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  • Adeleke and Oyetola Throw Stones Over ₦‎407 Billion Osun Debt

    Adeleke and Oyetola Throw Stones Over ₦‎407 Billion Osun Debt

    For many Nigerian politicians, becoming the governor of a state is the pinnacle of political success and should be the time to sit back and enjoy. That doesn’t seem to be the case for Ademola Adeleke, the dancing governor of Osun State who currently has little reason to dance.

    On December 15, 2022, Adeleke alleged that the former governor of Osun State whom he defeated at the polls, Gboyega Oyetola, left ₦‎407.32 billion in debt.

    What’s the breakdown of the gist?

    Oyetola has boasted in the past that he was able to successfully run Osun State without borrowing a dime. The new sheriff in town, Adeleke, decided to check out the claim with the office of the state’s Accountant-General. His conclusion was that it was untrue. He added that a portion of the debt comes from a bridge finance facility of ₦18.04 billion which Oyetola borrowed after he lost the election in July.

    “The only fund in government coffers, as of Monday, November 29, 2022, was for November 2022 workers’ salary. Otherwise, the state treasury was empty. If the ₦76 billion debts on salaries and pensions are added, the state is indebted to the tune of ₦407.32 billion. The amount owed to contractors is yet to be determined.”

    Nobody likes to be called an onigbese and sure enough, Oyetola’s camp has fired back.

    How has Oyetola responded?

    Oyetola’s spokesperson, Ismail Omipidan, remained adamant. He responded that his boss didn’t borrow while in office. The response more or less said Adeleke didn’t know much about governance and maths. According to him, any debt claim is from another former governor, Rauf Aregbesola. The governor said there’s ₦14 billion left over in the state’s purse. 

    “If you go to my principal’s welfare address, he stated it clearly, that like every other state, we benefitted ₦3 billion on a monthly basis for six months from the federal government as budget support.

    “This money was given to all the 36 states of the country without request. You cannot categorise that as a loan.

    “So the new governor does not understand the working of government and he should have allowed those that understand the rudiment to explain it to him. So that he won’t be coming to the public to embarrass himself the way he did.”

    What have reactions been like?

    Some traditional rulers in the state like the Oluwo of Iwo don’t think Oyetola could have taken on such debt. Others, like the Oluwo of Kuta have said he should get on with his job since he asked for it. 

    “Mr Governor, you need to leave brickbats to your party and face governance. There are a lot of landmines ahead of you. You have to face governance with a view to meeting our expectations and your promise on your first 100 days in office, the days are counting.”

    The days are counting indeed and Adeleke more than anyone knows this. 

    Ultimately, he’ll be judged on his performance, not his excuses.

    Stephen Agwaibor

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  • How Osun State Became “the State of Osun”

    How Osun State Became “the State of Osun”

    Only five years after he burst onto the Nigerian political scene as the senator who could outdance P Square in public, Ademola Jackson Adeleke is now the governor of Osun State. The former senator assumed office on November 27, 2022, and immediately showed everyone he’s not just a dancer but also a fighter.

    How Osun State Became the State of Osun

    Right from his inauguration speech, Adeleke started handing out orders on issues he considered so pressing he couldn’t wait to check out his new office first. He froze appointments his predecessor, Gboyega Oyetola, made since the July 2022 election, sacked 12k workers and suspended state electoral officials.

    But a major decision the new governor has made that’s getting some pushback is to change the state’s official name from “the State of Osun” to “Osun State”, as it was formerly known. State lawmakers have told him it’s not something he can do with a mere executive order, and it seems a battle line has been drawn. 

    But what’s the difference between “Osun State” and “the State of Osun”, and why’s it such a contentious issue? Prepare yourself for a bumpy story that leaves logic standing on its head and reason crying in a corner.

    A trip to 2011

    Before Adeleke and Oyetola, Rauf Aregbesola was Osun State’s governor.

    How Osun State Became the State of Osun

    This guy is Nigeria’s current Minister of Interior

    It’s difficult to track exactly when it happened, but sometime in 2011, only one year into his administration, Aregbesola woke up and realised he needed to make some noticeable changes to the state. Any Nigerian governor worth his salt would create a white elephant project, commission a few useless boreholes, and maybe, owe workers six months’ salary or even get a face tattoo. But Aregbesola was no ordinary governor, so he did none of those ordinary things.

