‘You Didn’t Conquer Anybody’ – Tinubu Warns Adeleke Against Stigmatising Opponents

President Bola Tinubu has said Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, did not conquer anyone but won an election.

Naija News reports that Tinubu made the remark when Adeleke visited him at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday.

Tinubu urged Governor Adeleke not to stigmatise his opponent following the outcome of the Osun gubernatorial election, stressing that anyone who does not celebrate a free and fair election does not deserve the laughter and the happiness of democracy.

He said, “Don’t stigmatise any of your opponents. And the people of Osun State pronounced their judgment on you that they love you, they want you to govern. So you’re going back to govern.

“Anybody, any democrat, anybody in the political environment who cannot celebrate the joy of a free and fair election does not deserve the laughter and the happiness of democracy.

“Don’t make a single individual a victim of your campaign. Don’t. Not for you alone; not for the sake of Osun alone, for the generations to come. It’s more important for you to build a network of unity.

“As I said, you did not conquer anybody. You won an election. That is the essence of democracy. I’m so happy that we have this talk.”

Tinubu emphasised that the only way Adeleke can appreciate the Osun people is to expand his coast, “not the way you sang it or celebrate it, but the way you act it. Use me as an example. And I got here. God put me here. Where you are today, God put you there. Not the smartness of any of these people.

“It’s just their support, not their smartness. It’s the wish of God that prevailed and the wish of the people for you.”