ADC Congratulates Adeleke On Osun Victory, Demands Explanation For Four-Hour IReV Suspension | Sahara Reporters

The ADC said the election demonstrated that political power and government machinery could not necessarily override the will of voters.

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 democracy and the people of the state.

The party, however, demanded an explanation from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the suspension of result uploads to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV) during the election.

In a statement issued on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said Adeleke’s victory is significant given what it described as the deployment of state resources, intimidation and other pressures by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

“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,” the party said.

The ADC said the election demonstrated that political power and government machinery could not necessarily override the will of voters.

According to the party, “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,” it said.

The opposition party also criticised the scale of APC mobilisation for the election, alleging that more than 30 state governors, the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, federal and state lawmakers and other government officials were deployed to Osun.

“The APC’s entire political machine descended on one of the smallest states in Nigeria, with more than 30 state governors leading the invasion,” the ADC said.

“The Senate President was there. The Speaker of the House of Representatives was there. Hundreds of federal and state legislators and other senior government officials were mobilised from across the federation.”

According to the party, the APC had sought to use the Osun election as a demonstration of what Nigerians should expect in the 2027 general elections.

“What they got instead was a chastening lesson that, in a democracy, you may control the government and all the forces it commands, but you cannot control the people’s minds or obtain their consent by force,” it said.

The ADC further alleged that the heavy security presence and incidents of violence, arrests and intimidation did not prevent voters from exercising their franchise.

“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 instigated violence, arrests, and intimidation,” the party said.

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

The party said the Osun election has also demonstrated that Nigerians could use the ballot box to reject poor governance.

“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,” it said.

However, the ADC raised concerns over the reported interruption of result uploads on INEC’s IReV portal on election night.

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

It asked INEC to explain why the uploading of results to the portal was halted for nearly four hours, particularly at a time when the election results were being collated.

“Nigerians deserve to know who directed the INEC to stop uploading the results when it became clear that the APC was going to lose,” the party said.