WILL TRIUMPHS OVER INTIMIDATION AS ADELEKE WINS OSUN

• Osun people stand guard over votes

• Tinubu congratulates Adeleke

• Frank Tietie, other commentators hail INEC

By PHC Telegraph

The will of the people has prevailed in Osun State.

After weeks of tension, accusations of intimidation and apprehension over the possible deployment of federal might, Governor Ademola Adeleke has been declared winner of Saturday’s governorship election, securing a second term in office.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared Adeleke, candidate of the Accord Party, winner on Sunday morning after the conclusion of collation from the state’s 30 local government areas.

According to the official result announced by the Returning Officer, Professor Joshua Olalekan Ogunwole, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Adeleke polled 511,067 votes.

His closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress, APC, scored 444,815 votes, while Najeem Salaam of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, finished third with 17,180 votes.

The figures gave Adeleke a winning margin of 66,252 votes.

Adeleke won 19 local government areas, leaving Oyebamiji with 11.

Professor Ogunwole, after announcing the final figures, declared Adeleke duly elected, bringing to an end a tense contest which had generated considerable national attention.

But the Osun election may have produced something bigger than the figures recorded on the result sheets.

It demonstrated the determination of ordinary voters to stand by their votes and ensure that their choices counted.

Throughout Saturday and into the period of collation, the people of Osun remained vigilant.

There had been widespread fears before the election that intimidation, violence and the weight of federal power could affect the outcome. The campaign itself had been characterised by accusations and counter-accusations between the major political camps, while security was tightened across the state.

There were also incidents of violence. Electoral officials were reportedly hospitalised after an attack by suspected thugs on a polling unit in Osogbo.

Yet, voters turned out.

They voted.

And many stayed interested in what became of their votes.

In some locations, the determination of citizens to remain around the democratic process reflected the growing understanding among Nigerians that casting a ballot alone is not enough — the ballot must also be protected until it enters the final count.

For Adeleke, the outcome was a vindication of his confidence going into the election.

The governor, who had insisted that he would not be intimidated by the political forces ranged against him, described his victory after the declaration as a victory for democracy and the people of Osun State.

There was another development which attracted immediate attention.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu congratulated Adeleke on his victory.

Pelumi Olajengbesi, an Accord Party chieftain, disclosed that the President actually reached out to congratulate Adeleke even before INEC formally declared the final result.

Adeleke subsequently publicly thanked the President following his re-election.

The President’s gesture may help lower the political temperature in Osun, particularly given the apprehension in the run-up to the election over the possible use of federal institutions against the opposition.

Tinubu had, on the eve of the election, directed INEC and the security agencies to ensure a peaceful and transparent poll and specifically charged security agencies to protect voters and electoral officials.

Attention is also turning to the performance of INEC.

On ARISE Television on Sunday morning, lawyer and public affairs commentator Frank Tietie gave the electoral commission a positive assessment as analysts reviewed the conduct of the poll.

“INEC has done well,” Tietie said.

Other commentators similarly drew attention to the relatively successful conduct of the election and the importance of allowing the votes cast by the electorate to determine the winner.

Tietie’s assessment touches on one of the central questions that has dogged Nigeria’s democracy: Can INEC conduct credible elections?

The Osun experience suggests that it can.

It does not mean that everything went perfectly. There were reports of violence, allegations of vote buying and complaints surrounding the performance of BVAS in some locations.

But the larger picture emerging from Osun is of an election in which results from polling units were collated and a winner eventually declared on the strength of the votes recorded.

For a country already looking towards the 2027 general elections, that could prove to be one of the most significant outcomes of the Osun poll.

Confidence in the electoral system ultimately depends not merely on the sophistication of technology deployed by INEC, the number of security personnel on the streets or promises made by political leaders.

It depends on whether Nigerians believe that when they stand in queues, cast their ballots and wait for those ballots to be counted, their votes will determine who wins.

On Saturday, the people of Osun tested that proposition.

On Sunday morning, the Returning Officer supplied the answer:

Adeleke — 511,067.

Oyebamiji — 444,815.

And with those figures, Ademola Adeleke secured another four years as Governor of Osun State.

For Adeleke, it is a personal and political triumph.

For INEC, it is an important credibility test passed, even if imperfections in the exercise remain to be examined.

For President Tinubu, his congratulatory gesture sends an important signal about accepting the verdict of the electorate.

But perhaps the biggest winners are the people of Osun themselves.

Against the atmosphere of fear and intimidation which preceded the election, they came out to exercise their franchise and remained vigilant over the process.

The message from Osun is simple:

Let the people vote.

Let the votes count.

Let the people’s will prevail.