Former Senate President and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees, Senator Adolphus Wabara, has said the outcome of Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State demonstrated that federal might and the All Progressives Congress (APC) can be defeated in the 2027 general elections.
Wabara, who congratulated the Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, on his victory, described the outcome as “a powerful demonstration that no amount of political mobilisation, intimidation or deployment of federal power can permanently subdue the will of a determined electorate.”
He particularly commended the people of Osun State for standing firmly behind their preferred candidate despite what he described as “the enormous political machinery” mobilised by the APC-led Federal Government to wrest power from the incumbent governor.
“Osun people have written their names in gold in the history of Nigerian democracy. They demonstrated uncommon courage and resilience by refusing to be intimidated or stampeded into surrendering their democratic rights.
“They stood their ground in the face of intimidation, threats and the overbearing presence of those who perhaps believed that federal power had made them untouchable. The people have once again reminded us that in a democracy, sovereignty ultimately belongs to the people,” he said.
The PDP BoT chairman said the message from the Osun election was that political power ultimately rested with the electorate.
“The message from Osun is clear: power belongs to the people, not to any government, political party or individual. When citizens unite around their convictions and protect their votes, no amount of federal might can simply impose an unpopular candidate on them,” Wabara said.
He described the Osun outcome as a wake-up call to Nigerians ahead of the 2027 general elections, urging citizens across the country to emulate the Osun electorate by voting massively and remaining at polling units and collation centres to protect their votes.
“If Nigerians come out in their millions in 2027, vote according to their conscience and remain at their polling units and collation centres to protect their ballots, nobody will be able to manipulate the outcome of the election,” he said.
Wabara also urged opposition political parties to unite behind a single presidential candidate to strengthen their chances of defeating the ruling APC in the 2027 presidential election.
He, however, cautioned that the Osun governorship election should not be interpreted as a guarantee of an opposition victory in the 2027 general elections, describing the APC as a party with experienced political strategists.
He warned that the Osun poll could be a “smokescreen to validate APC victory in 2027”, arguing that “the APC is full of master strategists.”
Wabara also congratulated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the relatively prompt uploading of polling-unit results on its Result Viewing Portal, IReV.
He said the development enhanced transparency and enabled Nigerians to follow the collation process with greater confidence.
