No One Can Defeat Adeleke In Osun Today – Accord Party Spokesman

Pelumi Olajengbesi, the spokesman for the Ademola Adeleke Campaign Organisation, Imole Campaign Council, speaks with Ademu Idakwo about the conditions under which his party and its candidate would accept the outcome of today’s governorship election in Osun State.

As a major contender in this election, how do you assess the Accord Party’s chances of winning on Saturday?

Accord is winning the election. We are very certain about this. The Governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has performed exceptionally well. The Governor’s way of life reflects that of the people; he has a good relationship with them, and the people are interested in voting for him.

We can see clearly that the APC is desperate. They are making every effort to intimidate and harass people, creating an atmosphere of insecurity that would make people want to stay away from the election. But we are very, very certain that this election is ours to win.

What feedback are you getting from voters across the state, and how do you think it will translate into votes?

The feedback has been very positive. When we commenced this campaign, the people of Osun State took ownership and launched it statewide.

The good thing about Osun State is that Governor Ademola Adeleke has worked in virtually every sector and district, making his performance highly visible to the people of the state.

What, in your view, are the key issues influencing the choices of Osun voters in this election?

It is also very, very easy for us because the immediate past administration performed very poorly. His performance was really bad. He was grossly incompetent as Governor, unable to pay salaries, unable to address the people’s key welfare needs, and with no major projects.

But this administration, under the leadership of Ademola Adeleke, has executed projects in Iwo, Ila and Ife, as well as major projects in Osogbo and many other places across the state. All the big cities have been properly urbanised.

This government has, I mean, what do you call it, constructed over 300 kilometres of road across the state. The government has addressed issues in the health sector, revamped the primary healthcare sector and all of that. So, the government has done very well. And you know the interesting thing about this government is that before it came on board, the major crisis we were facing as a state was the issue of salaries.

The government came on board, paid outstanding salaries, introduced a health insurance scheme for workers and retirees, and settled outstanding pensions and other obligations. This shows the government is placing great emphasis on the welfare of the people of Osun State. These are the key issues influencing Governor Ademola Adeleke’s chances.

Number one, he is very popular. He is loved by the people and loved on the streets. All the key stakeholders in Osun State want him and are supporting him. Again, one factor helping us is that the APC candidate is unpopular.

If you look at the current situation in the APC today, the party is deeply and seriously fragmented and divided. The reason is that only a fraction of the party supports the candidate, namely, a fraction of the former governor who lost the election to Governor Ademola Adeleke.

How would you rate the preparedness of the electoral umpire and the security agencies for the governorship poll?

Well, I am concerned about INEC’s preparedness because, ordinarily, by now, sensitive materials for the election should be available.

We just received a report today stating that they are not yet available, which is inconsistent with INEC guidelines. In any case, we trust that INEC will make every effort to ensure the election is credible and fair. However, we do not believe this election will be conducted on a level playing field.

The reason is that it is not just the election itself; pre-election activities are very important. If you look at what has happened in Osun State over the past three weeks or one month, people have been killed unnecessarily. The Nigerian Police have deployed their support behind the APC, arresting members of our Accord Party unnecessarily, and there are records of them, too many of them.

However, we believe that, despite all this intimidation and harassment, the people of Osun State will prevail and the election will be fair.

What are your biggest concerns, if any, about the conduct of the election?

The biggest concern in this election is safety and security. Mr Governor has said that his ambition is not worth anyone’s blood. We want a situation in which people can freely come out, cast their votes, and go home.

Our concern here is security because the election is just two days away, and people are still being killed in Osun State across several major towns.

We are certain that the election will produce the results desired by the people of the Accord Party because that is in the people’s interest, and there is no way anyone can manufacture any other outcome that contradicts the will of the people.

If you go around Osun State, the APC has conducted a lot of assessments, and they have shown that the party to win this election is Accord. We can see it visibly. So, we know that the APC does not have the capacity to make up even 30 per cent of the votes in this election. Our candidate cannot be defeated. That is absolutely impossible; you can’t even imagine it.

If the election does not produce the result your party expects, will Accord accept the outcome, or would it first assess the credibility of the process?

Adeleke, our candidate, can’t be defeated. No one can defeat Governor Ademola Adeleke in Osun State today. So, we don’t even contemplate defeat.

If our candidate is not announced, it would mean that someone somewhere sat down, wrote a result, and announced it to the public, which is highly unlikely and will not happen in Osun State. My message to my supporters is to come out and vote. They should come out en masse, vote, and remain peaceful.

What specific irregularities or shortcomings would lead your party to reject the outcome of the election?

The Accord Party will respect the will of the people. The will of the people is visible. The Accord Party is willing to accept the will of the people, which we already know is Governor Ademola Adeleke’s election to a second term.

I think one of the reforms I want to see in our electoral process is a reform of the recruitment process for leadership and, more importantly, the character of key stakeholders in our elections, namely the Nigerian Police and INEC. I think we need a complete revamp of our electoral system.

There are many crises and many problems, but it all boils down to our lack of democracy and, as a people, our lack of respect for the will of the people. I think the Nigerian Police need to do better. They need to understand that neutrality is a key ingredient of a successful election.

On the other hand, what factors would persuade Accord to accept the outcome, even if your candidate is defeated?

One factor that will make us regard this election as credible is for the security agencies to provide a neutral, level playing field and for INEC to be transparent in its dealings throughout the electoral process. We are not anticipating any defeat. We will win.