- Safiu Kehinde
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, has charged Osun State Governor, Adeleke Ademola, to prepare for an imminent defeat at the forthcoming governorship election, stressing that his endorsement of President Bola Tinubu will not retain the governorship seat for him.
Oyetola gave the charge while addressing the All Progressives Congress, APC, stakeholders and supporters in Osun on Saturday.
The former Osun governor, who lost his re-election bid in 2022 governorship election to Adeleke, broke his silence with the remark made in response to Adeleke’s outcry against Tinubu over alleged intimidation of the Accord Party leaders and members by the Osun APC ahead of the August 15 election.
Speaking in Yoruba, Oyetola held that Adeleke’s outcry was borne out of the governor’s realisation that he is losing his grip on the governorship seat.
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.
Oyetola claimed he had been uninterested in trading words with Adeleke despite the governor’s allegations against him.
‘If he sleeps and has nightmares, he will say he saw me. If his wife gave him food late, he would say I’m responsible for that.
‘My name is so sweet in his mouth. Meanwhile, we are not even interest in his case. If we get interested in his case, he will feel it.’ He said.
Adeleke is billed to contest for his re-election at the Saturday poll where he will be challenged by the APC governorship candidate, Bola Oyebamiji.
While there are other candidates vying for the governorship seat, the Osun election had largely been tipped to be a two-horse raise between the Ademola-led Accord Party and the Federal-backed APC.