The National Secretary of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Dipo Olayoku, has urged Nigerians to emulate what he described as the resilience and determination displayed by voters in Osun State during the August 15 governorship election ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Olayoku made the call on Monday while speaking on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State, during a post-election assessment of the Osun governorship election.
His call followed the declaration of Governor Ademola Adeleke as winner of the poll, after securing 511,067 votes to defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who polled 444,815 votes.
According to Olayoku, the significance of the election extended beyond the victory of an individual candidate, arguing that the determination of Osun voters to stand by their political choice offered an important lesson for Nigerians ahead of 2027.
“As a matter of fact, what it shows is that if people are united at some things, nothing can change their opinion. That’s exactly what the election shows,” he said.
The NNPP chieftain said voters in the state had over time demonstrated that they could make independent political choices without necessarily yielding to the influence of political godfathers.
“They have always been showing it in the elections that they have their own conviction, they don’t take any directive from any godfather,” Olayoku said.
He urged Nigerians to carry the same spirit into the 2027 elections, stressing that determined voters could withstand intimidation and other pressures capable of influencing electoral outcomes.
“So, it is a lesson that Nigerians should learn in 2027. People that are determined, nothing can break them, no intimidation,” he stated.
Olayoku also advised voters to remain engaged beyond the casting of their ballots, saying participation in the electoral process should continue through the counting and collation of results.
He noted that some voters in Osun stayed around collation centres for hours after voting to ensure that results from their polling units were properly captured.
According to him, such vigilance remains crucial if Nigerians are to ensure that their votes translate into the outcome of elections.
“That’s the lesson from Osun election, not because the opposition won, but because they maintained and retained to win the elections,” he said.
However, Olayoku cautioned that the resilience of Osun voters should not be interpreted as an endorsement of every aspect of the election.
He raised concerns over allegations of intimidation, violence, vote-buying and political interference, as well as the controversy surrounding the freezing of an Osun State Government account by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) shortly before the election.
The account was subsequently ordered unfrozen by President Bola Tinubu.
Olayoku also questioned what he described as inconsistencies in the handling of alleged vote-buying, referring to a social media claim by a woman who allegedly said she received N15,000 to vote for the APC.
“A day after the governorship election, again, a lady came on Facebook thanking APC for giving her fifteen thousand naira to vote for them. Nothing has happened to the lady,” he alleged.
He further alleged that supporters of the Accord Party faced intimidation in the build-up to the election.
Despite the concerns, Olayoku maintained that the major lesson from the Osun election was the determination of voters to defend their political choice.
“But what people are praising is the resilience of the people of Osun,” he said.
He added: “But it is not the election that the people are commending, it is the resilience of the people of Osun.”
Olayoku therefore urged Nigerians to participate actively in the 2027 electoral process, remain vigilant and ensure that their votes are protected from the polling unit through the collation stage.
“Anything could have happened going by what APC did before the election. They did everything to stop Osun people,” he alleged.
