The National Secretary of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Dipo Olayoku, has urged Nigerians to draw lessons from what he described as the resilience of Osun voters ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Olayoku made the call on Monday while speaking on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State, during a post-election review of the Osun governorship election.
His comments came after Governor Ademola Adeleke was declared winner of the August 15 election, securing a second term after polling 511,067 votes to defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who scored 444,815 votes. The result followed a closely watched election marked by heightened political tension, allegations and counter-allegations and increased security deployment across the state.
Adeleke, who had previously won the governorship election under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) contested the latest poll on the platform of the Accord Party after leaving the PDP in December.
While Olayoku said the result reflected the choice of Osun voters, he argued that the significance of the election went beyond the victory of one candidate.
He said the people demonstrated a willingness to stand by their political convictions despite pressure and controversies surrounding the election.
“As a matter of fact, what it shows is that if people are united on some things, nothing can change their opinion. That’s exactly what the election shows.”
Olayoku said Osun voters had repeatedly demonstrated that they could make political choices without necessarily following the directives of political godfathers.
“They have always been showing it in the elections that they have their own conviction; they don’t take any directive from any godfather.”
According to him, that determination should serve as a lesson for Nigerians as political parties begin positioning themselves for the 2027 elections.
“So, it is a lesson that Nigerians should learn in 2027. People that are determined, nothing can break them, no intimidation.”
Olayoku said voters must go beyond casting their ballots and remain involved in the electoral process until their votes have been counted and properly reflected in the results.
He said some voters in Osun remained at collation centres for hours after voting to ensure that results from their polling units were accurately captured during the collation process.
The NNPP chieftain, however, stressed that the resilience of voters should not obscure concerns about the conduct of the election.
He cited allegations of intimidation, violence, vote-buying and political interference, as well as the controversy surrounding the freezing of an Osun State Government account by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), shortly before the election. The account was later ordered unfrozen by President Bola Tinubu.
Olayoku also questioned the consistency with which allegations of vote-buying were handled, citing a social media claim by a woman who allegedly said she received money to vote for the APC.
“A day after the governorship election, again, a lady came on Facebook thanking APC for giving her fifteen thousand naira to vote for them. Nothing has happened to the lady.” He further raised concerns over alleged intimidation of Accord Party supporters in the build-up to the election.
According to Olayoku, the central lesson from the Osun election was therefore not simply that an opposition candidate won, but that voters remained committed to their choice despite the challenges surrounding the exercise.
“But what people are praising is the resilience of the people of Osun. But it is not the election that the people are commending; it is the resilience of the people of Osun.”
He said Nigerians must replicate that determination in 2027 by participating actively in the electoral process and ensuring that their votes are protected from the polling unit through collation.
“That’s the lesson from the Osun election, not because the opposition won, but because they maintained and retained to win the elections. Anything could have happened going by what APC did before the election. They did everything to stop the Osun people”, he said.
Source: Politics Archives – New Telegraph
