2027: Osun Workers Back Accord Candidates, Declare Support For Tinubu

Osun State workers and pensioners have declared their support for all candidates of the Accord Party contesting the 2027 elections for the Senate, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly seats in the state.

The workers made the declaration on Wednesday at the Osun State Government Secretariat, Osogbo, where they gathered to receive and celebrate Governor Ademola Adeleke shortly after he collected his Certificate of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Speaking on behalf of the workers, the Osun State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Christopher Arapasopo, said the labour movement had resolved to support all Accord candidates contesting legislative seats across the state.

Arapasopo said the decision covered all the senatorial, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly candidates fielded by the Accord Party.

He declared: “As far as Osun State is concerned, workers, pensioners and good people of Osun State, we shall elect all the candidates of the Accord Party. We shall vote all the candidates vying under the Accord Party.”

The NLC chairman, however, made a distinction between the party’s candidates in Osun State and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, saying workers would not support APC candidates contesting the legislative seats in the state but would vote for Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.

“All our senatorial candidates, all our House of Representatives and all our State House of Assembly candidates, as far as we are concerned in Osun State, all the candidates of Accord shall be voted for. No APC candidate will emerge; we will not vote for them. The only candidate we have in APC is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Arapasopo said.

He added that no intimidation would force the workers to change their position, declaring, “No intimidation can force us to vote for APC.”

Arapasopo also dismissed reports that opposition parties were planning to challenge Adeleke’s victory in court, saying those contemplating legal action were merely wasting their time.

“We heard they said they are going to challenge the election results in the court. We should tell them that they are just wasting their time,” he said.

The labour leader attributed Adeleke’s victory to the support of workers and the people of the state, while alleging that violence recorded during the election prevented the governor from securing an even higher number of votes.

“If not because of the hoodlums who were shooting here and there on the election day, we would have secured more than those votes,” he said.

He commended Adeleke for his administration’s interventions for workers and pensioners, saying the workers were ready to reciprocate what he described as the governor’s support.

“We want them to know that you have done so well for Osun people and you have done so well for the workers, pensioners, and it’s time for us to pay you back,” Arapasopo said.

The NLC chairman also appealed to the governor to improve workers’ welfare by implementing what he described as a living wage rather than limiting workers to the minimum wage.

“Workers sent me to you. They said they don’t want minimum wages; they said they want living wages. We know you can do it for us,” he told the governor.

The declaration came shortly after Adeleke received his Certificate of Return at the INEC headquarters in Osogbo, following his victory in the August 15 governorship election.

The workers’ position represents a clear political alignment ahead of the 2027 elections, with the labour movement throwing its weight behind Accord candidates for legislative seats in Osun while reserving its support for President Tinubu at the presidential level.

Meanwhile, Adeleke described the occasion as “a moment of gratitude, reflection and appreciation” to the people of Osun State for their participation in the democratic process.

He said the certificate should not be seen as his personal possession, but as a renewed mandate from the people of the state, stressing that “this certificate does not belong to Ademola Adeleke alone. It belongs to the people of Osun State.”

The governor, who acknowledged the violence and loss of lives recorded around the election, called for healing and reconciliation, saying no political ambition was worth the life of any citizen.