Osun election shows ruling party can lose under Tinubu and sky won’t fall – Sanwo-Olu

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has praised President Bola Tinubu’s democratic credentials, saying the outcome of the recent Osun governorship election demonstrated that a ruling party could lose an election without interfering with the process.

Sanwo-Olu spoke on Thursday, September 3, at Freedom Online’s seventh annual lecture at the Sheraton Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos, where he addressed Nigeria’s democracy, electoral reforms and preparations for the 2027 general elections.

The governor cited the August 15 Osun governorship election, won by incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke, as evidence of what he described as Tinubu’s commitment to democratic principles. Adeleke, who contested on the platform of another political party, defeated the All Progressives Congress candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, by more than 60,000 votes.

Following the election, Tinubu congratulated Adeleke on his re-election, describing the outcome as a “fitting assurance” that democracy would continue to flourish under his administration. The President also subsequently met Adeleke behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa in Abuja and urged him to unite the state. Sanwo-Olu said the development represented a departure from periods in Nigeria’s political history when opposition parties struggled against the influence of the party controlling the Federal Government.

“There was a time in this country when ‘federal might’ was a phrase that a ruling party used without irony,” he said. “Under this President, the ruling party can lose a state in the South-West in an election year, and the sky does not fall. That is what a maturing democracy looks like. This President is a lifelong democrat, and he means to leave behind a stronger democracy than he inherited, not only for Nigerians but as an example to a continent that badly needs one.”

Sanwo-Olu also said Nigeria’s electoral system had recorded significant improvements, citing the Electoral Act of 2022, the newly enacted Electoral Act of 2026 and the deployment of technology for voter verification and transmission of election results. He, however, stressed that more work was required to ensure the Independent National Electoral Commission was fully prepared for the 2027 elections.

“INEC must be ready in every polling unit on the 16th of January and again on the 6th of February, and each of us has a duty to help it be ready,” the governor said. Sanwo-Olu cautioned political parties and candidates against actions capable of undermining the electoral process, insisting that no political office was worth the loss of a Nigerian life.

“A mandate is only as strong as the process that produced it. No office in this land is worth the life of a single Nigerian and no victory won by the wrong means is a victory at all,” he said. The Lagos governor also said state governors would have a significant role in determining the outcome of the 2027 elections because voters would assess their performance before casting their ballots.

“Voters may not be economists, but they are excellent accountants. They know whether their State built the road it promised. They know whether the primary health centre has a nurse in it. They will bring that ledger with them to the polling unit,” he said. Sanwo-Olu also urged the media to remain independent and rigorous in its coverage of the political process, saying journalists should hold politicians accountable regardless of party affiliation.

“I am not asking for a compliant press. A compliant press is of no use to a democracy; it flatters the powerful and abandons the public,” he said. “I am asking for a rigorous press. Check the facts, mine included. Call out disinformation wherever it comes from, including from my own side. In the weeks ahead, the most dangerous lies will not come from newspapers. They will come from anonymous accounts and doctored videos and you are the institution best placed to answer them.”