Screenshot
Human rights lawyer and political activist, Deji Adeyanju, has criticised the performance of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate, Najeem Salam, at the ARISE News Osun Governorship Town Hall which held on Tuesday in Osogbo, Osun State, ahead of the gubernatorial election of the state.
Adeyanju, who remarked that he was largely unimpressed by Salam’s performance, said the ADC candidate made ambitious promises during the town hall but failed to provide specific roadmaps for how he would deliver on them, particularly on issues such as unemployment.
“By and large, I was completely unimpressed by the ADC governorship candidate, because he was just being the typical Nigerian politician, rolling out unimaginable promises, but not the how. That is crucial because if someone says they are going to solve the unemployment problem, then there needs to be specific roadmaps on how to do so. Anyone can make promises. Anyone can do then to dream or build the perfect ideal society, but I didn’t see or hear any of such,” he said.
Turning to the other candidates, Adeyanju said he was impressed by the combative approach of the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, describing his attacks on the governor as expected of an opposition candidate.
He also praised the governor, Ademola Adeleke, for attempting to defend his administration’s record by highlighting projects, particularly in road infrastructure, across the state.
“I was impressed by the combative nature of the APC candidate. He just came to attack the governor, so that was expected of opposition. He gave a lot of fireworks in the direction of the governor.”
“The governor impressed me the most because despite the combative attacks from the APC candidate—who was asking the governor, “l’You cannot justify the resources and the funds you’ve received, you cannot’—the governor tried to highlight some of the projects they’ve done: road infrastructure, all those things that have been done across the length and breadth of the state. The governor tried to give a brief account within the time allocated, of course, of the things that they’ve been able to do as a government,” he said.
Adeyanju also said the APC candidate for the governorship election, Oyebamiji, was able to dispel concerns about alleged godfather influence, noting that the APC candidate “disabused people’s minds” about the issue and the alleged involvement of “invisible hands” in his candidacy.
“The APC candidate gave a good run as an opposition and he punched holes. Again, he disabused people’s mind about his godfather, the godfathers and the hand—the invisible hands,” he remarked.
Reacting to the reported threat by Senator Basiru against ADC members, the political activist said he had petitioned the US, UK and Canadian governments to impose visa bans on the senator. He urged all leading candidates to condemn calls for political violence and commit to ensuring a peaceful election.
“The governor alleged so many things, infractions by the APC, some of which many people on social media have also alluded to, that the APC is not going to play fair, is not playing fair, and interrupting with the democratic process and all that. Again, that takes my mind back to the unfortunate remarks that we have just heard of Senator Basiru saying—very most regrettably, threatening that members of the ADC be killed.
“We have just written, before I came here, we have written a petition to the US Embassy, the UK, and Canada for a visa ban to be placed on him. This is in line with the United States’ commitment to promoting democracy across the world, especially—the US is very keen about promoting democracy in Nigeria. And the US has been very explicit that anyone that threatens political violence, or engages in electoral malpractice, or subverting the democratic process, that they will not hesitate to issue visa ban on them, and they will not hesitate to freeze their accounts within the US.
“We believe that all the leading candidates should condemn the call for violence against any political party, and the governor must commit—the governorship candidate must commit. The President, the security agencies, they must commit to making sure that the election is peaceful,” he urged.
Criticising Governor Ademola Adeleke for endorsing President Bola Tinubu as his presidential candidate while accusing the APC-led Federal Government of attempting to rig him in Osun, Adeyanju described the governor’s position as contradictory and said he could not reconcile Adeleke’s support for Tinubu at the federal level with his opposition to the APC in the state.
“The incumbent government in Osun is PDP, but the opposition itself is supposed to be a member of the larger opposition opposing the government in the center. So, it’s ironic to see Governor Adeleke endorse Tinubu as his presidential candidate, and doing a 360 crying that the party of the President is trying to rig him. I cannot reconcile these issues in my head. Indeed! So, Governor Adeleke standing on the mandate in Abuja, but refusing to stand on the mandate in Osun… what an irony of some sorts. No matter how you look at it, it’s irreconcilable for me personally, it can’t reconcile it.”
