Governors Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Ademola Adeleke of Osun State have slammed the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, for his remarks that the APC would seize control of Oyo and Osun states following its victory in Ondo State.
Ganduje had boasted that the APC aimed to achieve political homogeneity in the South-West by displacing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the two states.
“Our next target now is the South-West geopolitical zone, and you know we are good at hitting the target, and this is Osun State and Oyo State. We will do all that is possible to bring them into the fold so that we have political homogeneity in the South-West geopolitical zone,” he told journalists in Akure on Sunday, after the Independent National Electoral Commission declared the APC candidate, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, as the winner of Saturday governorship election in Ondo State.
However, Makinde and Adeleke swiftly countered his claims.
Makinde described Ganduje’s assertion as “wishful thinking,” while Adeleke cautioned the APC National Chairman against making anti-democratic statements and plotting to destabilize the South-West.
Oyo State’s Chief Press Secretary, Dr. Sulaimon Olanrewaju, stated that the government and the Oyo PDP would not surrender the state to the APC. He echoed the sentiments of the acting Publicity Secretary of the Oyo PDP, Micheal Ogunsina, who condemned Ganduje’s takeover plot.
Ogunsina emphasized that the people of Oyo State would not abandon the “oasis of peace, ease, and good governance” under the Makinde government for the APC’s “devastation, pain, sorrow, and tears.”
Adeleke, through his media aide, Olawale Rasheed, noted that Ganduje’s position contradicted President Tinubu’s democratic credentials. He argued that local factors, grievances, and interests dictate electoral outcomes, not superimposed force.
“As a well-read politician, one would have expected Dr Ganduje to know that electoral contests depend mostly on local indexes and factors and what is obtained in Edo and Ondo are surely different from political facts on the ground in Osun State. Local permutations, grievances, and interests dictate how people vote rather than superimposed force.
“Osun State is the cradle of Yoruba people where political freedom is cherished and where resistance to electoral fraud is a strong tradition. Ganduje is a threat to democracy and an insider enemy of President Tinubu.
“If Dr Ganduje truly loves Mr President, why is he pushing to destabilise the President’s home zone through open threats to violate electoral law and deny the electorate their rights to vote and be voted for? By threatening to hijack opposition states, the APC leader is undermining the consensus among Yoruba people, which accept Mr President as their own irrespective of political differences.
“If however the statement of the APC leader is borne out of ignorance, he is invited to study Osun politics to get better informed of the dynamics of this state’s politics and to appreciate that what works in Edo and Ondo cannot play out here for several reasons,” Adeleke said.
