- Safiu Kehinde
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has attributed the All Progressives Congress (APC) defeat at the 2026 Osun Governorship Election to President Bola Tinubu’s decision to ensure a level-playing field at the poll.
Sanwo-Olu gave the credit to Tinubu who he commended for upholding his democratic principles by refraining from using federal might.
The governor made this known while delivering the 9th Freedom Online lecture in Ikeja on Thursday.
He described the development as evidence of improvement in conduct of election in Nigeria as he harped on need to back the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the seamless conduct of the 2027 General Election.
“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, we can argue about the economy and about security from now until January. None of it will matter if the election itself is not credible. So let me turn to the referee.
“Our elections have improved. Anyone who covered the elections of the 2000s, as many in this hall did, knows how far we have come, and much of that distance was travelled on this party’s watch: the Electoral Act of 2022 and now the Electoral Act of 2026, and the technology that verifies voters and transmits results.
“But this is not the moment to rest on our oars. INEC must be ready in every polling unit on the 16th of January and again on the 6th of February, and each of us has a duty to help it be ready.
“I want to say something about the President and this process, and I want to say it with a recent example, because an example is worth more than an assurance.” He said.
Sanwo-Olu thereafter recalled the August 15 election in Osun where the incumbent governor ans Accord Party candidate, Ademola Adeleke, defeated the APC which has Tinubu as its national leader.
“Nineteen days ago, on the 15th of August, the people of Osun State elected a governor. The candidate of my party, the President’s party, lost.
“The incumbent, Governor Ademola Adeleke, of a different party, won by more than sixty thousand votes.
“The President did not sulk and he did not equivocate. He picked up the telephone the following day, congratulated the winner, urged him to unite the State, and thanked INEC and the security agencies for a peaceful and transparent election.
“Governor Adeleke has since publicly thanked the President for ensuring a level playing field.
“Think about what that means. There was a time in this country when “federal might” was a phrase that a ruling party used without irony.
“Under this President, the ruling party can lose a state, in the South-West, in an election year, and the sky does not fall. That is what a maturing democracy looks like.” He said.
Sanwo-Olu described the gesture of the president as an evidence of a lifelong democrat while also charging other parties and their candidate to embrace the pattern and respect the electoral process.
“This President is a lifelong democrat, and he means to leave behind a stronger democracy than he inherited, not only for Nigerians but as an example to a continent that badly needs one.
“And let me add one sentence for every candidate and every party, my own included. A mandate is only as strong as the process that produced it.
“No office in this land is worth the life of a single Nigerian, and no victory won by the wrong means is a victory at all.” He said.
Sanwo-Olu acknowledged that the fate of every candidate will be decided at the poll by voters.
He however held that Tinubu has contributed his part by ensuring the returns from subsidy removal was evenly distributed to states for the betterment of Nigerians standard of living.
This, according to him, is seen by voters and will shape their decision in 2027.
“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, you cannot discuss 2027 and leave out the 36 governors.
“Nigeria is not one economy but thirty-seven: 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory. The people who manage those economies will decide much of the outcome of this election, whether they mean to or not.
“Voters may not be economists, but they are excellent accountants. They know whether their State built the road it promised.
“They know whether the primary health center has a nurse in it. They will bring that ledger with them to the polling unit.
“Let me be candid with my colleagues, because I have sat where they sit for seven years. Under this President, the States have had it very good.
“Since the subsidy was removed, the monthly allocations to States and local governments have more than doubled in naira terms.
“The President has done his part; the money is arriving. What is done with it is on us. The excuses have been removed, and the electorate knows it.” He added.