The Leadership Entrepreneurship and Advocacy (LEAD) Network Africa, an NGO, says the outcome of the Osun governorship election held on Saturday shows that the electorate has the final say.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Sen. Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was declared the winner of the July 16 Governorship Poll in Osun by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Adeleke won in 17 out of 30 council areas of the state and had more than the required 25 percent spread in each council area.
The Executive Director of the NGO, Mr. Chukwuma Okenwa, said this in an interview with NAN while reacting to the election’s outcome.
“The just-concluded polls in Osun, just as was in the case of Anambra, further confirms that the power to decide the emergence of leaders has drastically shifted from undue influence to the electorate.
“The places of the ruling party, god fatherism, and massive rigging that have been factors that rob people of their right to choose their leaders have been curtailed,” he said.
Okenwa, however, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for maintaining and standing for free, fair, and credible elections in the country.
“I think the recent amendments of the Electoral Act and the commitment of President Buhari to free and fair elections, could be credited to these recent developments.
“The recent outcomes in Anambra and Osun for APGA and PDP respectively are not just victory for those parties, but for our democracy and its gradual positive evolution.
“With these turn of events, more electorate will shun voter apathy and turn out en masse for the general elections slated to hold in 2023,” he said.
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