    How Osun State Became the State of Osun

    The former governor didn’t like the sound of OVO “Osun State”, so he directed that it would henceforth be known as “the State of Osun”. And that was the beginning of a controversy still plaguing the state 11 years later.

    Why did he do it, man?

    Naturally, not many people were fans of Aregbesola turning the state’s official name into his plaything, and they made their feelings known. You’d be forgiven for assuming he ordered the name change while tripping on glue he accidentally sniffed, but he really had well-thought-out reasons for his decision.

    When backed into a corner to explain during an interview in April 2012, Aregbesola listed a few reasons we’ll quickly run through.

    The Nigerian constitution doesn’t care

    Aregbesola said he could do whatever he wanted because the 1999 constitution only lists the 36 states without any guideline on if the “state” should come before or after the name. We checked the constitution, and he’s… correct.

    “Logic of syntax”

    Aregbesola isn’t a professor of English, but he thinks “the State of Osun” is more logical syntactically than “Osun State”. 

    In his words, “If the Federal Government is the Federal Government of Nigeria in the constitution, the only reasonable way to call the state is the State Government of Osun. There’s no other correct way.”

    “See your mates”

    If you’re still not convinced he’s the smart one in this story, Aregbesola said all the nations of the world who have states “as the basis of administrative governance” use the “State of” format. He said he simply followed international conventions, implying everyone else in Nigeria was acting like local league.

    How Osun State Became the State of Osun

    He’s a man of culture

    If you thought this has gone for far too long, then you don’t know Aregbesola, because he has more ground to cover. He said “the State of Osun” is a better fit for a Yoruba translation of the name, which is “Ipinle Osun”, as against “Osun State” which would make the direct translation “Osun Ipinle”. We’re convinced he doesn’t know how translations work, but he said it’s only natural for him to change the state’s name simply due to “cultural basis”.

    How Osun State Became the State of Osun

    Remember that this man is our current Minister of Interior

    What does the law say about all this?

    In 2017, an Osun State High Court ruled Aregbesola’s change of name to be “illegal, null and void”. Using three words to say basically the same thing is the best way to make sure the point sinks in, but you’ve never met Aregbesola. 

    Until he left office in 2018, Aregbesola maintained the State of Osun name change, while his government appealed the judgement. In November 2018, he handed over the baton to Oyetola, his chief of staff, who had little reason to reverse the name change. And even though Oyetola eventually had beef with Aregbesola and undid many of his other head-scratching policies, the name change remained during his four years in office. 

    But there’s a new sherriff in town, and Michael Jackson Adeleke wants a return to the old ways.

    When will the State of Osun become Osun State again?

    Alongside the name issue, Adeleke also used his executive order to undo Aregbesola’s creation of a state anthem, crest, flag and change of the state’s motto. But the State House of Assembly has made it clear none of those changes will happen via executive order because they were created by laws of parliament.

    If Adeleke wants to win this battle, he’d have to toast opposition lawmakers to reverse the law. But if that fails, he could always challenge them to a dance battle.

    ALSO READ: Adeleke Has Done These Things In Two Days As Osun Governor

    Samson Toromade

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  • These Nigerian Governors Are Making Shady Moves

    These Nigerian Governors Are Making Shady Moves

    It really shouldn’t be news that Nigerian politicians aren’t the best group of people in the world. Their public service contributions span from the unbelievable to the wickedly outrageous. Take your pick from the hoarding of COVID-19 palliatives to blaming monkeys for missing funds.

    With the 2023 elections looming on the horizon, many elected officials are starting to pack their bags to leave office.  But there are some governors already doing suspicious things on their way out. Let’s take a look at three of the weirdest ones on our radar.

    Badaru Abubakar — Jigawa State

    In October 2022, a governorship candidate, Mustapha Lamido, accused current Jigawa State governor, Badaru Abubakar, of making deceptive appointments. 

    He said, “I wonder how on earth a government that has only five months to pack off will resort to deceiving its citizens by making appointments that were supposed to have been done seven years ago.”

    Wait until Lamido finds out what’s happening in Osun State.

