Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and his Osun State counterpart, Ademola Adeleke, have criticized Abdullahi Ganduje, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), for claiming that the APC would capture Oyo and Osun states following its victory in Ondo State on Saturday.
Ganduje, speaking to journalists in Akure on Sunday after the Independent National Electoral Commission announced Lucky Aiyedatiwa as the winner of the Ondo State governorship election, expressed the APC’s goal of consolidating political control in the South-West by ousting the Peoples Democratic Party from Oyo and Osun states.
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.”
Responding on Monday, Oyo State Governor Makinde dismissed Ganduje’s claim as mere wishful thinking, while Osun State Governor Adeleke warned the APC National Chairman against making undemocratic statements or engaging in actions that could unsettle the South-West.
The Oyo State governor, speaking via his Chief Press Secretary, Dr. Sulaimon Olanrewaju, in an interview with The PUNCH, declared that neither the state government nor the Oyo PDP would relinquish control to the APC.
Olanrewaju noted that the governor supported the remarks made by the acting Publicity Secretary of the Oyo PDP, Micheal Ogunsina, who criticized Ganduje for his alleged takeover agenda.
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.”
Instead of discussing state capture, the Oyo PDP stated that it had anticipated the APC-led Federal Government would focus on alleviating the hardships inflicted on Nigerians by their purportedly misguided 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.
In an interview with our correspondent, Makinde, via his Chief Press Secretary, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, stated that the party expressed his views.
Adeleke, through a statement issued by his media aide, Olawale Rasheed, stated that the stance of the APC National Chairman was in stark contrast to 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.
In a similar vein, the Deputy National Youth Leader of the PDP, Timothy Osadolor, on Monday, accused the APC in power of rigging the governorship elections in Ondo and Edo States.
Osadolor further pledged to mobilize millions of Nigerians in resistance against the APC’s efforts to seize control of Oyo, Osun, and other states currently under the governance of 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 warned Ganduje to avoid stirring up political unrest in the South-West with his recent statements.
Odeyemi criticized his comments as irresponsible and inappropriate for a figure of his status, particularly considering the ongoing economic struggles faced by Nigerians under the present administration.
“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.
In the same vein, the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, urged caution, stating that such remarks could provoke violence.
Ifoh further expressed his belief that he did not foresee the APC gaining control of the entire South-West, either at present or in the foreseeable 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.”
