History will be made in Osun State tomorrow as Senator Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke takes his oath of office as governor, the second member of the same family to be sworn into office since the creation of the state in 1991.

His elder brother Senator Isiaka Adeleke was the first civilian governor of the state having been sworn in January 1992. Not only that, their father, Senator A. Adeleke, emerged the Senator representing Oyo East at the National Assembly on the platform of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in 1979, when Chief Bola Ige was the governor of old Oyo State.

It is a new dawn in Osun State with a brand new regime. And expectations are on the upswing like a husband whose wife has just been admitted into a labour room. For the PDP, they’ve been out of power for 12 years in the state of the living spring and cannot wait to be back. For the APC it is a blame-game and gnashing of teeth for mis-managing the goodwill that heralded them into government in Osun State 12 years ago, they came united but are leaving divided; bruised but brutalised.

The die is cast, and it is now certain there’s no reinventing the wheel, no going back on the swearing in of the new governor tomorrow despite all threats and legal gymnastics. Recall, there was a David Lyon of Bayelsa state who had his mandate truncated 24 hours to his swearing-in. He was on the parade ground rehearsing how he would wave to his people the next day, when he was jolted and axed. Nigeria had never seen anything like that before. He brought to practicality the saying 24 hours is a long time in politics.

Long and Tortuous Journey to Power
For Ademola Adeleke, it was a long and tortuous walk to freedom. Too many minefields to navigate, up till 48 hours to his swearing-in, there was still a case in court to stop the event from holding. But the case was struck out.

But the people were not convinced Senator Adeleke lost the election. The goodwill he enjoyed with the masses buoyed him to take another shot at the position. There were hurdles and obstacles, the most strident coming from within his party, the PDP. He survived them all and this time around spanked the incumbent mercilessly with not less than 28,000 votes; confirming that his first near victory at the polls was not a fluke.

Though, the defeated Gboyega Oyetola has gone to the Election Tribunal to challenge Adeleke’s victory, Senator Adeleke’s victory at the polls was a referendum on the incumbent’s unpopularity in the state. He doesn’t seem to enjoy the goodwill of the people anymore despite reversing all the anti-people policies of his former boss and predecessor in office, Governor Aregbesola. Some analysts blame his fate on treachery.

Senator Adeleke’s popularity has been widely acclaimed across the state. He won the popular and majority votes in 17 local governments out of the 30 local governments in the state.

Hurdles Ahead
There has been no form of transition between the outgoing governor and the incoming. Though the incoming governor set up a transition committee the incumbent neither set up his own committee nor gave any recognition to the transition committee who groped in the dark throughout the period it carried out its assignment.

There are allegations that several booby traps have been set up by the incumbent government to bog down the incoming governor and incapacitate him financially. These range from awards of contracts to mass recruitment of workers in different agencies and parastatals of government.

Seventy-two hours to his exit, the outgoing governor gave a nod to the appointment of 30 new Permanent Secretaries, with huge financial implications on the paltry state resources. Though condemnable, the reaction of the incoming governor to the action was below satisfactory by some analysts/

In a statement warning those newly promoted not to accept Senator Adeleke said:” we want to put on records that those who accept the appointments should be ready to leave the service whether or not their service tenure has reached statutory age. The occupants will be treated as political appointees who will automatically follow the outgoing Governor out of public service from November 28.

“At the same time, those who still want to remain in service of Osun state government should decline the Greek gift from the outgoing Governor. We affirm that no waiver will be entertained in sacking from office any kangaroo permanent secretary”, the statement concluded. For sure, the incumbent administration is not lacking legitimacy until its last day in office.

There have also been reported cases of removal and pilferage of government assets like transformers vehicles, and trucks. The incoming Adeleke government has set up an Asset Monitoring Committee to follow all movements of government assets in recent time. It is reported that the outgoing governor has also embarked on last minute allocation of lands to his cronies and associates.

A Season of Probes and Reversals
The incoming government has left no one in doubt that it will revisit some if not all the last minutes actions of Governor Oyetola. The first few weeks and months of Governor Adeleke may witness a reversal of some, if not most of those actions. Some of those reversals or termination of contracts may expectedly lead to legal actions while may create political upheavals for the new government.

Like a pack of cards, some of the Oyetola’s ill thought-out ideas and hurried policies have started tumbling down on the eve of departure. A Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo on Friday declared the recent local government elections conducted by the Oyetola’s government as unconstitutional. Many others may end up the same way because they were maliciously put together.

Adeleke Advised to Stay Focus
Rather than waste much time untying the knots of Governor Oyetola, some pundits are advising Senator Adeleke to stay focused and concentrate on delivering on the dividends of democracy being awaited by the masses of Osun people.

Since, a lot of persons doubted his ability to perform as a governor, trying to probe or reversing actions of his predecessor in office, will not only be a distraction, may also amount to a massive waste of time, resources, and goodwill.

They reference a similar exercise embarked upon by Governor Aregbesola against Governor Oyinlola’s government which eventually returned a verdict of commendation instead of condemnation to that government. They want Senator Adeleke to learn from history. Instead, they advise him to draw a line on the old chapter and embark on the implementation of his programmes and policies to move the state forward.

Oyetola Still Living in Denial
Since he lost the election on July 16, 2022, Governor Gboyega Oyetola has been living in denial believing he could still be returned to power through the courts. He has challenged the election results as well as eligibility of Senator Adeleke at the Election Tribunal.

Unfortunately, Oyetola has moved from one misstep to another. His trouble started with a miscalculated political battle with his benefactor and predecessor in office, Aregbesola. This led to the polarisation of his Party, the APC in the state; a situation he couldn’t manage until the governorship election came knocking.

Added to this was his lack-lustre style of governance which allegedly couldn’t deliver on important legacy projects. Though, he improved on the payment of salary of workers and opened and repaired some Osogbo township roads, they were adjudged as tiny drop in an ocean to swing his reelection. He was considered miserly and didn’t dole out enough palliatives to citizens of the state especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. The rest is now history.

Battle Over War Continues
Adeleke and the PDP may have won the battle at the polls but the war between him and his predecessor as well as the APC and the PDP is far from being over. But, the “dancing Senator” should savor the joy of the moment and enjoy every minute of his inauguration as the sixth Executive Governor of Osun State, no more State of Osun.