    Gboyega Oyetola — Osun State

    There were scenes in Osun State when the outgoing governor, Gboyega Oyetola, appointed 30 civil servants as permanent secretaries on November 24, 2022. It’s not just the fact that he did this after losing out on a second term, it’s also the timing. The governor announced the appointments three days before his handover to the new governor, Ademola Adeleke.

    Adeleke has warned the appointees to reject the promotion and threatened to throw them out to follow Oyetola.

    Nyesom Wike — Rivers State

    Earlier in November, the outgoing governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, made a public spectacle out of the appointment 100,000 special assistants on “political unit affairs”. And they were only the first batch, so we should expect another batch before he leaves office in May 2023

    Wike’s critics have pointed out that he’s trying to set up a vote-buying team in disguise but he doesn’t care.  If the alleged vote-buying scheme fails, we recommend Wike should convert them to backup singers for his live band.

    Stephen Agwaibor

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  • Lessons We Learnt from the Osun State Governorship Election

    Lessons We Learnt from the Osun State Governorship Election

    Like much of anything in life, political office in Nigeria is turn by turn. In 2018, Gboyega Oyetola narrowly beat Ademola Adeleke to become the governor of Osun State. But he’ll have to pack his bags and leave the Government House in November [2022] after losing the 2022 Osun State governorship election to none other than Adeleke.

    This guy

    There was a lot riding on the July 16th election, and now that it’s over, we’ve learnt a few things.

    Sometimes, all you need is dance moves

    When Adeleke entered the political scene in 2017, he was known for nothing more than his dance moves. He coasted to victory and won a senatorial election to fill a vacancy left by his late brother, Isiaka Adeleke. That’s how the “Dancing Senator” was born.

    It doesn’t matter if it’s a Celine Dion song or a Zlatan Ibile banger, the “Dancing Senator” has all the moves

    When Adeleke contested in the Osun governorship election a year later, his dance moves were once again his selling point for an election he lost in a controversial fashion. His second run for the governorship seat he’s now won wasn’t propped by any innovative ideas or grand campaign promises. It was, once again, “That’s the guy with the dance moves!” It’s all anyone remembers of his candidacy.

    No one can say for sure that Adeleke will be a good or bad governor, but we know end-of-the-year parties won’t be the same at the Government House for the next four years.

    Vote-buying is still a problem 

    There’s hunger in the land, and Nigerian politicians definitely know how to exploit a problem they’ve created. This is why vote-buying has become as much of a dominant feature of Nigerian politics as a PVC. 

    Vote-buying reared its ugly head in Osun with many incidents flagged across the state. The Justice, Development and Peace Makers Centre (JDPMC), an election observer group, reported that vote-buying happened in 75 out of the 76 polling units it covered.

    https://twitter.com/ritarock18/status/1548254384558972928?s=20&t=TXu5J8-zLS3WEM9CNY36Gg

    Political parties are clearly willing to win by hook or crook. So, it’s up to electoral and security agencies to design strategies to neutralise the culture of bribing voters as much as possible. Security operatives arrested some of the vote-buyers in Osun, which is good, but follow-up prosecution is usually rare. 

    Voter-turnout headache isn’t going away

    Low voter turnout in Nigerian elections has become one of the most burning issues over the past two decades. The turnout rate for the presidential elections has been dropping since 2003 and gets even worse for governorship and legislative elections. Voters are simply not turning up at the polls to elect anyone. 

    The trend continued in the Osun governorship election as only 42.37% of registered voters showed up to exercise their civic rights. The turnout is lower than the 45.74% recorded in the state’s governorship election in 2018 and 53.14% in 2014. 

    Even lower turnout rates were recorded in the past four Nigerian governorship elections in Ondo State (32.84%), Edo State (24.53%), Anambra State (10.27%) and Ekiti State (36.74%).

    ALSO READ: Lessons We Learnt from PDP’s National Convention

    INEC is doing well

    It’s not often that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) gets covered in glory after an election. But the agency’s work on the Osun election has been praised as a decent outing. 

    There weren’t as many voting machine failures and the collation process wasn’t as controversial as Nigerians are used to. Even the announcement of the winner happened as swiftly as possible when compared to other elections.

