For Ademola Adeleke, it was indeed, a long walk; a bumpy ride to Osun Government House
By Emeka Alex Duru
With his inauguration in Osogbo, today, Sunday, November 27, as the sixth democratically elected governor, of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke has eventually actualised an ambition that had been punctuated at some instances by circumstances. Four years ago, he came close to this point but lost out in a manner that many considered controversial.
However, not deterred, he soldiered on and eventually dislodged a seating governor, Gboyega Oyetola, in an election that is being cited as holding hopes for the success of technological innovations in the 2023 general polls in the country.
Genesis of the long walk
Attaining the office was not a smooth sail for Adeleke. It was indeed, long walk; a bumpy ride. In 2017 when Adeleke, announced his entry into the Osun macro politics, the circumstances were hazy. He was literally compelled by the events of the day to run for the Osun West senatorial by-election following the death of his elder brother, Isiaka Adeleke, the occupant of the seat, who had once governed the state and left good name for himself.
Ademola, was then of the All Progressives Congress (APC) but could not weather the politics of the party to pick its ticket to complete his brother’s tenure. He was, thus, forced to cross to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where he became the candidate and won the election.
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He built on the popularity that trailed his election to the senate, especially among the youths, due largely to his liberal mien and uncommon dancing steps, to signal his aspiration for the governorship.
Slippery paths, bumpy roads
The attempts did not come through, initially. But on Sunday, July 23, Adeleke realised his dream, when he emerged the winner of the state off-season governorship election, beating Oyetola of the APC, in what seemed a pay-back affair. He polled 402,979 votes, while the former governor scored 375,077 votes.
Adeleke won in 17 local government areas of the state, including Olorunda, Ede South, Orolu, Osogbo, Odo Otin, Ifelodun, Atakumosa, and Ila, where the pioneer National Chairman of the ruling APC, Bisi Akande is from. Oyetola won in 13 local government areas including Iwo, Ayedaade, Ife South and Ife East. The election took place in all the 30 local government areas of the state with 3,763 polling units and 332 registration areas.
Senator Adeleke, 62, triumphed over 14 candidates in the poll on the crest of a campaign that pledged developing the state and retrieving what he alleged was his stolen mandate by the governor, in 2018.
Victory dance for the senator
Based on the results, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer of the election, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe said; “I declare that Adeleke Ademola Jackson Nurudeen of PDP, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and he is returned elected”. The announcement threw Adeleke’s supporters into wild ululation.
It was a moment that was long in coming. In 2018, the senator lost in the bid, when INEC controversially declared Oyetola as winner, having polled 255,505 votes against Adeleke, who had 255,023 votes at the end of a supplementary election, which held in seven polling units across four local governments amidst allegations of harassment and other forms of malpractice.
Adeleke was coasting home to victory when the electoral body declared the poll inconclusive. In the supplementary election, Oyetola was declared the winner. Adeleke was left in the lurch, having left his senate seat. His efforts to be declared the winner through the courts, did not succeed. That added to the litany of challenges he faced at the time.
While running against Oyetola, he was accused and charged to the Osogbo High Court for forging his secondary school testimonial and WAEC result to cancel his governorship candidacy. Part of the allegations was that the testimonial Adeleke submitted to INEC dated 20 July 1988, indicating that he attended a certain school in the state, caused some stir given that Osun state was not in existence, at the time.
It was also alleged that the SSCE results indicated in the testimonial showed that the mode of examination wasn’t existing in the year 1981. There were other issues. However, the court dismissed the suit stating that the plaintiff could not prove the allegation of forgery against Adeleke.
Even his emergence as PDP candidate in the election, was not without issues as he battled in and out of the court to be affirmed the flag bearer of the party.
Snippets of his resume indicate that Adeleke, the governor, is a businessman and administrator, who had served as an executive director of Guinness Nigeria Plc from 1992–1999, where his co-directors included General Theophilus Danjuma. He was the group executive director at his brother’s company, Pacific Holdings Limited from 2001 to 2016. Prior to joining Pacific Holdings Limited, Ademola had worked with Quicksilver Courier Company in Atlanta, Georgia, US, as a service contractor in 1985–1989. He progressed to Origin International LLC, Atlanta, Georgia, US, a flavours and fragrance manufacturing company as vice president from 1990 to 1994.
His job in the years ahead are clearly cut out for him, among which is to reposition Osun and lift it from its current civil service status to a productive entity. For the new governor, the days of glamour and blitz, are over. It is now, time for work.
The Man, Ademola Adeleke
Senator Ademola Adeleke was born on May 13, 1960. He commenced his primary education at Methodist Primary School, Surulere Lagos State, then relocated to Old Oyo State and attended Nawarudeen Primary School, Ikire. He progressed to The Seventh Day Adventist Secondary School, Ede also in the then Old Oyo State and later moved to Ede Muslim Grammar School Ede, where he finished his secondary school education before relocating to the United States.