The Lagos State governorship candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement, APM, Prince Laja Adeoye, has described Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory in the Osun State governorship election as evidence that a determined electorate can resist political pressure and uphold its choice through the ballot.
Adeoye, in a congratulatory statement issued on Sunday, said the outcome of the election sent a strong message that political influence and government resources could not indefinitely suppress the will of the people.
He said the Osun election had demonstrated the importance of protecting votes and ensuring that citizens were able to freely exercise their democratic rights.
“The outcome of this election is a powerful reminder to the ruling APC that a determined people cannot be defeated. Even if all the funds in the nation’s treasury are expended, and every apparatus of the state is deployed against the will of the people, that will shall still prevail,” Adeoye said.
He added that the Osun electorate had demonstrated that votes, when freely cast and adequately protected, remained a potent instrument for defending democracy.
“The Osun electorate has shown Nigeria once again that votes, when protected and courageously cast, remain the ultimate weapon against political tyranny,” he stated.
Adeleke, who contested the August 15 election on the platform of the Accord Party, was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, after securing 511,067 votes.
His closest challenger, the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, polled 444,815 votes, while the African Democratic Congress candidate, Najeem Salaam, finished third with 17,180 votes.
Adeleke won in 19 of Osun State’s 30 local government areas, while Oyebamiji secured victories in the remaining 11 LGAs.
Osun Election: Adeleke’s victory shows voters can resist political pressure – Laja Adeoye