Osun Election: Bamidele Urges Oyebamiji To Congratulate Adeleke, Offer Policy IDEAS

The Senate leader and Chairman of the National Assembly South-West Caucus, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has urged the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the Osun State election, Bola Oyebamiji, to concede defeat and congratulate Governor Ademola Adeleke on his re-election.

This is as he even called on Oyebamiji to offer constructive policy suggestions that could help improve governance in the state.

Senator Bamidele made this call on Monday, August 17, while reacting to the outcome of Saturday’s governorship election.

CityMirrorNews recalls that Governor Adeleke of Accord Party emerged winner after polling 511,067 votes to defeat Oyebamiji of the APC, who came second with 444,815 votes.

Meanwhile, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salam, recorded 17,180 votes.

Bamidele said the result reflected the choice of the electorate and called on all the candidates to respect the decision of the voters.

According to him, Adeleke’s victory comes with the responsibility to unite Osun State and ensure that governance serves residents across political divides.

“In Osun, the decision of the majority does not only confirm the re-election of Governor Adeleke. It equally places the burden of victory on the elected candidate.

“This burden requires him to come up with clearly defined post-election measures that will effectively first reunite the state’s indigenes and residents across all the political divides,” he said.

Bamidele urged Adeleke to reach out to his opponents and members of other political parties in order to promote inclusive governance.

“To drive a truly inclusive governance, Governor Adeleke must look beyond the political platform that nominated him for the contest and extend his hand of fellowship to other candidates and political parties with a view to building a resilient state that functions in the interests of all people regardless of their leanings,” he stated.

He specifically appealed to Oyebamiji to contact Adeleke, congratulate him on his victory and offer ideas that could contribute to better governance.

“On this premise, I strongly encourage the candidate of our great party, Mr Bola Oyebamiji, to contact Governor Adeleke; congratulate him on his re-election and constructively share with him innovative policy ideas that can help him serve the interests of our people much better,” Bamidele said.

The Senate Leader further argued that the APC should not view the election result as a complete defeat, citing Adeleke’s former membership of the party and his reported support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid.

“For me, the APC did not lose the election given the background that Governor Adeleke was coming from as a member of the APC before he defected to the Peoples Democratic Party. Besides, he has always been committed to the re-election of President Bola Tinubu; Governor Adeleke’s re-election, therefore, is not just a victory for ACCORD, but also for us in the APC.”

Bamidele also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission for the conduct of the election, stressing that the APC and its candidate remained important stakeholders in the political and developmental affairs of Osun State.