President Bola Tinubu has urged Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, to use his victory in Saturday’s governorship election to promote unity, peace and stability across the state.
Tinubu spoke on Thursday when Adeleke visited the State House in Abuja to present his certificate of return to the President following his re-election.
The President cautioned Adeleke against using his electoral victory to witch-hunt or stigmatise political opponents, urging him instead to reach out to those who contested against him.
Adeleke defeated 14 other candidates in the keenly contested election, polling 511,067 votes to defeat the All Progressives Congress candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who scored 444,815 votes. The African Democratic Congress candidate, Najeem Salaam, came third with 17,180 votes.
The governor won 19 of the 30 local government areas, while Oyebamiji secured victory in 11.
Adeleke had earlier thanked Tinubu for what he described as the President’s role in allowing a free and fair election in Osun State.
Responding, Tinubu said Adeleke’s victory presented him with an opportunity to demonstrate the virtues of democracy by governing for all residents of the state, regardless of their political affiliations.
He stressed that an election victory should not be interpreted as a conquest over political opponents, but as a mandate entrusted to the winner by the electorate.
“You did not conquer anybody. You won the election. That is the essence of democracy,” Tinubu said.
The President urged Adeleke to see his re-election as a call to unite the people of Osun and focus on governance, rather than pursuing political vendettas against those who opposed him during the election.
