Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential hopeful, Atiku Abubakar, alongside the Peoples Democratic Party faction led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, has congratulated Governor Ademola Adeleke on his re-election, describing the outcome as a foretaste of what to expect in the 2027 general elections.

In separate statements after Governor Adeleke’s victory, Atiku and the PDP faction commended the people of Osun for turning out en masse to exercise their franchise and ensure their votes counted, with Atiku, in a statement by his media office, noting that the outcome reflected the democratic wishes of Osun people and expressing satisfaction with how voters resisted what he described as anti-democratic machinations aimed at undermining the electoral process.

“The lesson from the election is that the voters in Osun State have set a good example of how we must come out in large numbers in the general elections next year.

“Another important lesson from the Osun election is that it is a clear manifestation of how the collective resolve of the electorate to stand firm to protect their ballot is the best antidote to rigging, vote buying and other electoral malpractice and irregularities,” Atiku said.

He added that despite what he described as an orchestrated plot to intimidate voters through the heavy presence of armed personnel, the outcome of the election demonstrated what he considered the unpopularity of the All Progressives Congress (APC) due to its policies.

“Nigerians have roundly rejected the APC. The election in Osun State is just a telling indication that the APC will be defeated in the general election in January 2027. Indeed, it is a forerunner of the 2027 General Elections.”

On his part, Ini Ememobong, National Publicity Secretary of the PDP faction, described Governor Adeleke’s victory as a clear message from the people of Osun about what the 2027 elections will hold.He said the win came at a high cost of strong will, vigilance and resistance by Osun people against what he alleged was the ruling APC’s full rigging machinery deployed to capture the state at all costs.

“That the APC wanted Osun, by fair or foul means, was not in doubt to anyone, which accounts for the unceasing intimidation, assault and arrests of opposition politicians, the ‘kill them’ directive by Senator Francis Fadahunsi and the performative invitation by the police, and his subsequent release to participate in the elections.”

The PDP faction further alleged that “the manifest partiality of security agencies, especially the police, and even the shameful intervention by the EFCC freezing the accounts of the state; and the intentional delay (more than two hours) in uploading the results of the 470 polling units by INEC, are acts that are not just condemnable but are actions capable of derailing democracy.”

Speaking on the 2027 elections, the PDP faction urged Nigerians not to rest on their oars as the general elections approach, stressing that voters must remain vigilant.

It added that “Nigerians must vote, protect and defend their votes. They must not think that having failed in Osun, the APC and its accomplices in the critical national institutions will repent of their ill deeds; they will rather seek to learn from the failings in Osun, to perfect their dark art of subverting the wishes of the people.”