President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Senator Ademola Adeleke, candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), following his victory in Saturday’s gubernatorial election in Osun State.
The President’s congratulatory message is contained in a statement by his spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina, on Sunday in Abuja.
The president expressed conviction that with the election over, the people of Osun had expressed their will through the ballot, and the will of the people must always matter and be respected in a democracy.
According to him, the successful conduct of the election is a further testimony to the maturity and commitment of all stakeholders – the electoral body, security agencies, political parties, the media, civil society and the electorate- to further strengthen the integrity of the electoral process in the country.
Buhari reassured the nation that the commitment of his administration ”toward having credible elections remains unshaken.”
The statement reads: “I congratulate Senator Ademola Adeleke, candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), on his victory in the Osun gubernatorial election. The people of Osun have expressed their will through the ballot.
“This is what democracy is all about: respect for the will of the people. The successful conduct of #OsunDecides2022 is a demonstration of the maturity and the commitment of all stakeholders, towards strengthening the integrity of the electoral process in Nigeria. I remain fully committed to leaving behind a legacy of credible elections in Nigeria”.
INEC’s returning officer for the Osun gubernatorial election, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, on Sunday morning declared Adeleke of the PDP winner.
He announced that Adeleke polled 403,371 votes to defeat his closet rival, Gov. Gboyega Oyetola, the candidate of the APC, who scored 375,027 votes.
Ogundipe, who is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, said that the Action Democratic Party (ADP) scored 10,104 to come third.
He also said that the Accord Party candidate scored 4,515 and came fourth.