Osun 2022: Intrigues As Oyetola, Adeleke Battle

Barely five days to the Osun governorship election, the question on the lips of many observers is who will win the  contest? The Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), has cleared 15 political parties and their candidates to contest in the election. 

Though 15 political parties were cleared for the election, the contest appears to be between the candidate of  the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC)  Gboyega Oyetola  and  that of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, (PDP)  Ademola Adeleke, though the chance of  other political parties cannot be overlooked.

Factors that may decide the winner of the July 16 election include. the popularity of the political party, acceptability of the candidate, post primary election fence-mending, among other issues.

While speaking last Wednesday at a governorship debate held in Osogbo, Oyetola said “I’m the candidate to beat any time, any day. My performance speaks for me and I don’t have sufficient time to go through it. Is it the food that has been given to the citizens of the state since April last year, is it the health, is it the support that I’m giving to the women with a micro-credit agency that has disbursed more than N4 billion?

“I have enough to be able to convince the people that I’m the best candidate for the job. I’ve gone to 27 local governments out of 30 and I see jubilation and excitement. I’m going to win that election come 16th July, 2020,”

Being the incumbent governor is a huge plus for  Oyetola and his party. The APC as ruling party is well known across the state having been in power for almost twelve years. It has structures in the nooks and crannies and its followership is second to none in Osun currently. The governor’s current position has no doubt given him ample opportunities to make contacts and build networks with the electorate ahead of the election.

One of the odds against Oyetola may be the political disagreement between the governor and his predecessor, Aregbesola. Some observers say that with the decision of some allies of the minister to join the PDP, the election will be a tough one.

However, a former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Kolapo Alimi, predicted a landslide victory for Adeleke in the forthcoming poll.

He said: “In 2018, Senator Nurudeen Adeleke led in the first ballot with 353 votes. In the poll held on 16th July, he will be victorious. The margin won’t be 353, not 3,500, not 35,000, but he will win by 100,000 plus. The person the people of Osun want now is Senator Ademola Adeleke.”

 A major obstacle to  Adeleke  chance in the election is the current state of the PDP in the state. The party is balkanised more than ever before with the group loyal to Prince Babayemi still largely aggrieved and unwilling to be part of Adeleke’s effort to win the election.

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