The national publicity secretary of the African Democratic Congress, (ADC), Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, has expressed confidence that the party with its candidate, Najeem Salaam, will emerge victorious in the Osun State election if the exercise is conducted freely and fairly.
Abdullahi said his confidence was strengthened after visiting Osogbo and witnessing what he described as strong grassroots support for the party ahead of the election.
“I was part of the team that visited Osogbo three days ago. Before we went to Osogbo, I had my concerns whether we are truly in a position to challenge for power in Osun State in this weekend’s election. But with what I saw on ground in Osogbo, I am confident—I remain confident, and my confidence got boosted—that if this is going to be a free and fair election, ADC will win this election,” he remarked.
He, however, expressed concern over what he described as the militarisation of the state’s political space, saying the heavy deployment of military and armed personnel had raised questions about the credibility of the electoral process.
“My concern is whether it will be a free and fair election, because what I also saw is the militarization of the Osun political space in a way that I have not seen in my entire adult life. When you go to Osun State, you will think that that part of the country is at war, because I saw mobilization of military men, armed men, and you would wonder what is going on here.
“So, I’m not saying that it forecloses anything, but I’m saying that the manner of mobilization, the kind of vehemence you see from the federal government on what is about to unfold in Osun, is really scary,” he underscored.
Dismissing concerns that Salaam’s Arise News Town Hall performance had weakened his chances, Abdullahi said Osun voters would prioritise the candidate’s plans to address their needs over his command of English.
“I listened to Najeem Salaam, especially when he spoke in Yoruba and articulated what he will do for the people of Osun State. He talked about what he will do for pensioners, how he will create jobs, and I thought he was quite clear about those things. I thought he was quite articulate. So if he doesn’t speak the English language that you want him to speak, the people of Osun State will not vote for him because he’s able to speak a certain kind of English language. They will vote for him because he’s able to speak to the needs that they have,” he insisted.
Adding, Abdullahi argued that the ADC’s previous electoral performance should not be used to assess its strength in Osun, saying off-cycle elections have peculiarities and that the state’s poll could produce a different outcome.
“I don’t think the results of those elections are actually a comment or a basis to conclude about the strength of the ADC, especially looking at the next general election. Off-season elections have their own peculiarities. Osun could be different,” he argued.
Following President Bola Tinubu’s reported remark that “all is fair in politics,” Mallam Abdullahi accused the President of creating an atmosphere that could encourage political actors to justify extreme measures, arguing that the statement could be interpreted as authorising whatever it takes to secure victory in elections.
“I don’t want to blame Senator Fadahunsi. I blame President Bola Tinubu. He got his imprimatur for what he said from President Bola Tinubu. He got his authorization from President Bola Tinubu. President Bola Tinubu was the one who said ‘all is fair in politics.’ When the President of the Federal Republic says ‘all is fair in politics,’ it means that you can maim, you can kill, you can steal, you can do whatever it takes, just deliver victory. A president doesn’t need to say everything. When a president says ‘all is fair in politics,’ you are authorizing any kind of behavior. A subordinate, someone who looks up to you, can interpret it anywhere they like,” he argued.
Claiming to have received intelligence that Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola could be arrested before the election, Abdullahi questioned the government’s intentions, saying such a move would suggest an attempt to demonstrate the President’s political power rather than allow Osun voters to freely choose their preferred candidate.
“I received intelligence that they are planning to arrest Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola before Saturday’s election. Who does that? We see the country is not at war. It’s just an election, one state election. But it appears they are determined to prove a point that the President is historically powerful,” he claimed.
Turning to the 2027 presidential election, Abdullahi said there was no doubt about the level of public dissatisfaction with President Bola Tinubu, arguing that the key challenge was translating that sentiment into electoral action on election day.
“We are at a point in this country today where we are seeing something that we have never seen before. The question is whether we can translate the dissatisfaction of the people into real electoral action on D-Day. There’s no question anymore whether the people want President Bola Tinubu gone by 2027,” he insisted.
On the opposition coalition, Abdullahi said ADC remained convinced it could defeat President Bola Tinubu in 2027, insisting that while a broad-based coalition and a single presidential candidate would make the task easier, failure to form one would not make victory impossible.
“The group calling for this is not ADC. It’s not ADC that is calling for that. It’s a group of individuals, the G-1. We, as African Democratic Congress, are convinced we will win the 2027 election.
“When we started this coalition-building effort, it was to bring everybody into the room, because we believe that the work of opposition is easier if we are able to line up behind a single presidential candidate. But it doesn’t make it impossible. It only makes it easier. It doesn’t make defeating President Bola Tinubu impossible. Failure to build this broad-based coalition does not make the work of defeating him impossible.
“We are convinced that if we are able to build this coalition to produce a single presidential candidate, it makes the job of beating President Bola Tinubu in 2027 easier. But we are not saying that if we don’t succeed in that regard, then the task of beating President Bola Tinubu becomes impossible. That’s not what we’re saying,” he stressed.
Citing the ADC’s internal polling, Abdullahi said the party was confident Tinubu would lose the 2027 election, pointing to widespread economic hardship and declining support for the President, particularly in parts of the North.
“We conducted our polls, and that’s part of the reason that we are confident that in this election in 2027, President Bola Tinubu will lose. The basis for it is very simple. They cannot win. It is very easy. Go to any part of the North today, even people who are contesting elections on the platform of APC are reluctant to put President Bola Tinubu’s photograph on their poster. It is difficult to go to some parts of the North today and mention President Bola Tinubu.
“When you mention poverty levels—you were mentioning worsening poverty—79 million Nigerians are on the verge of starvation. That’s not opposition narrative. That is the World Bank report, saying 79 million Nigerians, representing 33%, are on the verge of starvation.
They keep telling us the economy is doing well. I listened to the Chairman of FIRS a few days ago saying the economy is out of the woods. The economy is out of the woods, seriously? Go tell that to the poor woman that cannot feed her children. So they cannot excuse the staggering, historic poverty that is experienced in this country on the basis of a promise in the future, when even they know that these policies that they are proposing or implementing are not working,” Abdullahi said.
On the ICPC’s interim report into the alleged fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, Abdullahi criticised the investigation for failing to establish how the council was created and operated, arguing that it appeared focused on exonerating senior government officials rather than identifying those responsible.
“The report did not tell us what happened. The report only told us who are not responsible. We said it from the start, that the Federal Government of Nigeria under the APC/Bola Tinubu were only interested in exonerating themselves, rather than investigating what really happened. ICPC played into that when they submitted what they called their interim report.
“Our position is, if this is an interim report, why don’t you just simply pass it to the President and wait until you have conducted a full report? Because they said some individuals may have colluded. Who are those people? I worked in the Federal Government before as a federal minister, and I know it is absolutely impossible for an individual to do what he did without the full backing of very senior government officials. So there’s a lot that they are hiding,” he claimed.
Favour Odima
Follow us on:
