Former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the conduct of the Osun State governorship election, saying the President showed restraint by allowing the contest to proceed without alleged federal interference.
Fayose made the remarks on Tuesday while speaking on TVC News, days after Ademola Adeleke, the Accord candidate and incumbent Osun governor, secured victory with 511,067 votes against Bola Oyebamiji, the All Progressives Congress candidate, who polled 444,815 votes.
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The result gave Adeleke a winning margin of 66,252 votes. Adeleke carried 19 of Osun’s 30 local government areas, while Oyebamiji won in 11.
Fayose described the contest as sufficiently close to have gone either way and urged Adeleke to respond to victory with restraint.
The former governor’s assessment was also shaped by his own experience during the 2018 Ekiti governorship election, when he was succeeded by Kayode Fayemi of the APC.
Fayose alleged that the Federal Government at the time used its influence against him and claimed that security personnel restricted his movement in the final days before the election.
“Ekiti was taken from me in 2018. By all means possible. Those features did not play out in Ede,” Fayose said, referring to the Osun election.
Fayose further alleged that his security personnel were withdrawn and that he was prevented from leaving the Government House in Ado-Ekiti.
He claimed that an attempt to leave the premises resulted in an altercation with security personnel, during which he was struck with a rifle butt.
“That was why I had the collar on my neck at the time. I wish I had that image for Nigerians to see.
I had four surgeries, four procedures because of that incident alone,” Fayose said.
The claims form part of Fayose’s account of the circumstances surrounding the 2018 election and were not independently established by the sources reviewed for this report.
The former governor nevertheless drew a sharp contrast between that experience and the 2026 Osun poll, arguing that the conduct of the Federal Government under Tinubu demonstrated a different political approach.
“The only thing I heard towards the election was the federal government will take it by force. The federal government has come to do this.
I want to say to you, if the federal government wants to take an election, they will take it,” he said.
Fayose’s comments followed remarks by Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, who had said he could have helped the APC secure Osun if Tinubu wanted victory “at all costs”.
Rather than interpret the result as evidence of federal weakness, Fayose said the outcome demonstrated that the President was willing to allow democratic institutions and voters to determine the result.
“If not for Tinubu, who has been very magnanimous in his actions, what would be the way to talk to him on social media?” Fayose said.
“He is showing us that it is possible to have an election of our dream in this country.”
Fayose also rejected suggestions that his public support for Tinubu was connected to his recent appointment as chairman of the Rural Electrification Agency board or represented preparation for a move into the APC.
He said his relationship with Tinubu predated their current political positions and that supporting policies he considered beneficial to Nigeria should not automatically be interpreted as partisan defection.
“I have always supported the President while I was in office, about 15 years ago,” Fayose said, adding that he intended to give his best in his new public role.
The former governor’s position is notable because Fayose remains associated with the Peoples Democratic Party while publicly commending an APC president and accepting a federal appointment.
His comments also come at a politically sensitive period, with Nigeria’s political parties already positioning themselves for the 2027 general elections.
The Osun result itself provides an important snapshot of the political landscape ahead of that wider contest.
Adeleke’s victory gave the opposition an important win in a state where the APC had been seeking to regain control.
The close voting figures also underline the competitiveness of the contest.
Although Adeleke prevailed by more than 66,000 votes, Oyebamiji secured 444,815 votes, reflecting substantial support for the APC across the state.
Fayose’s intervention therefore goes beyond praise for Tinubu.
It also revisits a defining episode in his own political career while placing the latest Osun result within Nigeria’s continuing debate over federal influence, electoral independence and the credibility of democratic competition.
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For Fayose, the more significant message from the Osun election is that political power can be exercised without necessarily determining the outcome at the ballot box.
Morenikeji Adedayo is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, business, and public affairs.
