Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has accused the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, of threatening the integrity of the state’s August 15 governorship election following criticism of his endorsement of President Bola Tinubu.
Adeleke, through his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, on Sunday took exception to Oyetola’s reported remark,“A maa gba lowo e,” meaning “we will snatch it from him.”
The governor described the statement as an open threat to the conduct of a free and fair election, urging national and international democracy organisations to monitor developments ahead of the poll.
Adeleke argued that his endorsement of Tinubu demonstrated political strength rather than weakness, saying it showed his ability to mobilise support for the President in Osun State.
He also accused Oyetola of engaging in actions that he claimed were damaging Tinubu’s image and contributing to the declining popularity of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
According to Adeleke, the reported reference to “snatching” the election suggested that the APC had lost the confidence of Osun voters and was now relying on efforts to manipulate the electoral process.
The governor further alleged that Oyetola’s comments had made light of the killing and injury of Accord Party members in alleged attacks linked to APC supporters in recent months.
Adeleke said:
“The bad news for the minister is that Osun people are determined to resist his sadistic agenda. Our people rejected him in 2022 and they will reject his surrogate candidate, Bola Oyebamiji next Saturday.”
He added that he was confident of victory based on what he described as mass support from Osun voters.
“As for us, we are winning this election by the grace of God and mass support of the people. We are not going to snatch the democratic rights of the people as Mr Oyetola had threatened. We will be re-elected by the choice of the voters.”
Adeleke called on voters, democracy advocates and the international community to remain vigilant, insisting that the outcome of the August 15 election must reflect the will of the electorate.