    Some of the credit for INEC’s smooth conduct of the election went the way of the new Electoral Act signed in February 2022. The legislation has brought some refreshing efficiency and transparency to the process, making many Nigerians excited for 2023. Even Buhari couldn’t resist the urge to take credit for the smooth process once the election was over.

    Young people hold all the cards

    With a share of 39.7% of the total number of registered voters in Osun, young people aged 18 to 34 years formed the biggest voting bloc of the election. It’s proof that young people can decide the future of the country. They just need to go out to vote.

    Stomach infrastructure is here to stay

    Is it a Nigerian election if “stomach infrastructure” doesn’t make a sad appearance? We’ve come to expect candidates to bait voters with food items packaged with their proud faces. The Osun election was no exception.

    It’s basically pre-vote-buying.

    There’s still a lot of work for the Third Force

    The Osun election inevitably carried the burden of being considered a test-run for how the 2023 general elections may turn out. And one of the biggest components of this burden is an examination of how an outside force can challenge the dominance of APC and PDP. 

    Of the 804,450 valid votes cast, the APC and PDP candidates scored 778,398 (96.8%) votes while 13 other candidates combined ended up with 26,052 (3.2%) votes.

    If the Osun election is supposed to mean anything, it’s that parties outside of the more established APC and PDP need to do a lot of hard work if they hope to pull off an upset in 2023.

    This is unrelated, but let’s also remember to honour our heroes past and not do things like this:

    ALSO READ: Lessons We Learnt from APC Presidential Primaries

    Samson Toromade

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  • What You Should Know About Osun Governorship Election

    What You Should Know About Osun Governorship Election

    In democracies worldwide, an election is usually the best chance for groups of people to determine their own future. The Osun State governorship election will present voters with such an opportunity on Saturday, July 16th, 2022. 

    Here’s everything you need to know about this election.

    Why’s it taking place before 2023?

    Just like the June 18th, 2022 Ekiti State governorship election, the Osun State governorship election is one of a handful of governorship elections in Nigeria that doesn’t happen at the same time as the nationwide general elections. The Osun election fell out of sync with the regular timetable after the Supreme Court overturned Olagunsoye Oyinlola’s 2007 victory in favour of Rauf Aregbesola in 2010. 

    Is an incumbent governor involved?

    Yes. 

    Gboyega Oyetola will participate in the Osun governorship election

    The incumbent governor, Gboyega Oyetola, is contesting for a second term in office as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). His biggest obstacle, yet again, is Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) whom he narrowly beat in 2018.

    ALSO READ: Why These Nigerian States Have Off-Cycle Governorship Elections

    How many candidates are contesting?

    Nigeria has 18 political parties; 15 of them will participate in the Osun State governorship election. The three parties that won’t participate are Action Alliance (AA), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and African Democratic Congress (ADC).

    All 15 governorship candidates are male, but there are six female deputy governorship candidates in the race. No woman has ever been elected governor in the history of Nigeria’s democracy.

    Osun governorship election candidates

    Osun governorship election candidates

    Source: INEC

    How many people are voting?

    There are 1,955,657 voters eligible to vote in the Osun State governorship election. But only about 1,479,595 (75.7%) have collected their permanent voter’s cards (PVC) as of Sunday, July 10th, 2022. 

    Number 7

    The upcoming contest is the seventh governorship election in Osun State since its creation in 1991. The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has deployed 21,000 police officers to the state to ensure a peaceful process. 

    When will the winner be sworn in?

    The winner of the Osun State governorship election will be sworn in on November 27th, 2022.

    INEC advise voters on Osun governorship election

    ALSO READ: A Reminder That 2023 Is Not Just About Who Becomes President

    Samson Toromade

    , , , , ,

  • Why Jagaban Is Trending in Osun State

    Why Jagaban Is Trending in Osun State

    A few days before the 2018 Osun state governorship election, Bola Tinubu made national headlines for claiming to be richer than the entire state.

    Jagaban, as he’s fondly called, made that claim after being accused of installing a governorship candidate to harvest the state’s money for him.

    Have you seen the state of his (Bullion) vans? Mad!

    Four years later, months to another Osun governorship election, the former Lagos state governor is back to becoming a trending topic in Osun state.

