The Chairman of the Media and Publicity committee of the Imole Campaign Council for the Governorship election scheduled for the August 15, 2026 election in Osun State, Hon Bamidele Salam, in this interview with KEHINDE AKINTOLA, highlights series of landmark developmental projects implemented by Governor Ademola Adeleke during his first term in office; the stiff opposition against his plans to join All Progressives Congress (APC), and the strategic plans to win the next election, among other issues. Excerpts:
What are some of the issues that you are addressing that will get Governor Adeleke another term?
In the last couple of weeks of the campaign activities, we have gathered a lot of momentum. When you are drawing close to an election period, there are certain things that you look at as a political party or a candidate, and one of which is the movement of major political players within the state. And in Osun for example, we have major blocs when you talk about election or voting. The Oshogbo, of course the state capital is a bloc. Ile Ife is one bloc, Ijeshaland is a bloc. Ede is a bloc. And then you have Iwo and Ila Orangun as major blocs in Osun. If you look at these blocs, and the movement the way you are seeing in Osun today, take for example, key players of the All Progressives Congress, who have decamped into the Accord, supporters and loyalists of Senator Iyiola Omisore, former deputy Governor and former national secretary of the APC, who declared openly to join the Accord when we had the flag off of our campaign on the 16th of last month. If you also look at the Iwo axis, the most dominant factor there is Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, a former secretary of the state government, a loyalist of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, and of course one of the key players in the APC in those years before they moved to the ADC, who has also joined forces with Governor Ademola Adeleke. Then you look at the traditional institutions in Osun, you know, the Kabiyesi Ataoja of Osogbo was very unequivocal the day that we had the commissioning of the Lamiko flyover, about the fact that Osogbo will reciprocate. The same thing with the Kabiyesi of Ila Orangun of Ila Orangun, on the day that the Governor went there, who made very direct reference to the unprecedented road infrastructure that the Governor has done in that town, and promised that Ila people will reciprocate with their votes. So, you know the trajectory, the movement has always been in favour of the Accord and Governor Adeleke and this has been very encouraging in the last few weeks.
Do you think the record of performance of the governor can earn him reelection?
Governor Ademola Adeleke has proved cynics wrong, and he has justified the confidence reposed in him by the mass of our people by embarking on legacy projects. In virtually every part of Osun today, it’s more like a construction site, road project. He’s the first Governor in the history of Osun to construct two simultaneous flyovers in the state capital, a major flyover and dual carriageway in Ile Ife. The dual carriageway in Ila Orangun, same thing in Iwo, in Ede, and then, of course, Ilesa, a legacy project with the people of Ijeshaland have been clamouring for, for quite a long time. The Governor has delivered on that road from the roundabout to Brewery and Akure road in Ilesa. And then, you know, talking also about endorsement and support, the Nigeria Labour Congress have been very clear on where their support lies, and they have justified it also by basing that support on the achievements of the Governor and the impact he has made in their own sector. He’s the Governor that pays the best minimum wage in the South West. He’s also the Governor who has offset about 75% of inherited salaries, pension liabilities, and allowances of civil servants in the last three and half years. He has expanded access of persons living with disabilities and pensioners to health insurance schemes by enrolling all pensioners. I think he’s the only Governor in Nigeria who has done that, who has enrolled all pensioners on a health insurance scheme free of charge. He has also earned the confidence of medical doctors and nurses. The Nigerian Medical Association came out boldly to say that the approval of their hazard allowance and some other allowances which ordinarily yearly lead to industrial strike, the Governor has seamlessly approved those things without any form of pressure. So these are all factors that are helping in the ongoing campaign and helping to drive traffic, to drive attention, to drive support for the Governor’s re-election in Osun State. So all these taken into consideration are very major and certainly they are things that will lead to electoral victory on the 15th of August when we have the election.
Some people believe that the defection of somebody like Honourable Wole Oke from the PDP also informed the exit of the Governor from PDP. Can you please shed light on what transpired?
No, the governor had no issue at all with the PDP. PDP has issues with itself. The PDP was polarised into factions and there was no single faction that was recognised by law up till the time the governor was leaving the party and it was very dangerous for us to live in a party that had no secure leadership. So the defection of Hon. Wole Oke is very insignificant. For those who are outside, they may not know, he is a Rep member for two local governments. Some of us are from four local governments, three local governments. He has enjoyed the privilege of representing those two local governments for about 20 years now. And that has made him very unpopular because people are very tired of his representation. And if you see what is happening there today, the young man who has been given the ticket of the Accord, Barrister Pelumi Olajengbesin is obviously the choice of the people, Traditional rulers, power blocs have endorsed Pelumi Olajengbesin. So his (Oke) own going out of the party was not in any way related to the going out of the party by the governor. The governor left the PDP then, because the party had no definitive leadership and the window for the nomination of candidates was about to close in the month of December of last year and that was how the issue of Accord came on board.
And since he joined the Accord, the party has received a lot of boosts in Osun and even in other parts of the country. For the first time in several years, the party is having candidates running for election in many states of the federation, in Oyo, in Kwara, in Plateau, in so many parts of the country now people are running on the platform of Accord as a political party.
Why has the governor decided not to be part of the APC or the mainstream political party in the South West?
I am sure that you are also aware that there was a move at the time for the governor to join the APC based on the invitation he received from prominent leaders of the party and consultation he had with the major players in Osun. The governor actually gave it a positive thought, but what happened was that, there are people in the APC, especially in Osun State, who felt very uncomfortable with Governor Adeleke joining the party led by the Minister of Blue Economy, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola. They began to make all manner of moves, including blackmail and subtle threats on national television, to reject the move by the governor to join that political party. So, Governor Adeleke has done his own part, he wanted to join them. They said no, he shouldn’t join them. And he’s very comfortable in the Accord where he is today. So, the question should be to them why they didn’t want him. Otunba Iyiola Omisore said on television recently that it was Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola that was pushing them that he should go on TV to resist the coming of Governor Adeleke because it would jeopardise the governorship ambition of some persons. So, now they have a governorship candidate who did not emerge through any verified process. He did not partake in any primaries; he was just imposed as a lackey, like Otunba Iyiola Omisore used to say. But the most critical thing is that the Governor Ademola Adelieke, had even before he left the PDP, spoken on the need for Osun to queue behind Mr. President in the 2027 election, and he has given that commitment that he will work for the election of President Bola Tinubu, regardless of the fact that he is not in the APC.
But despite the public support that Governor Adeleke has garnered for Mr. President, can you see that being reciprocated with the way and manner some of the APC members are going about their campaign against him?
Yeah, you are very correct. The important thing is that Governor Adeleke is on ground, he is well loved by the people. The unfortunate part of it is that the APC in Osun is too desperate, and they are pursuing this state capture agenda with so much desperation, weaponising poverty, and weaponising cultism, and getting young boys with weapons to be going around shooting, at times in branded vehicles, branded with the colour of the APC, in a manner that shows that the impunity appears to enjoy some form of official support. But, thank God, we’ve met with the Inspector General Police who came to Osun, the AIG came, and at every point in time they had all spoken against this mayhem. We expect that they will be able to nip that criminality in the bud, and be able to bring perpetrators to book. That’s our expectation, so that we can have an election that is free of violence on the 15th of August, 2026. But, like I said, it’s very sad that the APC in Osun is behaving like a drunken set of power chasers, who just want to grab power at all costs, regardless of what it will cost, in terms of human life and property and comfort.
