MEET FRANK OSHANUGOR
By Braxton Ilobah
The Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Health Monitoring to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, Dr. Michael Nwoko has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the smooth conduct of the Osun Governorship Election on Saturday which result was announced in the early hours of Sunday.
Speaking with AtlanticNewsonline on phone, the Governor’s aide said what happened in Osun State was an indication that Nigeria’s democracy was fast growing with increased hope for the country’s political future.
In his words, “INEC has now demonstrated that it truly has the capacity to guarantee free, fair and credible elections going forward and we must all rise to the call for national rebirth.”
In the same vein, Dr. Nwoko has congratulated the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the election; Senator Ademola Adeleke who pulled the highest votes of 403,371 to emerge the winner in the election which paraded no fewer than fifteen Governorship candidates from different political parties.
The PDP candidate’s defeat of the incumbent Governor Adegboya Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who secured a total of 375,027 votes to emerge the second, had come as a surprise to many Nigerians who believed so much in the power of incumbency to win the election.
To discerning Nigerians, the outcome of the Osun Governorship Election on Saturday was an indication of the surprises ahead in the 2023 general elections which would be a very strong contest among the trio of Atiku Abubakar, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Peter Obi of the PDP, APC and Labour Party (LP) respectively.
Adeleke’s victory over the incumbent Governor of the State in the election clearly showed that when it comes to money politics, the APC does not hold the aces as voters many of whom were said to have collected bribe still voted according to their conscience.
AtlanticNewsonline gathered from sources in Osun State that both the PDP and APC engaged in inducing voters with cash in some pooling units, but that PDP outsmarted APC by giving higher amount to willing voters who were ready to compromise.
However, it was gathered that the PDP candidate Adeleke is so much loved by people of Osun who vowed that he would be voted in, as Governor to compensate for his generous disposition and ability to take state to a higher levels.
The Election which has been described as free and fair was conducted in atmosphere of peace as violence was not recorded like in the case of previous elections where ballot snatching, and violent acts reigned supreme.
Nwoko also commended officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force and personnel of other security agencies for ensuring that there was peace prior, during and after the election. He enjoined them to keep the peace and possibly improve on it in the 2003 elections.
