As battle for the soul of Osun in the August 8, 2026 Governorship election hots up, Governor Ademola Adeleke has tackled leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) including Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola and APC Governorship candidate, Munirudeen Oyebamiji saying no one can stop his re election bid.
Reacting to the statement credited to Oyetola during the emergence of Oyebamiji as the Governorship candidate at party primary held in the state, Governor Adeleke who spoke through his media officer, Olawale Rasheed, said “I will beat Oyetola and Oyebamiji by the mighty of God and people of the state.
Oyetola had told the gathering that the move to reclaim Osun State from Adeleke has begun with the emergence of Oyebamiji as APC candidate.
While describing Oyetola’s hope for victory as wishful
thinking, illusory grandstanding and a failure to accept the deep level of unpopularity of APC among the people of Osun state, Governor Adeleke said Oyetola’s regime in Osun is anti people era in the history of the state.
He stressed that Oyetola had run down the state of affairs at the time he took over the administration of the state in 2022.
He said, Oyetola reign was “a dark page in Osun socio-political history, a period neither labour nor any segment of our population want re-enacted”
Governor Adeleke who boasted of a mass movement behind his re- election bid mocked the minister and the APC for embarking on anti-democratic activities instead of marketing themselves to the people and potential voters.
“If you are sure you have the votes of the people, why are you deploying anti-democratic means to stop the unstoppable will of our people? It is shameful and reprehensible that those who claim to be popular are dead scared to face the people in a free and fair election.
“You and your proxy, now the APC’s governorship candidate, were central figures in the mismanagement that plunged Osun State into economic distress, characterised by half salaries, mounting debts, and poor service delivery to the people. Osun will not go back to the dark days”.
Governor Adeleke emphasised that his administration is currently reversing those damages and restoring dignity to governance in the State as attested to by several awards and recognition including the newest one, the winner of Primary health care leadership challenge for South West.
But in a swift reaction, the APC accused Governor Adeleke of being jittery of the emergence of Oyebamiji through consensus process.
In a statement issued by the party director of media, Chief Kola Olabisi said Governor Ademola Adeleke is being needlessly and excessively jittery and restless over the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Oyebamiji as the governorship candidate of the party in the seamless consensus primary election that took place in Osogbo, the state capital.
APC could not afford to lose any other state after Anambra State that was won by another party recently.
“It is balderdash for the verifiably embattled Governor Adeleke who is yet to know the possibility of having a platform to even contest to continue to engage on the mundane issues that further registered his lack of what is required to give quality governance to the people of the state.
Mr. Adeleke should realise that the people of the state who cannot continue to be taken for granted by his gaffe, ridiculous public appearances and abysmal performance in the public office for the past three years are now wiser that his best are neither desirable nor suitable for the required tools to effectively transform the state.
The influenced and skewed netizens on the social media being bandied by the disorganised governor as being the voices of the independent-minded people asking for his re-election are nothing but a charade which is not capable of conferring any added advantage on his k-legged aspiration.
We understand the myriads of the intractable problems confronting the quasi-partyless Governor Adeleke as it is pretty impossible for someone to have the foreknowledge of his date of death that he would either be at peace with himself or any other person.
It should be known to Governor Adeleke and his co-travellers that just as there are pretenders and contenders, our governorship candidate, Asiwaju Bola Oyebamiji, who is not only lettered but also tested, very educated, reliable, witty and resourceful, is a serious contender who is going into the election of the 8th August, 2026, to win.
The people of Osun State are tired of sighting mere edifices as public schools without teachers for the past three years after the governor had sacked the 1,500 teachers employed by the immediate-past administration of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola now Minister of Marine and Blue Economy.
Should the people of the state continue to watch helplessly as all the hospitals in the state have become mere consulting centres for lack of drugs and manpower as the governor has blatantly refused to replace the thousands of the health workers employed by his predecessor who were vindictively sacked by him immediately he assumed the mantle of leadership in the state?
The paid canvassers for the doubtful reelection bid of Governor Adeleke should henceforth stop mistaking notoriety for popularity as it takes the blessing of the possession of a hindsight for an individual to differentiate between the two key words.
Our advice as a party is that the embattled Governor Adeleke should start writing his handover note as all the factors that worked in his favour in the 2022 election are no longer in existence coupled with the fact that he has disappointed the former leading lights in the PDP that he dumped who facilitated his controversial election but have migrated to our party in droves.
We are challenging Governor Adeleke to a television debate with our charismatic governorship candidate, Asiwaju Bola Oyebamiji, whose submission and delivery would be sufficient enough to make the partyless Osun State governor to have a rethink on his re-election bid.
