The Osun State governorship election has left more than just political egos bruised. Dele Momodu, a prominent chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has thrown a bombshell into the aftermath: it wasn’t the All Progressives Congress (APC) that lost in the polls, but President Bola Tinubu himself.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Momodu didn’t mince words. He accused the APC’s governorship candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, and former governor Gbeyega Oyetola of being nothing more than name droppers, leaning heavily on Tinubu’s influence to sway voters in Osun State. But the strategy backfired, he argued, leaving the president exposed.
“Without any doubt whatsoever, he (Tinubu) lost,” Momodu declared. “Who was Oyebamiji in the scheme of things? Who was Oyetola in the scheme of things? They were all name droppers, name dropping Tinubu everywhere.”
Momodu didn’t stop at the electoral defeat. He pointed to a deeper anxiety gripping the APC as the 2027 general elections loom. The Osun result, he warned, has sent a chilling signal to voters across Nigeria, and the party is rattled.
“The reason I would tell you is the fear of January 2027,” he said. “They are afraid that the Osun election will send a wrong signal to the electorates across Nigeria.”
He contrasted the current mood with past elections, noting that voters in Osun are now prioritising merit over presidential endorsement. “In Osun today, people are saying whether the governor supports Tinubu or not, they would support their own preferred candidate based on merit,” Momodu added.
The ADC chieftain also credited musician Davido for playing a pivotal role in safeguarding the integrity of the electoral process. By using social media to keep his followers informed in real time, Davido helped ensure that vote counting remained transparent.
“I’m happy with what Davido did with social media, making sure that they were aware, he was updating them regularly. I think that also saved the day,” Momodu said. “Otherwise, till midnight, at a stage they stopped counting the votes and they were going to do their abracadabra as usual.”
The Osun election, it seems, has become more than a local contest. It’s a warning shot fired across the bow of a presidency that may be losing its grip on the nation’s political landscape.
