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How family members, Aregbesola-Oyetola’s feud aided my electoral victory in Osun –Adeleke

Sen. Ademola Adeleke, Governor-elect of Osun State

*Sen. Ademola Adeleke, Governor-elect of Osun  State of Nigeria, acknowledges Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Governor Adegboyega Oyetola’s sour relationship as well as support of his ‘fantastic’ family ‘paved the way for me to victory’

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Restating the factors that contributed to his eventual victory in last gubernatorial election held Saturday, July 16, 2022, in Osun State, Sen. Ademola Adeleke, Governor-elect of the state, has described his family as a “fantastic family”, who went all out to success of his governorship aspiration.

ConsumerConnect reports  Sen. Adeleke, noted that  all his family members supported his gubernatorial ambition.

He also stated that he was happy when he learnt that incumbent Governor Adegboyega Oyetola and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Honourable Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, were not in good terms with each other prior to the election period.

The governor-elect acknowledged that Aregbesola and Oyetola’s sour relationship “paved the way for me to victory.”

The erstwhile Federal lawmaker further disclosed in an interview on Channels TV  Monday, July 18, that his brother (Adedeji Adeleke), sister, and Davido, a popular music artiste, supported him “big time”.

It is recalled Adeleke polled 403,371 votes against his closest challenger and incumbent Governor Oyetola, who scored 375,027 votes in the election.

The governor-elect won in 17 of the 30 Local Council Areas (LGAs) while Oyetola won in the remaining 13 local government areas of the state, according to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Adeleke as well described his family as a “fantastic family”, who went all out for his governorship aspiration.

When he was asked if he received monetary support from his elder brother, the Osun State governor-elect responded: “Big time, oh my God! My brother called me, and he said you don’t have anything to be ashamed of.

“You contested two elections and you won both.

“The second one they stole it from you, but this one, because you are going there to serve, you are going there to help the people of Osun State out of poverty, out of slavery.”

Quoting his brother further as saying: “You are going to do it, and I’m going to still support you whatever it takes financially….”

He added that his sister, whom he described as his mother, also pulled her weight around him to ensure his success.

In regard to the way Davido took to the streets to campaign for him, he said, “I felt good and said that our family is a fantastic family.”

According to Sen. Adeleke,  Davido’s support “pulled effect” for his victory at the polls.

Activating his programmes for Osun people

Speaking on his plans for the people of Osun State, when he assumes office, Adeleke said that he would renovate the existing educational structures and build well-equipped libraries.

He also stated: “I will make the teachers happy and give them an incentive.”

According to him, governance is not only about salary payment.

Salary payment is not an achievement, he declared.

The governor-elect, nonetheless, noted that economic improvement is the real achievement.

He said that reason the outgoing governor has a backlog of unpaid staff salaries is that “a lot of our money is taken to Lagos.”

“If I’m going to borrow, I’ll utilise it but I prefer to get grants.”

Aregbesola’s men worked for my success

In a related development, Sen. Adeleke has said some associates of Ogbeni Aregbesola, even worked for him in Saturday’s election.

The governor-elect explained: “I did not work with Aregbesola. I didn’t even talk to him, but all I know is his associates, for example, Kolapo Alimi, one of the lawyers that represented Oyetola at the tribunal.

“Then, anytime I saw him (Alimi) in court, because I’m a civilised person, I will go to them and greet them and say ‘how are you doing?’

“It was later he apologised and said ‘he was thinking ‘why is senator Adeleke greeting me? We are trying to mess him up and he is still greeting me.’

“But he later told me that while I was greeting him, I didn’t know that I was giving them poison.

“They knew that I won the election and they rigged me out and I was still greeting them.”

Adeleke also stated: “I believe that Aregbesola and Oyetola fell out.

“He (Alimi) came to me and said he has watched me and that he wants to join our party and we accepted.

“But Aregbesola directly? No. But we know a lot of top APC that joined.

“Assuming that I had been talking to Aregbesola one way or the other, then I would say that maybe he gave them go-ahead to support me.”

He said: “These people have grown; they have their own minds to decide if they want to join me or not.

“They believed that I was the one to beat and they came to me.

“I won’t know whether Aregbesola gave them go-ahead or not, because I have not been talking to Aregbesola.”

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