The money that politicians didn’t spend in Osun during the August 15 governorship election was the money they didn’t have and couldn’t steal. All kinds of figures have been bandied about, in hundreds of millions and billions. It’s difficult to say if these are over- or underestimations. But damn, it was some cash! Credible sources suggest that the main opposition, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), may have spent nearly N40 billion (Davido told News Central it was N110 billion), mainly through contributions from the 20 governors and at least 50 members of the National Assembly, who descended on the state for four days.
Shelling out the money
The Accord Party and its supporters were also determined not to be outspent. Apart from matching APC’s offer of N50,000 per willing voter, two sources told me that Afrobeats icon Davido (projected by Forbes to earn about $20 million in 2023 alone from royalties, tours, and endorsements) allegedly supported his uncle directly with N10 billion. For every social media video of voters singing triumphantly about rejecting money from one group or the other, there were hundreds of equally enthusiastic people up and down the state, from Osogbo to Ede and from Ejigbo to Ilesa and Ife, who collected their share silently and looked on. For a state that gets an average of N20.4 billion monthly from its mainstay, the Federation account, and one that is also famously the Southwest’s capital of contented civil servants, it’s a surprise that the local economy has not yet drowned in the deluge of money. Apart from the role of money in Saturday’s poll in Osun, I’ve also been curious to know the role of civil servants, the backbone of government; the impact of the defectors and/or withdrawal of support by leading People’s Democratic Party (PDP) members in Osun; and why reelected Governor Ademola Adeleke insists on backing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for reelection in January 2027 general elections.
