Adeleke urges Tinubu to intervene in Osun killings

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, on Monday alleged that extrajudicial killings were occurring in the state and urged President Bola Tinubu not to turn a blind eye to the development.

Adeleke spoke in Osogbo, the state capital, while addressing the governorship campaign rally of the Accord Party for Olorunda Local Government Area.

The governor reminded Tinubu that he and his party had already endorsed him for another term ahead of the 2027 general elections, imploring him to play a fatherly role by rising to protect the state’s residents.

He, however, declared that any plan to manipulate the August 15 governorship poll would be frustrated by the electorate.

“President Bola Tinubu, something is happening in Osun that you have not moved to put an end to. They are killing our people. You are the President; you are the father of all of us. Osun has said they won’t allow rigging.

“There won’t be rigging in Osun. Remember what happened in 1983. It started in Yorubaland when they cheated Bola Ige and Ajasin. Osun will not agree. We want a free and fair election.

“President Tinubu, I am passing this message to you. We have endorsed you, why are they still killing us?” he queried.

He accused the police of taking sides in the political crisis ravaging the state and warned that the kind of crisis that engulfed the region after the 1983 general elections should be averted by all stakeholders.

“The police are compromised. I am telling President Tinubu today. I am the chief security officer of Osun State. President Tinubu, I am passing this message to you. Osun will not accept any rigging. We will go out en masse and vote and defend our votes.

“Don’t let what happened in 1983 repeat itself in Osun. The Accord Party has endorsed you as our presidential candidate. Why are we still suffering? President Tinubu, you worked for this democracy.

“When they cheated me in 2018, I left you to govern. I travelled to America. I went into exile to let you do what you had to do. Now I am back. With what we have done, I am going to win this second-term election.

“What we want is a free and fair election. If it is free and fair, I am going to win the election,” the governor said in the Yoruba language.

Voters in Osun will go to the polls on August 15 to elect a governor, and 14 political parties have been cleared by the Independent National Electoral Commission to field candidates in the election.