Adeleke, Makinde tackles Ganduje over Southwest takeover comment

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, and his Osun State counterpart, Ademola Adeleke, have criticized the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, following his comments about the APC’s plans to take over Oyo and Osun states.

Ganduje made the statement after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the APC candidate, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, as the winner of the governorship election in Ondo State on Saturday.

Speaking to journalists in Akure on Sunday, Ganduje said the APC’s goal was to achieve political homogeneity in the South-West by further displacing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo and Osun states, after its victory in Ondo. However, both Makinde and Adeleke have dismissed Ganduje’s assertion, asserting that the people of Oyo and Osun are firmly behind the PDP and that any attempt to disrupt the status quo would be met with strong opposition.

Ganduje had said, “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.”

But reacting on Monday, Oyo State Governor Makinde described Ganduje’s assertion as wishful thinking while Osun Governor Adeleke cautioned the APC National Chairman against anti-democratic utterances and plots to destabilise the South-West.

The Oyo governor, through his Chief Press Secretary, Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, in a conversation with The PUNCH, said the government and the Oyo PDP would not surrender the state to the APC.

Olanrewaju said the Oyo governor aligned with a statement by the acting Publicity Secretary of the Oyo PDP, Micheal Ogunsina, who tackled Ganduje over the takeover plot.

Ogunsina, in his statement, said it was unfathomable for the APC to believe that the people of Oyo State would abandon the “oasis of peace, ease and good governance” under the Makinde government for “devastation, pain, sorrow, and tears.”

Rather than talk about state capture, the Oyo PDP said it would have expected the APC-led Federal Government to preoccupy itself with how to ease the burden imposed on Nigerians through their alleged wrong policies.

“It is a shame that instead of easing people’s burden, what preoccupies the mind of the APC and its leadership are the capture of states and the abduction of people’s destinies. Where then is the difference between what the APC does and what forest bandits do?

“Our people are tired of a party and people that are progressive only in name. Ganduje and his cohorts who want to extend the pains of APC to Oyo State should stop plotting against God and the people. We reject the curse from Ganduje and his APC; our God, who hates the wicked, rejects them too.

“Our state has been an oasis of peace, ease and good governance in the midst of the ruins wreaked by the APC across the country. We do not intend to surrender our freedom to predators. And we will not.

“Perhaps we should let the APC people know that no sensible person in Oyo State wants to be inflicted with greater pains than what the people bear now from APC’s misrule.

“A ruling party with a conscience would, by now, be working very hard to repair the damage it has done to the economy of our country and the finances of the people. But, because APC cannot give what it does not have, it is not concerned at all about the people’s plight. Its politics is solely about grabbing power, capturing states and snatching people’s joy,” the Oyo PDP said.

Speaking with our correspondent, Makinde, through his Chief Press Secretary, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, said the party spoke his mind.

On his part, Adeleke in a statement signed by his media aide, Olawale Rasheed, said the APC National Chairman’s position contrasted sharply with Tinubu’s democratic credentials.

“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.

Similarly, the PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, on Monday accused the ruling APC of manipulating the Ondo and Edo State governorship elections.

Osadolor also vowed that they would rally millions of Nigerians to oppose the APC’s attempt to take control of Oyo, Osun, and other states currently governed by the opposition party.

He said, “It is a wishful statement and an alarming statement at the same time that should be condemned by all well-meaning Nigerians. What happened in Edo and Ondo states are not elections, but manipulations to install their selected candidates. It is a power grab and very dangerous for our democracy.

“The system is being run as if we operate a one-party system, rather than the multi-party system that we have. The APC-led Federal Government is more focused on using security to achieve electoral victory, rather than using security for the benefit of all.

“Rather than focusing on insecurity and economic challenges, the ruling party is concerned about priding itself on how it rigged its way into power from one state to another in the office-cycle elections.”

The Chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party in Osun State, Dr. Tosin Odeyemi, also cautioned Ganduje against inciting political tension in the South-West with his recent comments.

Odeyemi described his remarks as reckless and unbecoming of an elder statesman, especially given the current economic hardships Nigerians are enduring under the current government.

“One would have expected Dr. Ganduje to demonstrate better communication skills befitting his position. With the economic challenges Nigerians are facing, who would willingly vote for the APC? Ganduje should not be carried away by what transpired in Ondo State.”

“Osun people are wise and peace-loving. Each party must allow voters to decide freely. Ganduje must not turn the South-West into a war zone. Spoken words carry weight, and 2026 must be crisis-free in Osun,” he added.

Similarly, the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, called for restraint, saying such a statement can incite violence.

Ifoh also said he didn’t see the APC taking over the entire South-West either now or in the near future.

He said, “I sympathise with the APC National Chairman because his party has failed Nigerians. We have learned from past mistakes. The fear that the APC will take over the South-West is not there. Oyo State, as I talked to you, is not under the APC. Osun too is not under the ruling party’s control. So there is no way they can take over the whole of the South-West. It is not going to work.

“I want to also let you know that the hunger crisis in Nigeria today is felt more in the South-West, outside the North. So, I wonder what will be the incentive for anybody to ask this government to continue with the situation.”