Osun Election: 10 Important Things To Know Ahead Of Saturday Polls

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that The Osun state governorship election will be held on Saturday, July 16, 2022.

The good people of the state would vote for their next leader even as they would seek a peaceful, credible and fair election process.

The exercise so far is characterised by various factors which play out in every election exercise and Osun state is not an exception.

In this article, this online media platform would be sharing 10 important things you should know about the Osun elections, ahead of Saturday polls.

1. The contenders

The polls boast of five strong contenders that have rolled out trade, investment, and agriculture major things and projects to embark on if given a chance.

I. Senator Ademola Adeleke, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP

II. Incumbent Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola,

III. Accord party’s Dr Akin Ogunbiyi,

IV. Labour Party’s, Lasun Yusuf and

V. SDP’s Goke Omigbodun

2. The political parties

About 15 political parties would participate in the election in all the 30 local government areas in the state.

The candidates that are contesting for the governor’s seat across five parties include the;

I. The All Progressives Congress (APC)

II. The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

III. Labour Party (LP)

IV. Social Democratic Party, SDP

V. Accord Party (AP)

3. What the candidates are saying

I. Yusuff Lasun – Labour party candidate

The candidate of the Labour party, Yusuff Lasunhas promised to reform the educational sector for Osun state if given the opportunity to serve.

He also promised to continue the major works he is handling in the sector as a House of Representatives member. He however added that he is passionate about service to the people and also alleviate residents from poverty.

II. Akin Ogunbiyi – Accord party governorship candidate

Akin Ogunbiyi, Accord flagbearer said he would give Osun state a new beginning if he emerged as governor of the state.

He noted that he would focus on bringing businesses that would yield investments in the state. Ogunbiyi said he would reform the Osun Education sector, revive the agricultural sector in the state to drive the economy.

III. Ademola Adeleke – People’s Democratic Party governorship candidate

Ademola Adeleke that first contested the election in 2018, said the reason why he is recontesting to become governor of Osun is because of the bad state of roads, hospitals, and agriculture in the state.

The Osun State PDP Governorship candidate also noted that poverty alleviation will be part of his plans if he becomes governor.

IV. Omigbodun Akinrinola – Social Democratic Party governorship candidate

Omigbodun Akinrinola wants to focus on reviving trade and investment in Osun state if elected governor.

Akinrinola, the SDP candidate noted that Osun is a civil service state and as government owes workers and does not pay on time, he plans to change the narrative if he wins.

V. Gboyega Oyetola – All Progressives Congress governorship candidate

Gboyega Oyetola is the sitting Governor of Osun State and he is seeking a second term in office. The incumbent governor is re-contesting under the platform of the ruling APC.

According to Oyetola, his major plan is to reinforce the security system of the state and empower the police force if he is given a second chance to serve the people.

4. How Osun residents would vote

Interestingly, what was seen that played out in the just concluded ekiti state governorship election would be played out too in Osun state.

Emerging factors seem to be moderating earlier narratives on how the Osun governorship race is turning out, especially the outcome of the June 18, 2022 governorship election in Ekiti state, which was won by the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Abiodun Oyebanji.

The emergence of former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as APC’s presidential candidate has boosted Governor Gboyega Oyetola’s confidence. The party is expected to reap from it.

5. Vote-buying

Again, the new strategy of vote-buying adopted by the parties in Ekiti, of which the ruling APC had the upper hand due to its superior financial power, may also reduce the impact of the Labour Party and Accord Party to mere underdogs in the coming Osun poll.

Meanwhile, political analysts are now saying that instead of the initially projected four-horse race, the contest is actually going to be between the incumbent governor and Senator Ademola Adeleke.

The two major parties and candidates have proven organised political structures and financial resources to prosecute the election.

6. PDP Crisis

The fact that PDP also came a distant third in Ekiti election is not a good signal to the Osun chapter even though the dynamics that played out on June 18 may not work out in Osun, due to PDP’s wealth of experience in the state.

The crisis that divided Ekiti PDP into two when former Governor Segun Oni, angrily left the party to pick up the ticket of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) is also visible in the Osun chapter, where Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi also angrily left PDP to become the candidate of Accord Party.

It is hoped that the lessons from Ekiti should have dawned on all of them by now, that running away to form small cells only helps to diminish their capacity to win and be part of a winning party.

7. Winning formulas

The only winning formula for smaller parties is to align and take advantage of the bigger parties. But this may be difficult to attain because the former deputy speaker and candidate of the Labour Party recently said if there is going to be an alliance, he must be the candidate.

The faction of APC led by incumbent Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Aregbesola is angry that their principal’s name was deliberately excluded from the Osun Governorship Campaign Council.

8. Possible realignment and fresh alliances

There has been a gale of defections from and to APC and PDP and Accord Party. Loyalists of Aregbesola are moving to Osun PDP.

Their defection followed the spate of protests that trailed the controversial State and National Assembly primaries of APC, where the Senator Abdulahi Adamu-led National Working Committee (NWC) is yet to release the results of winners and losers, despite public outcry and protests by aspirants and other party members.

Against this backdrop of defections, there are chances this may increase the chances of parties and candidates while others may not have much electoral impact.

9. Security

On security, PDP, LP and Accord Party have expressed concern that the government in power is demonstrating unrestrained desperation to retain power at all cost.

As at last week, Aregbesola’s camp appeared more disposed to aligning with Adeleke than Yussuff.

10. INEC’s role

The nation’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that registered voters for the Osun State governorship election billed to hold on 16th July 2022 stand at 1,955,657, noting the number of political parties contesting the governorship election is 15 out of 18 parties in the state.

The commission has also assured Osun residents of delivering a free, fair and credible exercise as this also would determine to an extent its role in the forthcoming general elections.

Interestingly, the role of media and election observer groups is also not left out in ensuring the exercise is well monitored and covered, and the people are ‘served what they prepared and ordered’. Osun voters will elect the next governor of the state on 16 July.

FURTHER READING

The commission also announced the extension of Permanent Voter’s Card collection, which will continue till Thursday, 14 July.

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