    From where to where?

    As far as godfathers go in Nigerian politics, Jagaban is top of his class.

    He has handpicked all the three governors that have emerged in Lagos since he left the Government House in 2007.

    His reach extends across much of the southwest too, which means he’s had one or two things to say about who gets picked where in the region.

    The candidate he was accused of installing four years ago is Gboyega Oyetola who is also his cousin.

    This guy.

    Oyetola narrowly won the 2018 election and is now trying to win a second term in office. But his bid has caused some friction in the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    A trip down memory lane? Why not?

    Before there was Oyetola as Jagaban’s alleged Osun patsy, there was Rauf Aregbesola, the current Minister of Interior, who likes to be called Ogbeni.

    You may remember him as the guy that announces the public holidays you love so much.

    He’s also the guy that did this, for some reason:

    Ogbeni served as Lagos Commissioner of Works and Infrastructure under Tinubu’s administration before he was drafted to take over as governor in Osun.

    Cousin Oyetola was, at the time, handpicked by you-know-who to serve as Ogbeni’s Chief of Staff for his two terms as governor until it was his own time to take over the top seat in 2018.

    Ogbeni publicly backed Oyetola’s run to replace him, but it was no secret that it wasn’t his decision.

    Jagaban was pulling the strings from miles away.

    Back to the present

    Having a godfather in Nigerian politics, especially one of Jagaban’s status, can be one hell of a boost.

    The only problem is you’re a dog on a leash, and acting out of line isn’t in the master plan. Ask Akinwunmi Ambode.

    Never to be forgotten for making waist trainers great again.

    Ogbeni’s second-hand godfather role in getting Oyetola elected didn’t do much to create any meaningful bond between both of them.

    The current governor took over the Government House and started moving furniture around.

    Ogbeni’s signature policies, like his unpopular unification of school uniforms, were thrown in the bin.

    Cousin Oyetola basically called his predecessor a terrible decorator who was drunk on the job and blew the paint budget on shawarma.

    But also, what was this seriously about?

    Captain Jagaban: Civil War

    Tinubu’s name started ringing out in Osun again just days before the APC’s primary election to decide the flagbearer for the July 16, 2022 governorship election.

    In a gathering last week with supporters of his faction, The Osun Progressives (TOP), Ogbeni openly called Jagaban a hypocrite.

    His argument was simple. Oyetola made a mockery of his legacy and has done nothing to deserve a second term. If Jagaban could engineer the death of Ambode’s second term in Lagos for the same reason, why won’t he do it to Oyetola?

    We suspect it’s the blood ties doing the magic here, but we cannot claim to know the Jagaban’s motivations.

    This rally was so chaotic that someone with a mic loudly mocked Jagaban for reportedly peeing himself in public.

    Who won?

    Ogbeni can no longer run for the governor’s seat, so he threw his support behind Moshood Adeoti who is believed to have been his choice four years ago.

    But when the APC elected its flagbearer on February 19, 2022, not a lot of people were surprised that Oyetola won.

    It is a defeat that Ogbeni is not taking too graciously, and has hinted will be contested in court.

    Jagaban vs Ogbeni

    Ogbeni’s very public attack on Jagaban may have been shocking, but it did not come as a surprise.

    The former Osun governor has been trying to escape Tinubu’s shadow and spread his own godfather wings.

    His Lagos wings were clipped when Tinubu the APC leadership there disbanded his Mandate Group, which was originally founded by Tinubu, in 2020.

    Also, this happened in Lagos after the February 19 primary election in Osun:

    Jagaban’s tight leash on Lagos politics has come under question many times, and trying to stretch his influence to other states like Osun has not always enjoyed public favour.

    But the man needs to strengthen all of his influence everywhere now that he wants to be president in 2023. He needs all of his men singing as part of the choir, not trying to do solos with him.

    Ogbeni’s Osun loss is no doubt a setback for his own rumoured interest in the same presidential seat in 2023.

    If he ever hopes to claim that top position, he would have to go through the Jagaban he no longer considers a god.

    Until that future battle, Jagaban (2) – (0) Ogbeni.

    Or Jagaban (2) – (-1) Ogbeni because we’re still holding this against him.

    Samson Toromade

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