The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has congratulated Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, on his victory in Saturday’s governorship election, describing the outcome as a triumph for the people of the state and democracy.
In a statement issued on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said Adeleke’s victory demonstrated that the collective will of voters could prevail despite what it described as intimidation, deployment of state power and other pressures by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The ADC said the scale of APC mobilisation for the election, including the deployment of governors, federal lawmakers and other senior government officials, had been unprecedented, but failed to sway the electorate.
It said the election had shown that political parties in power could deploy government machinery, but could not control the minds or choices of voters.
The party also commended Osun voters for resisting what it described as intimidation, arrests and violence, saying the outcome had demonstrated that citizens could peacefully reject bad governance through the ballot box.
The ADC however, demanded an explanation from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over an alleged interruption in the uploading of election results on the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
According to the party, its intelligence indicated that the uploading of results was halted at about 8pm on election night when it became apparent that the APC was losing the election.
The ADC said the interruption lasted nearly four hours and urged INEC to explain what happened and who authorised the suspension.
The party alleged that the interruption raised concerns about a possible attempt to tamper with the results or render the election inconclusive, adding that the situation was only brought to public attention following alerts by Governor Adeleke, election monitors and observers.
The ADC said INEC’s explanation was necessary to restore public confidence in the electoral process, particularly ahead of the 2027 general elections.
It further warned that the Osun election should not be viewed merely as a victory for Adeleke, but as evidence that opposition parties and voters could defeat what it described as an attempt by the ruling party to dominate the electoral process.
The party said the APC would not easily relinquish power and urged Nigerians to remain vigilant, insisting that the Osun election had demonstrated that government power could not be deployed inside the ballot box.
“The time to end APC bad governance has come,” the ADC said.
(The Whistler)
