Osun: Forget about Coming Back to Power Now, Activist Tells Oyetola, Supporters

Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

A human rights activist, Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman, has advised the immediate past Governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola, and his supporters led by the current Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Mr. Timothy Owoeye, to stop dreaming of coming back to govern the state in the next four years.

The rights activist was reacting to the recent insinuations of Oyetola and Owoeye to stage a come back to power in the state through the back door after losing the July 16, 2022, governorship election to Governor Ademola Adeleke.

In a signed statement by Sulaiman and made available to journalists yesterday, he told the both leaders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the state “to stop their evil dreaming of coming back to governance of the state for this electioneering and governing period of Governor Adeleke administration.”

Sulaiman, who is the executive chairman, Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ), urged them to accept their loss at the July 16, 2022, governorship election in good faith and prepare for the 2026 governorship election in Osun State.

According to him,  ” Thinking of manipulating the electoral and judicial process if Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu won the presidential election to stage a comeback to power through the back door cannot be fruitful for Gboyega Oyetola because the law in respect of Electoral Act 2022 has settled everything, and no president can manipulate such electoral process again.

“Nigeria is not a banana republic where law would be made to satisfy the whims and caprices of Oyetola and Tinubu. For instance, all the opposition governors the courts ruled in their favour that led to the conduct of staggering governorship elections in the country today were during the period of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidency and heaven did not fall.”

Sulaiman emphatically stated that the people of Osun State had given four years mandate to govern the state to Governor Adeleke on July 16, 2022, and God had stamped the mandate on November 27, 2022, stating that no living mortal can change it because “the voice of the people is the voice of God.”

Speaking on the ongoing Osun State Election Petition Tribunal, the pro-democracy activist noted that the election tribunal was not set up to favour any party but to deal with post-election issues, adding that the issues before the tribunal in respect of the July 16, 2022, governorship election were very clear, and the error of over voting in alleged six polling units would affect all the political parties that participated in the election.