Baring any unforeseen circumstance, there will be a rerun in the just concluded governorship election in Osun state
The collated results puts the PDP flag bearer Ademola Adeleke slightly ahead of the APC candidate Gboyega Oyetola with just 353 vote margin.
The collation was not free from controversy as an INEC official reportedly tore up the result posted at the INEC office in Gbongan. He claimed to be working for the Electoral Officer and collation Officer.
Another incident was the subtraction of 1000 votes from the PDP during the collation from Ayedaade LGA which was quickly rectified after outrage on social media.
Several attempts by the APC to rig the election was met with resistance by the people who stood vigilant at their collation centers to protect the integrity of their votes. The Presidency released N17bn for the Osun State election which was to be spent on vote buying and bribing security operatives.
9 APC Governors landed in Oshogbo during the week led by Governor Ganduje and Governor El Rufai. Governor Bello, Governor Rochas, Governor Yari, Governor Ambode, Governor Akeredolu, Governor Ajimobi and Governor Amosun were all on ground to influence the polls with money.
You would recall that during the build up to the elections, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was in Oshogbo sharing N10k to traders as part of the TraderMoni initiative which was openly seen as a campaign strategy and early vote buying to deliver the state to the APC.
With all the gimmicks employed by the ruling party, including a long delay of the Osogbo results, the PDP still took the lead.
A bulk of the credit of the victory may go to Nigerian music sensation Davido who raised the alarm when 1000 votes were deducted from one LGA until the votes were restored by INEC.
As the election heads for a rerun in the canceled areas, it would be interesting to see how Senate President Bukola Saraki who chairs the Osun PDP Election Council will lead his party to victory in Osun as this election serves as a litmus test to the 2019 general elections
