PDP Governor Hails Tinubu On Supreme Court Victory, Pledges To Partner With Him

By Adesina Soyooye

In a sharp deviation from the norm, a Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Governor, has congratulated President  Bola Tinubu on his victory at the Supreme Court.

By so doing, Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, became the first opposition party Governor to congratulate President Tinubu on his foretold victory at the Supreme Court.

Tinubu had, on Thursday, October 26, 2023, at the Supreme Court, defeated the Candidate of Governor Adeleke’s party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar. Atiku and the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi, had appealed to the Supreme Court to overturn the declaration of Tinubu as President by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in the February 25, 2023, Presidential election, and as affirmed by the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC.

According to INEC, Tinubu, Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, beat Atiku and Obi to the second and third positions respectively, a result rejected by both men.

However, their challenge against Tinubu’s victory ended Thursday when the Seven-man Panel of Supreme Court Justices, led by Justice John Okoro, dismissed the cases against Tinubu by Atiku and Obi, as without merit.

Adeleke, who spoke at Ede, Osun State, during the funeral of the father of one of his Commissioners, in reaction to Tinubu’s victory, congratulated the President  and said that the final resolution of all issues which surrounded the Presidential election, will  make way for a focus on the many challenges in Nigeria.

Adeleke, also, commended Atiku, for deepening democracy by challenging the President to a logical conclusion of the thorny  issues that concerned his victory at the polls.

A statement by the Governor’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, quoted Adeleke as saying: “On behalf of the good people of Osun State, I congratulate President Tinubu on his judicial victory at the apex Court.

“I hope that your Presidency will bring progress, unity and prosperity to our nation, and I want to restate my commitment to partner with you in offering good governance for our people.”

In 2019, to the anger of his Party, the PDP,  then Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, was the first to congratulate then President Muhammadu Buhari, APC,  on his victory over his Party’s Candidate, Atiku Abubakar. In 2023, Wike upped the ante and worked for APC Candidate, Tinubu, against same Atiku.