The candidate of the PDP in the July 2022 gubernatorial election in Osun, Senator Ademola Adeleke, says he has brought enough local and foreign currencies to prosecute the election.
He stated this while addressing party faithful alongside some leaders at a meeting, a video of which is circulating online.
In the video, Senator Adeleke could be heard saying he was fully prepared for the election, unlike in 2018 when he lost to Gboyega Oyetola of the APC.
He insisted that the people should vote for him out of freewill, not because of gimmicks or compulsion.
In the 55-second video, the PDP candidate could be heard saying, “My fellow Osun residents, you are the one to decide. It is not by force, not by gimmicks, if it is money, I have brought money and not only Naira but dollars, pounds and Euro. This time around, it is fire for fire for Osun governorship election.”
However, the ruling APC has faulted the PDP candidate’s utterance, saying it was tantamount to an admittance of planned vote buying.
Director-General of Adegboyega Oyetola Campaign Council, Senator Ajibola Bashiru described the utterance as unacceptable, noting that Osun was not up for sale.
“The Campaign Council declared that Osun was not for sale to the highest bidder, the PDP candidate is proving to the Osun electorate that he had nothing to offer.
“Osun people are not gullible. We have left them in no doubt of the quality our party, the APC and our Administration are made of, including the capacity of our candidate to deliver in the past three and half years. We have proved through our inclusive governance strategy that our people are our strength and that we do not take them for granted and we will never take them for granted.
“This explains why in spite of the way the 2018 election went, our administration began infrastructure intervention from Ede, the hometown of the PDP candidate.
“Osun people are enlightened, they know that the State and its citizens are not up for sale to the highest bidder. Therefore, the PDP candidate should keep his money. Or better still, he could deploy those resources to establish industries to provide jobs for the people.
“This way, he will also be supporting the present Administration’s noticeable efforts in the last three and half years to industrialise the State and change its narrative as a Civil Service State, to one bubbling with economic activities.
“It is on record that the Oyetola-led administration has since inception taken concrete steps to open up the State for investments, and has been able to attract a number of investments into Osun, contributing to the economic growth of the State.
“We assure the PDP candidate that, like the Administration did to other players in the private sector, we will provide a level playing ground for his business to thrive and ensure Osun and its people derive maximum benefit from the investment.
“As a responsible party, we urge Senator Adeleke and his party to embrace peaceful conduct and decorum in their political engagements and electioneering. We must avoid any comment or action that can jeopardise the peace and stability of our State,” Senator Bashiru said.