Osun: How Adeleke wormed his way to Senate through PDP
There was a dramatic turn of events on Saturday, in Osun State, as Mr Ademola Adeleke wormed his way into the hearts of PDP stalwarts and the electorate in Osun West Senatorial District and within a very short time is now a senator-elect.
Like a dream, Adeleke defeated the candidate of the ruling APC in the state, Senator Mudashiru Hussein, who also had the backing of the powers that be beyond his home state and a section of the South West.
The margin between the two contenders, over 31,000 votes, was so wide and incontrovertible to the extent that APC handlers could not dispute it for now.
In the final result compiled from the 10 local government areas that participated in the election as announced yesterday by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Adeleke garnered 97,480 votes to beat Senator Mudashiru Hussein of the APC, who had 66,116 votes.
Analysts believed that two or three things worked for Ademola Adeleke - sympathy votes and solidarity from the people in the senatorial district, as well as the apparent impunity that is gradually creeping into the APC, not only in Osun but at the centre.
The argument is that if the APC had allowed a free and fair primary to hold, Ademola Adeleke would have picked the ticket and gone ahead to win the contest - no thanks to vested interest, imposition and at the same time an increasing enlightened electorate that could say no when things appear to be an infringement on their rights.
Ademola Adeleke is the younger brother of Senator Isiaka Adeleke, who died in controversial circumstances a few months ago.
Like his brother, Ademola Adeleke was also a member of the APC, and probably based on prompting by the immediate family and some stalwarts, he wanted to replace his late brother at the Senate under the APC’s platform.
He, however, met a brick wall because he was not the preferred candidate of the powers that be in the state.
Instead, Governor Rauf Aregbesola opted for one of his newly appointed commissioners, Mudashiru Hussein, who as usual, got the backing of all those close to the state government, including those that wanted to be senators too.
Among those that “stepped down” for him were a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs Patricia Olubunmi Etteh, Alhaja Lateefat Giwa who is the Commissioner for Women Affairs in the state and Prince Dotun Babayemi, a business mogul among others, apparently in compliance with the directive by the governor.
But Adeleke resisted, insisting that he will not let go unless he is defeated at the APC primaries which was to be conducted by the Speaker of the Zamfara State House of Assembly, Alhaji Sanusi Garba Rikiji.
Curiously, the Zamfara speaker used his big hammer and disqualified the anointed Mudashiru Hussein on the grounds that he did not formerly resign as commissioner in line with the guideline that stipulated procedures for candidates seeking elective positions.
However, being the preferred candidate of the governor and a section of the powers that be in Abuja, Hussein’s disqualification was upturned even when the appeal committee set up by the party also said the Zamfara speaker’s committee did the right thing.
His “saving grace” was the influence of some top politicians that pressed on the National Working Committee (NEC) of the APC to clear him. Sadly, that was how far he could go because after winning the purported primaries, he met an equally vicious fighter at the main election.
On the other hand, Adeleke walked out of the APC, even before the prearranged primaries, to the willing hands of the PDP. This was few days to the election and he was granted outright waiver as a new defector to vie for the highly contested senatorial seat.
Apparently, PDP handlers saw in him a potential winner with not only adequate resources to bankroll his campaign, but enough sympathy from the electorate, who so much loved his elder brother, late Senator Isiaka Adeleke. He was therefore given automatic ticket of the PDP to confront the APC’s pampered candidate.
The scene was then set for intensive campaign for Mudashiru Hussein of the APC and Ademola Adeleke of the PDP.
And two days to the election, the embattled National Chairman of the PDP, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff temporarily relocated the party’s machinery to Osun West where he vigorously campaigned for Ademola Adeleke.
About the same time, the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun equally mobilised his party’s paraphernalia to Osun where he joined forces with the state apparatus under the leadership of Governor Aregbesola. It was however late for the APC as the Osun West voters went for the PDP.
With the election over, the fear now is whether Adeleke will actually remain in the PDP which gave him its mandate on a platter of gold, considering the gale of defections from other parties to the APC, all in an effort to be part of the forces to be reckoned with at the centre.
The election, pundits say, is equally a big lesson for the APC which must learn to do away with impunity.