Osun Template Key To Removing Tinubu In 2027 – PDP

The Kabiru Turaki-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the strategy adopted by the Accord party to secure the re-election of Governor Ademola Adeleke in Osun State must be replicated by Nigerians to unseat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election.

In a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the party’s Interim National Working Committee, Comrade Ini Ememobong, the PDP described Adeleke’s victory, as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as a clear signal of what to expect in 2027.

“The result of the Osun Governorship elections, as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, showing a convincing win by Governor Ademola Adeleke, is a clear message from Nigerians in Osun State about what the 2027 elections will be,” the statement read.

The party said the victory came at a heavy cost, crediting it to the resilience and vigilance of Osun residents against what it described as the rigging machinery of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“The victory, which came at a high cost of strong will, vigilance and resistance by the people of Osun State against the entire rigging machinery of the ruling All Progressives Congress, who were desirous of winning the state at all costs,” it said.

The PDP alleged that the APC’s determination to win the state by any means was evident in the events leading up to the election, citing the intimidation of opposition figures and the controversy surrounding Senator Francis Fadahunsi’s remarks against Accord party members.

“That the APC wanted Osun, by fair or foul means, was not in doubt to anyone, which accounts for the unceasing intimidation, assault and arrests of opposition politicians, the ‘kill them’ directive by Senator Francis Fadahunsi and the performative invitation by the police, and his subsequent release to participate in the elections,” the statement said.

It further alleged that the ruling party had deployed its full political weight to the state, drawing comparisons to a previous election in another state.

“The ruling party that is ruining the country mobilized their entire rigging machinery to Osun, with nothing left to chance, boasting that they will repeat the Edo experience, but the people of Osun State resisted their machinations and ensured the sanctity of the ballot,” it said.

The party raised concern over the conduct of national institutions during the election, describing certain actions as capable of undermining the democratic process.

“We must warn that the failure of national institutions to maintain unambiguous neutrality is dangerous and anti-democratic. The manifest partiality of security agencies, especially the police, and even the shameful intervention by the EFCC freezing the accounts of the state; and the intentional delay of more than two hours in uploading the results of the 470 polling units by INEC, are acts that are not just condemnable but are actions capable of derailing democracy,” it said.

While commending the resilience of Osun voters, the PDP cautioned Nigerians against complacency as the 2027 election approaches, warning that the APC would likely learn from its setbacks in Osun.

“Nigerians must vote, protect and defend their votes. They must not think that having failed in Osun, the APC and its accomplices in the critical national institutions will repent of their ill deeds; they will rather seek to learn from the failings in Osun, to perfect their dark art of subverting the wishes of the people,” the statement read.

The party described the outcome in Osun as a preview of a broader political reckoning it expects in 2027.

“Overall, the result from Osun is an advance payment by Nigerians against the APC, the balance will come in 2027, when Nigerians will send packing the most ineffective and destructive political class in the history of Nigeria, post-independence,” it said.

It insisted that election outcomes must reflect the genuine will of the people rather than the interests of a privileged few, stressing the need for continued vigilance.

“Election results must be reflective of the wishes of the people freely expressed through the ballot and not the enforcement of the whims and caprices of a privileged minority of oppressors.

“And to achieve this, Nigerians must never forget that the price for eternal freedom is vigilance,” the statement said.