Challenging the ADC’s claim to being a genuine third force, Adeyanju argued that opposition parties should have considered forming a consensus against the APC rather than dividing their votes. He said the ADC candidate, Najeem Salam, largely used the debate to market himself and present his manifesto but failed to sound convincing enough to suggest he was seriously competing to win the election.
“The leading contenders in this race is Adeleke and the APC governorship candidate, Oyetola. What I expected opposition to do, like what I’ve been expecting them to do at the national, is for them to coalesce to have a consensus of some sort. And the APC does not like to play fair. We saw what the APC did in Edo, and if we play with these guys, these guys will grab it, run with it, and snatch it yet again. So, how do we stop them from grabbing it, snatching it, and running with it? Then we must jettison the idea of dividing votes or doing any form of distraction whatsoever. Because as far as I’m concerned, yes, the ADC candidate tried his best to try to market himself, to share his manifesto—basically, that’s what he did throughout the debate, share his manifesto. But he didn’t sound convincing like he was there to really win,” he pointed out.
Adeyanju argued that the ADC should have used the Osun election as an opportunity to negotiate with Adeleke and consider setting aside its own ambition, despite political differences. He said the opposition parties were not only divided but also appeared disillusioned by the strategies of the ruling APC.
“I was thinking that this would have been an opportunity for the ADC to negotiate. Right now, it appears that the opposition in the country are not only disunited, they are disillusioned by the strategies of the ruling party, the APC,” he argued.
Speaking on the freezing of the Osun State Government’s account by the EFCC, Adeyanju described the action as an abuse of power and office, arguing that while the agency had the legal authority to freeze government accounts, the timing appeared political.
“My thoughts are very simple: that it’s abuse of power, abuse of office simpliciter. No other way to put it. However, it is my considered view that EFCC has the powers to freeze the account of the state government, the federal government, and even the local governments. If you look at the act establishing EFCC and the Money Laundering Act, they do have the power. It is the timing of the freeze that looks political, and many citizens believe it’s political,” he stressed.
He also criticised President Tinubu’s intervention in the matter, arguing that even if the President wanted to resolve the issue, he should not have done so by directing an independent agency. He said Tinubu could have instructed the Attorney-General of the Federation to discontinue the forfeiture proceedings through the courts, thereby resolving the matter without weakening democratic institutions.
“Even if the President was to intervene, not intervene by issuing a directive to an independent agency. The President has an Attorney-General and a Minister of Justice who serves at his pleasure. The President could just have phoned the Attorney-General. Under the Constitution, the Attorney-General has the power to begin, continue, discontinue, and enter nolle prosequi in all cases filed within the Federal Republic and the presidency of this country.
“The Attorney-General would have discontinued the matter, the President did not have to issue the statement personally, the Attorney-General would have issued the statement,” he maintained.
Adeyanju also questioned the need for the President to seek control of Osun, arguing that virtually all governors in the country already support him and asking why there was a need to “take Osun or take any other state.”
“The President already has almost all the governors in the country supporting him. There’s practically no governor in the country that is not supporting the President. So what’s the desperation to take Osun or take any other state,” he questioned.
Identifying election security as his biggest concern in the Osun State governorship election scheduled for August 16, Adeyanju argued that security agencies, rather than INEC, would determine whether the poll is free and fair.
He called on the police and other security agencies to prevent rigging, vote buying and other electoral malpractices, stressing that credible elections could not be guaranteed without effective election security.
“Beyond the theatrics, my biggest worry in this election and in every election in Nigeria is not INEC; it’s the security. It is the security that determines whether elections will be rigged, whether political actors will hijack INEC forms, whether falsification of the result sheets will be done. It is the security.
“Until we fix election security, we can never have credible elections. Will the security agencies in the country ensure that there’s a free and fair election on Saturday? I don’t think so, and I don’t know. But I don’t know whether the President can obtain a commitment from the security agencies and direct the security agencies that the security agencies should ensure that the elections in Osun are not rigged.
“It is the security agencies that allow vote buying. They are the ones that allow vote buying at the polling unit. If the security agencies determine not to allow vote buying, vote buying cannot happen. In the last Ekiti election, they even chased some EFCC officials away from the polling unit that they came to spoil their market. But the security agencies, especially the police, must be up and doing to ensure that elections are credible,” he urged.
Favour Odima
