The African Action Congress (AAC) candidate in the just-concluded Osun State governorship election, Olajide Esan, has attributed Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory to what he described as widespread vote buying and financial inducement.
NEWSNGR reports that Esan argued that the result of the election was less a reflection of the electorate’s preference for Adeleke’s policies and more a consequence of the economic hardship confronting many residents.
He made the assertion during an interview with Arise News on Wednesday.
According to the AAC candidate, poverty had placed many voters in a difficult position, making immediate financial benefits more attractive than campaign promises or long-term development plans.
Esan alleged that the practice cut across the major political parties that contested the election, including the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Accord Party (A).
“Adeleke won the election, not really based on what he has to offer, but the capacity to promote inducement,” he said.
He maintained that voters facing financial difficulties were often compelled to consider what they could receive immediately from politicians when deciding who to support.
“So it’s kind of, I say, like Nigerians are trapped because they are not really voting for who they want, but they are voting for who can, you know, buy their food, have the money to, I mean, to decide where the election is going to go,” Esan stated.
The development, he said, was evidence of a deeper problem within Nigeria’s electoral system, which he claimed had repeatedly produced outcomes that did not correspond with the true wishes of voters.
“I wouldn’t say I’m satisfied with the outcome because the way elections have been in this country doesn’t really reflect the will of the people because of the situation that people in Nigeria are in today,” he said.
Esan also took aim at the country’s two dominant political parties, arguing that there was little ideological difference between them.
He blamed their political approach for some of the economic and social difficulties facing Nigerians.
“Because the two parties, you call major parties, represent the same political ideology that has brought Nigeria to its knees,” he said.
The AAC candidate further questioned the impact of government spending in Osun, insisting that development should be measured by improvements in people’s lives and capabilities.
He argued that human capital development should receive greater attention than projects which, in his assessment, offered little benefit to residents.
“Definitely, because if you really understand what standard is all about, a leader has to take human capital development seriously. It’s not just about doing kangaroo projects to siphon state money,” Esan said.
Asked whether he believed some of the projects undertaken by the Adeleke administration fell into that category, he replied, “Definitely, definitely because there is a lot of money; I mean money has come into Osun State, but you can’t really see it on the people.”
Esan rejected the argument that the AAC performed poorly because it failed to campaign sufficiently.
He said the party took its message to different parts of the state, holding rallies and engaging residents across several local government areas.
“We do our rally. We do different programmes in the Australian state. We go all across the local governments in the Australian state from ward to ward and all that,” he said.
However, he admitted that the party’s campaign had a weakness in voter education.
According to him, some people who appeared to support the AAC did not necessarily understand the voting process well enough to translate their preference into votes for the party.
He illustrated the point with the case of a family of six which, according to him, initially indicated support for the AAC, but only one member eventually voted for the party.
“First of all, the lesson I’ve learned was that we didn’t do enough in the area of voter education because there were a lot of people, like there was a family of six who voted for us. But at the end of the day, we realised that only one of them did vote for AAC or that voted for AA,” he said.
Reflecting on the election, Esan said his challenge was bigger than competing against the candidates presented by rival parties.
He described the entrenched political system and what he called widespread voter ignorance as major obstacles to his campaign.
“I didn’t contest against our political party. I contested against the current establishment, the ignorance of our people,” he said.
Despite failing to win the election, Esan said he remained convinced that his campaign offered a stronger policy alternative.
He maintained that the manifesto and development proposals presented by the AAC were superior to those of the other contenders.
“Because of the fact that of all the candidates, I can say that I have the best manifesto and I have the best plan to show people,” he said.
