Nigeria’s Oyo and Osun states have dismissed the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje’s claim that the party will capture the states after winning Ondo. Governors Seyi Makinde and Ademola Adeleke described Ganduje’s statement as “wishful thinking” and “anti-democratic.”
The APC chairman had declared that the party aimed to achieve “political homogeneity” in the South-West by displacing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo and Osun. However, Makinde and Adeleke vowed to resist any attempt to destabilize their states.
Makinde’s Chief Press Secretary, Dr. Sulaimon Olanrewaju, stated, “Our state has been an oasis of peace, ease, and good governance… We do not intend to surrender our freedom to predators.” Adeleke’s media aide, Olawale Rasheed, added, “Osun State is the cradle of Yoruba people where political freedom is cherished… Ganduje is a threat to democracy.”
Other opposition leaders, including the PDP Deputy National Youth Leader Timothy Osadolor and Labour Party’s National Publicity Secretary Obiora Ifoh, condemned Ganduje’s remarks, calling them “reckless” and “inciting violence.”
Ganduje had said, “Our next target now is the South-West geopolitical zone, and you know we are good at hitting the target, and this is Osun State and Oyo State. We will do all that is possible to bring them into the fold so that we have political homogeneity in the South-West geopolitical zone.”
Adeleke in a statement said the APC National Chairman’s position contrasted sharply with Tinubu’s democratic credentials.
Similarly, the PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, accused the ruling APC of manipulating the Ondo and Edo State governorship elections. He vowed they would rally millions of Nigerians to oppose the APC’s attempt to take control of Oyo, Osun, and other states currently governed by the opposition party saying it is a wishful statement and an alarming statement at the same time that should be condemned by all well-meaning Nigerians. He claimed that what happened in Edo and Ondo states are not elections, but manipulations by the APC to install their selected candidates.
Osadolor said the system is being run as if it operates a one-party system, rather than the multi-party system that we have as the APC-led Federal Government is more focused on using security to achieve electoral victory, rather than using security for the benefit of all.
The Chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party in Osun State, Dr. Tosin Odeyemi, also cautioned Ganduje against inciting political tension in the South-West with his recent comments.
Odeyemi described his remarks as reckless and unbecoming of an elder statesman, especially given the current economic hardships Nigerians are enduring under the current government saying that one would have expected Dr. Ganduje to demonstrate better communication skills befitting his position considering the economic challenges Nigerians are facing.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, called for restraint, saying such a statement can incite violence. He said the hunger crisis in Nigeria today is felt more in the South-West, outside the North and wonders what will be the incentive for people to vote fot this government to continue with the situation.”
