‘We Saw Possibility Of Collaboration’ – Abdullahi Explains How ADC Helped Adeleke Win Osun

The national publicity secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Bolaji Abdullahi, has said his party collaborated with the Accord Party in the Osun governorship election to prevent the All Progressives Congress (APC) from winning the poll.

Naija News recalls that the incumbent Governor, Ademola Adeleke, and the Accord Party candidate polled 511,067 votes to defeat his closest rival, Bola Oyebamiji of the APC, who secured 444,815 votes, while the ADC candidate, Najeem Salaam, garnered 17,180 votes.

Reacting to the ADC’s performance, Abdullahi, in an interview on Trust TV on Monday, said the party had anticipated that opposition votes would be divided, creating an opportunity for the APC to emerge victorious.

He said, “We saw the possibility of collaboration. We saw the possibility earlier enough that if we decided to go full throttle, the possibility that the opposition would divide the votes and the APC would take the victory was there.

“And that was why we saw the opportunity to work together, and that was what happened.”

Abdullahi maintained that the ADC does not consider the performance of its candidate because the priority was to ensure the APC is defeated.

He stated, “That is why we can confidently celebrate what is going on in Osun, because for us, victory means that APC was defeated.

“So we don’t see the fact that our governorship candidate did not emerge as an occasion of defeat or failure. The failure, the defeat of the APC, was a real victory for us.”

Abdullahi also noted that the ADC’s cooperation with Accord is proof that opposition parties can defeat the ruling APC in the 2027 presidential poll if they work together.

He added, “It’s something that was deliberate, and we are glad that the outcome has justified the confidence that everyone has put in the process, and it has proved that the opposition working together can actually defeat this incumbent, no matter how awesome they are.

“When I say that we are not taking credit, we are saying that the credit belongs to the people of Osun state.

“The victory belongs to Ademola Adeleke, who, in spite of all odds, still managed to emerge as the governor of Osun state.”