Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has accused the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, of plotting to rig the upcoming governorship election in the state.
Adeleke made the allegation in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed,on Sunday.
NPO reports that the governor was reacting to comments made by Oyetola while addressing All Progressives Congress stakeholders and supporters in Osun State on Saturday.
Oyetola, who served as governor of the state before losing his re-election bid to Adeleke in the 2022 governorship election, had charged Adeleke to prepare for an imminent defeat at the forthcoming governorship election,
The minister stressed that his endorsement of Tinubu will not stop the APC from taking him out of power.
‘They realised that they are already losing out. Then they claimed to have endorsed us. Endorsement cannot retain this seat for you. We are taking it over.
‘If you like, make 10 endorsements, we will collect this one from you.’ He said.
Reacting, Adeleke described Oyetola’s comment as an open threat to the conduct of a free and fair election and called on democracy advocates to take note of the development.
According to Adeleke, Oyetola’s statement “A maa gba lowo e,” meaning “we will snatch it from him,” indicates that the APC was preparing to manipulate the election.
The governor vowed that the people of Osun State would resist any attempt to undermine their right to vote, while demanding a free and fair election.
Adeleke also defended his endorsement of Tinubu for a second term in 2027, stating it is evidence of his electoral strength and his ability to deliver votes from Osun to the President.
He further accused Oyetola of damaging Tinubu’s image and weakening the APC’s standing among voters in the state.
“Oyetola’s anti-people, anti-democracy activities are tarnishing the image of Mr President and deepening the unpopularity of Osun APC among voters and residents.
“A serving minister of the Republic had made an open threat against a free and fair election. The minister has personally confirmed all previous reports that Osun APC has lost the electoral confidence of the people and is therefore focused only on rigging next Saturday.
“The minister has made a mockery of innocent Accord members who were killed and maimed by APC thugs in cold blood in the last two months. He has told the world that he is pushing to deny the people their rights to vote and be voted for.
“The bad news for the minister is that Osun people are determined to resist his sadistic agenda. Our people rejected him in 2022, and they will reject his surrogate candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, next Saturday.
“As for us, we are winning this election by the grace of God and mass support of the people. We are not going to snatch the democratic rights of the people as Mr Oyetola had threatened. We will be re-elected by the choice of the voters.”