10 Days to Osun Poll: APC Scribe tells Adeleke to Stop Inflammatory Statement against Tinubu

The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Bashiru, has urged Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, to stop accusing President Bola Tinubu and leaders of the APC over issues relating to the August 15 governorship election and instead focus on issue-based campaigns.
Bashiru, who spoke with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, was reacting to remarks made by Adeleke at a campaign rally in Osogbo, where the governor alleged that political violence and extrajudicial killings were taking place in the state and appealed to President Tinubu to intervene.
The governor also warned against electoral manipulation, drawing parallels with the political crisis that followed the disputed 1983 elections in the old Ondo State.
Adeleke had said, “President Bola Tinubu, something is happening in Osun that you have not moved to put an end to. They are killing our people. You are the President; you are the father for all of us. Osun has said they won’t allow rigging.
“There won’t be rigging in Osun. Remember what happened in 1983. It started in Yorubaland when they cheated Bola Ige and Michael Ajasin. Osun will not agree. We want a free and fair election. President Tinubu, I am passing this message to you. We have endorsed you; why are they still killing us?”
Responding, Bashiru dismissed the allegations, describing them as a product of fear over an impending electoral defeat.
He challenged the governor to campaign on his administration’s performance if he was confident of securing another term.
“How can a sitting governor be talking about rigging in an election that is still 10 days away? If he has performed well, he should present his achievements to the people instead of making unfounded allegations,” Bashiru said.
The APC national secretary argued that Adeleke’s administration had failed to address critical developmental challenges in the state, citing poor road infrastructure and what he described as a deficit of about 30,000 teachers in public schools.
According to him, fixing the state’s road network would have boosted economic activities, while recruiting teachers would have improved the education sector and created employment opportunities.
Bashiru also said Adeleke’s endorsement of President Tinubu’s second-term ambition would not guarantee his own re-election.
He maintained that the growing support for the APC and its governorship candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, popularly known as AMBO, had unsettled the governor, forcing him to resort to what he described as blackmail to attract public sympathy.
Meanwhile, the APC National Secretariat backed the position of the party’s Osun State chapter, urging Adeleke to stop blaming Tinubu and former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola for his political challenges.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by the Osun APC spokesperson, Kola Olabisi, the party described Adeleke’s allegations against Tinubu and Oyetola as baseless and politically motivated.
According to the statement, the governor was responsible for encouraging political violence in the state and was merely attempting to justify what the party described as his imminent electoral defeat.
“The unsubstantiated allegations against President Tinubu and Oyetola are frivolous and only serve as an excuse for Governor Adeleke’s anticipated loss in the forthcoming governorship election,” the statement read.
The party further accused the governor of providing political protection for suspected thugs and questioned what it described as the granting of questionable amnesty to convicted political offenders ahead of the election.
It also dismissed Adeleke’s claims of political persecution, insisting that the governor had failed to provide evidence to support his allegations.
The APC added that Adeleke’s endorsement of Tinubu for the 2027 presidential election was voluntary and should not be used as a basis for alleging political victimisation.
The party challenged the governor to allow the electorate determine whether his administration deserved another term, insisting that the August 15 governorship election would serve as the true test of his performance in office.