Fresh facts have emerged on why the APC lost out to the PDP at last Saturday’s Governorship elections,in Osun State.
Citypeople gathered that APC’s loss is as a result of Governor Oyetola’s refusal to release the much needed resources to help mobilise many of his party members at the various levels,revealed a source.
The governor was said to have assumed that the towering image of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu,alone, would help him win enough votes like it happened in Ekiti State recently.
.According to an insider,by nature,Oyetola is a frugal man who doesn’t like to spend money.So he did not fund the elections appropriately and many party members were frustrated and gave up to the intimidating resources Senator Adeleke unleashed on the state.
Just as it happened at the federal level in 2015 when an incumbent President lost to the then opposition party, the All Progressive Congress, APC, had a bad outing on Saturday, July 16, 2022, as Govervor Isiaka Oyetola lost out to the dancing senator, Ademola Adeleke in a dramatic game changing political calculation.
Apart from the issue of inadequate funding there are 5 major cause of fall of the APC in Osun state
Oyetola Undermined Aregbe’s Influence
One of the major failings of Governor Oyetola was the fact that he undermined his predecessor. He felt since he had lost at the primary and as Asiwaju has clinched the presidential ticket, it will be a smooth sail for him. The Oyetolan faction of the APC forgot that Aregbe’s faction are still very much on ground and are very active.
The Osun Progressives (TOP), a faction of the APC, loyal to Mr Aregbesola, waited until the last minute of the campaigns to declare their stand on the election. The declaration was not unequivocal; it also did not contain any support for the APC candidate. It only used the opportunity to further list its grievances against Mr Oyetola although it declared its determination to remain in the APC.
The TOP reminded voters how Mr Aregbesola virtually “stole” victory for the incumbent governor in 2018. TOP also stated that in spite of the place of the former governor in the scheme of politics in Osun State, Mr Oyetola did not inform or invite him during the campaigns.
Mr Aregbesola travelled out of the country before the election. How could a chieftain of the APC be away when his house was on fire? Not a few are mouthing the rumour that he might have ignited the fire himself.
Osun people have had enough
There is little argument that the governor is a gentleman, who kept many of his promises to the people. His performance in debt repayment, salaries to workers and stability of the state’s solvency are not under scrutiny.
The people, however, wanted a change.
They held the governor responsible for the high cost of living, insecurity and uncertainty, largely blamed on the ruling APC nationwide. The APC and all its candidates will have to bear this burden in the coming 2023 general elections.
Osun Election was a contest of money
Recall that before the election both the PDP and the APC have been displaying cash and disbursing money to voters. Senator Adeleke had said in one of his campaign that he has returned with a lot of money. There were reports of vote buying but both the APC and the PDP were involve in the money spinning contest
They got money from all the parties willing to dole out to them in different values: N10,000, N5,000, and so on. One voter even complained that she was supposed to get N10,000 from one of the parties, but the sharer of the money shortchanged her.
Adeleke was more determined than Governor Oyetola
A major factor which propelled Mr Adeleke to victory can be found in his belief that he won the 2018 election. Although he challenged the outcome in court, he was not successful as his challenge was dismissed by the Supreme Court on technicalities.
Even with the backing of the then incumbent governor, Rauf Aregbesola, Mr Oyetola almost lost the chance to be governor. It took the alignment with third place finisher, Iyiola Omisore, then of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) combined with the use of state security apparatus to secure victory for the governor. This show of performance continued to resonate with the PDP candidate, who did not relent in telling the people that he would win the election in clearer terms this time.
