ABUJA — Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has urged Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke to use his victory in the governorship election to unite the state and govern beyond partisan interests.
Bamidele, who is also Chairman of the National Assembly South-West Caucus, said in a statement on Monday that the election outcome reaffirmed the supremacy of voters in a democracy and urged all contestants to accept the result and work for peace and development in Osun.
Adeleke, according to the figures cited by Bamidele, secured 511,067 votes to defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who polled 444,815 votes. African Democratic Congress candidate, Rt. Hon. Najeem Salam, received 17,180 votes.
The election recorded 51.57 per cent voter turnout, Bamidele said.
The Senate Leader congratulated Adeleke on his victory but warned that the mandate carried a greater responsibility to reconcile political interests and build an administration that serves all residents of the state.
“Governance entails a collective approach that must not exclude any section of the state,” Bamidele said, urging Adeleke to extend a hand of fellowship to other candidates and political parties.
He also called on Oyebamiji to accept the outcome of the election, congratulate Adeleke and contribute policy ideas that could strengthen governance in Osun.
Bamidele sees wider political implications
While acknowledging the APC’s defeat in the poll, Bamidele rejected the suggestion that the result represented an absolute political defeat for the party.
“For me, the APC did not lose the election,” he said, pointing to Adeleke’s previous membership of the party and his stated support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Bamidele said the Osun result should serve as both a political warning and an opportunity for the APC ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said the 51.57 per cent voter turnout demonstrated the potential to increase participation across the South-West in 2027, suggesting that the APC could target at least 60 per cent voter participation in the region.
He further projected that strategic engagement with political stakeholders could help the APC mobilise 10 million votes for President Tinubu in the South-West.
According to him, achieving such a target would require the party to review its campaign strategy and deepen engagement with voters and key groups across the region.
He listed artisans, traders, farmers, entrepreneurs, youths, women, labour unions, civil society organisations, community leaders, traditional rulers, business leaders, private-sector operators and the elderly among those requiring sustained engagement.
Bamidele also urged the APC to communicate what he described as the Tinubu administration’s achievements in economic reforms, fiscal management, security, democratic consolidation and efforts toward long-term national prosperity.
Call for post-election cooperation
The Senate Leader commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the conduct of the election, saying the outcome reinforced the importance of the electorate in Nigeria’s democratic process.
He also commended the APC and its candidate for participating in the election and urged political actors to move beyond post-election confrontation.
According to Bamidele, losing the election does not remove the APC’s stake in Osun State’s future.
He called on all political stakeholders to work together toward the state’s economic, social and technological development, stressing that the real test of the election would be how the political class responds after the votes have been counted.
