APC from reclaiming the Osun governorship seat.
The minister was responding to allegations by Mr. Adeleke that APC members and leaders of the Accord were being intimidated ahead of the election.
Speaking in Yoruba, Mr. Oyetola said the governor’s complaints showed that he had realised he was losing his grip on the state.
He said:
“They realised that they are already losing out. Then they claimed to have endorsed us. He almost cried. Endorsement cannot retain this seat for you. We are taking it over.”
Mr. Oyetola added:
“If you like, make 10 endorsements, we will collect this one from you.”
Reacting, Mr. Adeleke described Mr. Oyetola’s remarks as an “open threat” to rig the governorship election.
The governor called on democracy advocates to take note of the minister’s comments and urged relevant authorities to ensure a free and fair election.
Mr. Adeleke also interpreted Mr. Oyetola’s Yoruba statement, “A maa gba lowo e,” as meaning “we will snatch it from him.”
According to Mr. Adeleke, his endorsement of President Tinubu demonstrated his electoral strength and his capacity to deliver Osun votes to the President in the 2027 presidential election.
Governor accuses Oyetola of hurting APC
Mr. Adeleke further alleged that the activities of Mr. Oyetola were damaging the image of the President and weakening the APC’s standing among Osun residents.
The governor said:
“Oyetola’s anti-people, anti-democracy activities are tarnishing the image of Mr President and deepening the unpopularity of Osun APC among voters and residents.”
Mr. Adeleke added that the comments amounted to a threat against the democratic process.
“A serving minister of the Republic had made an open threat against a free and fair election. The minister has personally confirmed all previous reports that Osun APC has lost the electoral confidence of the people and is therefore focused only on rigging next Saturday.”
Adeleke vows to resist alleged rigging
The governor also accused Mr. Oyetola of making light of alleged attacks on Accord supporters in the state.
Mr. Adeleke claimed that innocent Accord members had been killed and injured by suspected APC thugs in the months leading up to the election.
He said:
“The minister has made a mockery of innocent Accord members who were killed and maimed by APC thugs in cold blood in the last two months.”
Mr. Adeleke further alleged that the minister was seeking to undermine the constitutional rights of Osun residents to participate freely in the electoral process.
However, the governor maintained that voters in the state would resist any attempt to manipulate the election.
“The bad news for the minister is that Osun people are determined to resist his sadistic agenda.”
Adeleke confident of victory
Mr. Adeleke, who defeated Mr. Oyetola in the 2022 governorship election, said he remained confident of securing another victory.
He also identified Mr. Bola Oyebamiji as the APC’s candidate and predicted that Osun voters would reject him at the polls.
Mr. Adeleke said:
“Our people rejected him in 2022, and they will reject his surrogate candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, next Saturday.”
The governor concluded by insisting that his administration would win through the support of voters rather than through manipulation of the electoral process.
“As for us, we are winning this election by the grace of God and mass support of the people. We are not going to snatch the democratic rights of the people as Mr Oyetola had threatened. We will be re-elected by the choice of the voters.”
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