The Governor-elect of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adekele, has promised the people of the state that he is prepared to serve.
He said he was aware of the several challenges facing the state but that he would tackle them head-on.
Adeleke, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, defeated the incumbent governor and candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Adegboyega Oyetola, to emerge as the winner of the July 16 election.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, Adeleke scored 403,371 votes and won in 17 local government areas to defeat Oyetola, who scored 375,027 votes and won in 13 LGAs. No fewer than 15 political parties participated in the election.
In an interview with Saturday PUNCH, Adeleke, who received his Certificate of Return from the INEC on Wednesday, said, “My election by the good people of Osun State is divine. I am prepared to govern. I am also not unaware of the many challenges facing the people of our state. I want to assure you and the people of our dear state that I won’t disappoint them.
“I have the capacity to lead the state and I will do it with the fear of God. I shall provide the needed leadership. I have learnt a lot within the last four years when our first mandate was stolen.
“I promise not to disappoint the people. We shall prioritise our needs and I can assure you that the needs of the people shall be our priority. Osun people have suffered enough, they need to smile and laugh like their counterparts in other states that are working. We shall make that possible.”
But the Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, on Friday said the defeat suffered by his party, the All Progressives Congress, in the July 16 governorship election was a temporary setback.
Oyetola, who spoke at a meeting held at the Osun Government House, Oke Fia, Osogbo, and attended by political appointees and party leaders, also said the loss was a test from God.
He said, “Rumours have been spreading around that I have run away after the election result was announced. We also heard the PDP saying I am trying to convert government assets to mine. Don’t worry about them; they are simply playing to the gallery. I summoned all of you here to assure you that the present situation is just a temporary setback. It is a test of our resolve by God and we will continue to stand by him. Ours is God’s project and we shall not despair.
“Go back to your various units and wards across the state and continue with regular party activities; hold your meetings regularly. We have a bigger project ahead and we must not allow this temporary setback to distract us.”
Meanwhile, the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji, while speaking at his palace when he received the governor-elect and his supporters, revealed that he was threatened with eviction by some undisclosed people.
It would be recalled that during Adeleke’s visit to Ataoja before the governorship poll, the monarch, while reacting to the alleged attack on some PDP members coming to receive their party’s candidate, had placed curses on people behind politically motivated attacks in the town.
The outburst of the royal father did not however go down well with some people within the community, who accused him of partisanship.
But Ataoja, while speaking in a short video clip recorded during the governor-elect visit to him, described himself as lucky with Adeleke’s victory, as he could have been chased out of the palace with a broom.
The monarch who spoke in Yoruba in the video said, “My sermon to my son, who is now my boss, is simple: may you be successful in office. I am saying this openly so that people can hear. Let them know that my joy has come. Imagine them saying they will sweep me away with their brooms, with a cane from this palace? It was God that saved me. It is not only Ademola (Adeleke) that has been lucky; Ataoja is also lucky.
