Former Senator Shehu Sani says some opposition figures are unhappy with Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke for publicly appreciating President Bola Tinubu after his re-election. Sani, a human rights activist, made the observation in a post on X on Monday, following Adeleke’s victory in the August 15 Osun governorship election.
Adeleke had, in his victory remarks on Sunday, thanked Tinubu for what he described as the President’s support for a free and fair election. The governor also reaffirmed his earlier endorsement of Tinubu for another term in the 2027 presidential election.
Reacting to Adeleke’s comments, Sani said some members of the opposition expected the Osun governor to take a more combative approach towards the President.
“Most members of the opposition are not happy with Governor Adeleke for ‘thanking’ President Tinubu for his electoral victory. They want the Governor to be confrontational,” Sani said.
However, the former lawmaker suggested that Adeleke’s decision to acknowledge Tinubu could be understood if the President played a role in protecting the governor’s electoral mandate.
“If the President had not been helpful in securing his mandate and preventing any attempt to tamper with it, the Governor wouldn’t have been so appreciative,” he said.
Sani further argued that an election is not concluded simply because a candidate secures the highest number of votes at polling units. According to him, the collation and declaration stages are equally important parts of the electoral process.
“Electoral victory is a product of two components; winning the votes and securing the collation and victory of the vote,” he said.
The former senator noted that there had been instances where politicians performed strongly at polling units but ultimately lost elections because they were unable to secure the outcome during the collation process.
His comments came after the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Adeleke winner of the Osun governorship election. The Accord Party candidate secured 511,067 votes, defeating his closest challenger, All Progressives Congress candidate Bola Oyebamiji, who polled 444,815 votes.
Adeleke subsequently thanked Tinubu and reaffirmed his support for the President’s 2027 re-election bid, describing him as a son of Osun State. Sani’s intervention has therefore brought renewed attention to the unusual political alignment between the Osun governor and the President, particularly as Nigeria’s political parties and opposition groups position themselves ahead of the 2027 general elections
