ADC Congratulates Adeleke, Opposition Over Osun Victory, Questions INEC’s IReV Suspension

ADC Congratulates Adeleke, Opposition Over Osun Victory, Questions INEC’s IReV Suspension

By Gabriel Kekong

Abuja (Core Reporters) The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has congratulated Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, on his victory in Saturday’s governorship election, describing the outcome as a victory for the people of Osun State, democracy and opposition forces that worked together to defeat what it described as “APC tyranny.”

In a statement issued on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC also demanded a comprehensive explanation from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the interruption in the uploading of election results on the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) on election night.

The party said Nigerians deserve to know why the uploading of results was halted for nearly four hours and who authorised the interruption.

The statement reads:

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) congratulates H.E. Ademola Adeleke on his decisive victory in Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State.

We also congratulate the courageous people of Osun State who stood against overwhelming forces of intimidation and manipulation to deliver this victory for themselves and for democracy.

This election has once again demonstrated a simple but powerful truth: when a people make up their minds about the future they want, there is a limit to what intimidation, money and the machinery of government can accomplish against their collective will.

The people of Osun have shown Nigerians that no political machine is greater than a determined electorate. When citizens resolve to vote for the candidate and political direction they prefer, the ballot can still prevail.

This lesson is particularly significant because of the extraordinary resources deployed by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun.

The APC’s entire political machinery descended on one of the smallest states in Nigeria, with more than 30 state governors leading the campaign. The Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, hundreds of federal and state legislators, and other senior government officials were mobilised from across the federation, all seeking to help President Bola Tinubu capture Osun.

They wanted to make Osun an example of what Nigerians should expect in 2027. What they got instead was a chastening lesson that, in a democracy, a government may control the machinery of state, but it cannot control the minds of the people or obtain their consent by force.

The sheer scale of security deployment could easily have discouraged ordinary citizens from exercising their democratic rights, but it only succeeded in making the people more determined, even as they faced alleged violence, arrests and intimidation.

The lesson is unmistakable: no deployment is large enough to defeat a people who have lost their fear.

Across Nigeria today, that idea is gathering strength: that citizens do not have to endure bad leadership; that we do not have to surrender to tyranny; that hardship does not have to be our permanent national condition; and that bad governance can be brought to an end peacefully and decisively through the ballot box.

Osun has shown that this is possible.

However, even as we celebrate the outcome of this election, there is one incident that cannot simply be buried beneath the congratulations.

ADC’s intelligence report indicated that at approximately 8pm on election night, INEC was directed to stop uploading election results to IReV when it became apparent that the APC was losing. This reportedly resulted in several hours of interruption in the uploading of results, as observed by election monitors and observers.

The ADC hereby demands a comprehensive explanation from the Independent National Electoral Commission regarding the observed interruption in the uploading of election results to the IReV portal for nearly four hours on election night.

INEC must tell Nigerians precisely what happened.

While we await INEC’s explanation, the ADC says it has reasonable grounds to believe that an attempt may have been made by elements of the ruling party to tamper with the results of the election and, at the very least, render the process inconclusive.

Perhaps, if not for the timely alarm raised by Governor Adeleke, as well as election monitors and observers, such an attempt could have succeeded.

ADC believes that this alleged attempt is indicative of what the APC could be capable of doing in the coming general elections. This is why INEC must give a full account of what happened during those critical hours.

We must not allow the euphoria of this victory to blind us to the dangers that lie ahead.

What is clear is this: APC will not surrender power easily unless confronted with the inevitability of defeat, as happened in Osun.

In the coming days, the ruling party may attempt to frame its defeat in Osun as evidence of its commitment to democracy and free elections. But this is only damage control, and no one should be deceived by it.

In reality, the APC deployed its political machinery and enormous resources in Osun, yet its political forces had to leave the state defeated by a determined electorate, opposition actors working together, and the vigilance of election monitors and observers.

If Osun has taught us anything this weekend, it is this: a government may deploy power everywhere, but it cannot deploy it inside the ballot booth.

The time to end APC’s bad governance has come.