Former Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson; Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo; former Senator Ben Murray-Bruce; former Kogi State Senator Dino Melaye; and former Lagos State Labour Party governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, have congratulated Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, on his victory in Saturday’s governorship election.
The politicians, in separate messages on X on Sunday, described Adeleke’s re-election as significant for democracy and the people of Osun State, while urging political actors to draw lessons from the outcome.
Dickson, who is also a National Leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), said Adeleke’s victory demonstrated that citizens could still assert their democratic will through the ballot despite the challenges confronting Nigeria’s political environment.
He commended the people of Osun State for standing firm in defence of their democratic choice and urged candidates who lost the election to accept the outcome in the spirit of sportsmanship.
Dickson further called on Adeleke’s opponents to work with the governor for the peace and development of Osun State.
Keyamo described Adeleke’s victory as “historic”, while Murray-Bruce congratulated the governor, whom he described as his friend and former colleague in the Eighth Senate. “Congratulations, my brother,” Murray-Bruce said in his message.
Rhodes-Vivour described the outcome as a “triumph against tyranny.” He congratulated Osun voters and argued that intimidation and financial inducement could not deter voters determined to exercise their democratic rights. He urged Nigerians to learn from the Osun election ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Melaye, meanwhile, described the result as an opposition victory, congratulating Adeleke while taking a political swipe at the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Adeleke winner after he secured 511,067 votes, defeating his closest challenger, APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji, who polled 444,815 votes. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salaam, came third with 17,180 votes. Adeleke’s winning margin was therefore 66,252 votes.
President Bola Tinubu has also congratulated Adeleke, saying his re-election confirmed the confidence of Osun people in his leadership. Tinubu urged the governor to unite the people and use his renewed mandate to promote growth, stability and socio-economic development. � Vanguard News