Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has attributed the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) defeat in the August 15 Osun State governorship election to what he described as the intervention of “Abuja politicians” in the party’s campaign.
Sule said the outcome also demonstrated the considerable advantage enjoyed by an incumbent governor in a governorship election.
He made the remarks on Tuesday at a press briefing in Lafia while reflecting on the outcome of the keenly contested Osun election.
Governor Ademola Adeleke, the candidate of the Accord Party, defeated the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, as well as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salaam, and 13 other candidates in the election.
Adeleke polled 511,067 votes to defeat Oyebamiji, who secured 444,815 votes, while Salaam came third with 17,180 votes.
The incumbent governor won in 19 of the 30 local government areas, while Oyebamiji secured victory in the remaining 11.
The APC has rejected the outcome of the election and questioned aspects of the process.
However, Adeleke’s victory has continued to attract political reactions, with President Bola Tinubu congratulating him shortly after the election.
Speaking on the defeat of the APC, Sule said the party’s chances were undermined by the activities of some politicians from Abuja who, according to him, intervened in the state shortly before the election.
“I’m not going to brag about anything that we are going to do, but what I can tell you is that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done well,” Sule said.
“And then I see some people are actually happy and they are celebrating that APC has lost. APC lost partly because of the Abuja politicians.
“Because if not for some of these Abuja politicians, there was no way for APC to lose in Osun.”
The governor said the election had underscored the importance of incumbency in determining the outcome of governorship contests.
“But what it means is that the power of a sitting governor is not something you can joke around. That’s the message that was sent actually in Osun,” he said.
Sule further argued that those celebrating the APC’s defeat might be overlooking the role played by the incumbent governor’s political structure and influence.
“For people who are celebrating, they don’t even understand what the hell they are celebrating,” he said.
“What they are celebrating is that the power of a sitting governor in Osun is what has stopped them from winning.”
He maintained that the APC’s loss in Osun should not be interpreted as a rejection of the performance of the Tinubu administration at the federal level.
Rather, he attributed the outcome largely to the peculiar political dynamics surrounding the governorship contest and the influence of the incumbent administration in the state.
