Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has attributed the All Progressives Congress’ loss in the August 15 Osun State governorship election partly to the involvement of what he described as “Abuja politicians” in the party’s campaign.
Sule also said the result highlighted the significant advantage an incumbent governor can have in a governorship contest.
He made the comments on Tuesday during a press briefing in Lafia while discussing the outcome of the Osun election.
Accord Party candidate and incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke defeated APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji and 14 other contestants. Adeleke secured 511,067 votes, while Oyebamiji polled 444,815 and ADC candidate Najeem Salaam finished third with 17,180 votes.
Adeleke won in 19 of the state’s 30 local government areas, with Oyebamiji taking the remaining 11. The APC has rejected the result and raised concerns about aspects of the election.
Speaking about the APC’s performance, Sule said the party’s prospects were affected by the involvement of politicians from Abuja who became active in the state shortly before the poll.
“I’m not going to brag about anything that we are going to do, but what I can tell you is that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done well,” Sule said.
He added, “And then I see some people are actually happy and they are celebrating that APC has lost. APC lost partly because of the Abuja politicians.
“Because if not for some of these Abuja politicians, there was no way for APC to lose in Osun.”
The governor said the election also demonstrated how influential incumbency can be in determining the outcome of a governorship race.
“But what it means is that the power of a sitting governor is not something you can joke around. That’s the message that was sent actually in Osun,” he said.
Sule further suggested that those celebrating the APC’s defeat might not fully appreciate the political advantage enjoyed by the incumbent administration in the state.
“For people who are celebrating, they don’t even understand what the hell they are celebrating,” he said.
“What they are celebrating is that the power of a sitting governor in Osun is what has stopped them from winning.”
He maintained that the APC’s defeat should not be viewed as a rejection of President Tinubu’s performance at the federal level, arguing instead that the result reflected the particular political circumstances surrounding the Osun governorship contest and the influence of the incumbent governor’s political structure.