The National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress and former two-term governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, on Tuesday, said that elections are ultimately decided by the people, not political officeholders.
Aregbesola, while cautioning the All Progressives Congress against overreliance on governors for electoral victories, during the public launch of ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi’s memoir, ‘The Loyalist,’ in Abuja, stated that the 2023 election results in the South West and South East regions confirmed this.
OSUN DEFENDER reports that several governors and lawmakers elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party and other political parties have defected to the ruling party.
But Aregbesola while addressing their defection, urged the APC leadership to ensure that the 2027 elections are conducted in a free, fair, and credible manner.
The former Minister of Interior stated, “I still want to say something more. Something is going on that is worrisome, especially for those of us who are Democrats or aspire to be general Democrats. The fact that certain governors are defecting to the APC shows that our unity (ADC leaders) is weakened. I laugh because recent statistics in Nigeria, based on the last election, do not support this belief. In the past, to quit the government and the federal social, let them commit to a free and fair electoral process. We will then see if it is true.
“The second point is a scenario where I want to use results from two zones—just two zones—to show that when a party controls a state, it may not necessarily translate to votes. I want to use the results from the Southwest and Southeast. In the Southwest, the APC controlled all but one state. Despite this, the party’s maximum performance in that election was 55%, with the other parties sharing the rest.
“The same applied in Lagos. The APC candidate lost his ward, local government, and state. So please, for goodness’ sake, where is it claimed that governors win elections against the people’s will? That is the Southwest.
“In the Southeast, the result is even more striking. The APC had only 5.8% of the total vote from that zone. I’ll stop at that. The results of these two zones clearly show that governors do not win elections — the people do. What we require from the government overseeing the election is a commitment to a free and fair process. So first, commit yourself to a free and fair election, and let us see what the result will be. That’s what we’re asking.”
Olamilekan Adigun is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience in journalism embedded in uncovering human interest stories. He also prioritises accuracy and factual reportage of issues.
