Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has accused the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, of making comments that suggest the All Progressives Congress may attempt to manipulate the August 15 governorship election.
The Punch reported that Adeleke made the allegation in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, in Osogbo on Sunday.
The governor was reacting to remarks made by Oyetola on Saturday during an engagement with APC stakeholders and supporters in the state, where the former governor urged Adeleke to prepare for defeat in the forthcoming election.
Oyetola, who lost his re-election bid to Adeleke in the 2022 governorship election, had also dismissed the significance of Adeleke’s endorsement of President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Speaking in Yoruba, Oyetola said Adeleke’s endorsement of Tinubu would not save him from losing the governorship seat to the APC.
“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.
“If you like, make 10 endorsements, we will collect this one from you.”
Adeleke described the minister’s remarks as an “open threat” to the integrity of the August 15 election and urged democracy advocates to pay attention to the development.
He maintained that the people of Osun would oppose any attempt to undermine their votes and called for a credible and transparent election.
According to Adeleke, Oyetola had also criticised his endorsement of Tinubu, using the Yoruba expression, “A maa gba lowo e,” which translates to “we will snatch it from him.”
The governor argued that his decision to support Tinubu demonstrated his political influence and his capacity to mobilise votes for the President in Osun during the 2027 election.
Adeleke further accused Oyetola of undermining Tinubu’s political standing in the state and weakening the APC’s acceptance among residents.
“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.
“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.
“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. He has told the world that he is pushing to deny the people their rights to vote and be voted for.
“The bad news for the minister is that Osun people are determined to resist his sadistic agenda. Our people rejected him in 2022, and they will reject his surrogate candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, next Saturday.
“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.”
