Analysis: Why ‘Dancing Senator’ Adeleke Won Osun Governorship Election

Despite the power of incumbency by Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Ademola Adeleke of the People’s Democratic Party, who is popularly known as Dancing Senator because of his flair for dance shocked many to defeat the governor in the Saturday governorship poll in Osun State.

Although 15 political parties participated in the election, the top contenders were Oyetola and the candidate of the PDP, who first clashed four years ago.

Adeleke had four years ago, when they first clashed at the poll, defeated Oyetola and the APC candidate eventually won only after a controversial rerun poll held in seven units whose results were earlier cancelled due to violence.

However, despite being in power and the massive support of the APC and its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and other APC governors, Adeleke defeated Oyetola again and this time, no rerun could be ordered as the party had started threatening that any attempt to manipulate its victory shall be resisted.

THE WHISTLER observed that although the PDP and APC induced voters, but the majority of the electorate were tired of the APC rule in the state and needed a change.

The ‘West Agenda’ which started in 2018 played a major role in determining the way the pendulum eventually swung.

Politicians from Osun West Senatorial District had started West Lokan Agenda in 2018 ( it’s the turn of Osun West) and it eventually paid off this time around.

This is one of the reasons for the PDP performance in Iwo, Ede, Ikire and some towns and local governments in Osun West Senatorial District.

The Adeleke family benevolence was also a factor that made some voters to support the PDP despite that Oyetola has a much better CV compared to the PDP candidate whose secondary school result was a subject of litigation.

Adeleke family has shown acts of kindness to many people in the state and voting for the Senator was a way many believed they could repay them back. The late Senator Isiaka Adeleke who governed the state in 1992 and Deji Adeleke are known to have positively affected so many lives and this is one of the factors which helped the PDP.

The rising level of insecurity in the country and the poor state of the economy are said to be factors that made many voters to turn against the ruling party. Some of the residents of Osogbo told our correspondent that they were angry because the government of President Muhammadu Buhari had made them poorer than how it met them in 2015.

The fight between the Minister of Interior , Rauf Aregbesola and Oyetola as well as Tinubu was also one of the factors that swayed some APC members who are die-hard loyalists of the minister to support the PDP candidate.

One of the supporters of Aregbesola said Oyetola betrayed the minister despite everything he did to support his emergence in 2018, saying be was happy with the way the election went this time.

It was also gathered that some of the aides of the governor are not politically strong in their bases and with that the opposition had no difficulty to make incursion into their areas.

Aside this, it was gathered from some APC loyalists that Oyetola is a frugal governor and many of his appointees had been grumbling quietly since he came to power

Some pensioners who have not been paid their gratuities and some civil servants also believe that their lots would be better under a governor like Adeleke.

One of the pensioners, 75 years old Zainab Adeyemi, told our correspondent that ” the APC government is wicked but I believe Adeleke will pay our gratuities when he comes.”

It would also appear that supporters of the Labour Party in the state voted for the PDP as they seemed to have shun their own candidate, Lasun Yusuf, who scored a meagre 2729 votes in the election.