The so-called off-cycle governorship election slated for August 15 in Osun State is billed to be a straight fight between the incumbent governor, the ever-ebullient, happy-go-lucky Nurudeen Jackson Adeleke, and a former finance commissioner in the cabinet of Adeleke’s predecessor, Asiwaju Bola Munirudeen Oyebamiji, popularly called AMBO. He is an acolyte of the self-respecting, easy-going Gboyega Oyetola, a former governor of Osun State and current minister of Marine and the Blue Economy. He bore the brunt of Rauf Aregbesola’s overbearing rule and abuse of Osun people. Although a dark horse in the race, when Najeem Salam, the ADC candidate in the election, and his Aregbesola angle are thrown into the mix, then it becomes clear that the Osun State gubernatorial election is a contest of power between the present and the last two governors of the state.
Aregbesola’s support for Najeem Salam, who cannot hope to make a serious impact, not to mention win this race, is apparently to keep his ADC credentials as the national secretary of the party aglow. Otherwise, he enjoys a very warm relationship with Governor Nurudeen Adeleke, and it does not look like he would be unhappy to see him remain in office. His real problem is Gboyega Oyetola who, apart from his support of the APC candidate and being the one who succeeded him against his will and then proceeded to roll back some of his odd policies, is above all a nephew of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his former benefactor and present political enemy. Aregbesola will only be too happy to see the APC candidate defeated. But it’s not going to be another dancing session for Mr. Jackson. By the time the election is over, he will have shed some pounds, hopefully.
