Four years ago, Ademola Adeleke said he would dance to Osun State Government House, should he be elected governor of the state.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the 2018 governorship election had made the statement against the backdrop of his now famous spontaneous dancing steps, which his opponents were using to de-market him ahead of the election and thus making him look unfit to be elected governor.
With sobriquets like ‘the dancing senator, Ajobiewe, Ade dancer,’ among others, and numerous videos showing his energetic dance movements littering the Nigerian social media, Mr Adeleke became a darling to some Nigerians just as he became an object of scorn to some who disapprove of his epicurean engagements as a political leader.
Against the expectation of his numerous supporters and party, he lost the 2018 election under controversial circumstances. He challenged the verdict in court but could not overturn the victory of his main rival, Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He returned on Saturday to win the keenly contested rematch and will be sworn in as the governor of the state at the end of Mr Oyetola’s term in November, thereby solidifying the fame of the Adeleke Family of Ede in the politics of Osun State.
According to the chief returning officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the election, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, Mr Adeleke polled 403,371 votes against his closest challenger, Mr Oyetola, who scored 375,027 votes.
Also, Mr Adeleke won in 17 of the 30 local council areas while Mr Oyetola won in the remaining 13 LGAs.
About 31 years earlier, the governor-elect’s elder brother, Isiaka Adeleke, now deceased, was elected the first civilian governor of the state.
Popularly called ‘Serubawon’, a moniker he earned by the way he defeated veteran politicians in an open ballot system to emerge the candidate of the then Social Democratic Party (SDP), the 37-year-old Adeleke went on to win the general election against the candidate of the then National Republican Convention (NRC).
Osun State was created on August 27, 1991, by the military administration of Ibrahim Babaginda and the governorship election was held on December 14, 1991, which Isiaka Adeleke won. He was sworn in as governor in January 1992 and stayed in office until November 1993 when the administration was dissolved by the new military dictator, Sani Abacha.
But unlike his late elder brother who had no prior experience in gubernatorial contests, the current governor-elect had a home teacher in his departed brother.
His victory on Saturday is seen in some quarters as a validation of his claim that he was cheated in 2018. He was leading until INEC declared the election inconclusive and conducted supplementary polls in seven polling units, which opened the door to Mr Oyetola’s victory.
From Ede, a major town in Osun West senatorial district, the Adeleke family can now be termed a political dynasty comparable to others in Nigeria and beyond the country’s shores.
Their late dad, Raji Ayoola Adeleke, was a senator from 1979 to 1983 in the Second Republic. He was elected under the banner of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and represented senatorial district 11 which comprised six LGAs – Ede, Osogbo, Irepodun, Ifelodun, Odo-Otin and Ila Orangun. He was very influential in the politics of old Oyo State from which Osun State was carved out. He was also a prominent leader in his Ede community.
Isiaka, continuing on the path laid by their late patriarch, was also elected a senator twice before his sudden demise. He represented Osun West from 2007 to 2011 on the platform of the PDP but lost the 2011 elections to the candidate of the defunct ACN, Hussein Mudashiru.
Isiaka contested again in 2015 after defecting to the APC and won but died while still serving as a senator in 2017.
Then entered Ademola, who attempted to be the senatorial candidate of the APC in the bye-election to take over his late brother’s seat in the Senate. Denied the APC ticket, he crossed over to take the ticket of the PDP to actualise his senatorial ambition.
He was in the Senate between 2017 and 2019, during which he lost the 2018 governorship election.
Huge expectations
No doubt, the expectations are huge. The people of Osun will expect their governor-elect to deliver on the mandate they have given to him.
Although opinions vary on the performance of the outgoing governor, Mr Adeleke will be confronted by challenges such as widespread poverty in the state, increasing debt profile, pension and salary arrears, and high employment rate among the state’s teeming youths, among others.
The late Isiaka was said to have posted a modest performance in office as governor. Part of the footprints of his administration is the state polytechnic at Iree, College of Technology, Esa-Oke, Osun State Broadcasting Corporation, e.t.c. He was also an affable personality.
Can the new governor-elect replicate the performance of his brother or surpass him?
Unlike that of his elder brother, the governor-elect’s reign will be different as he has civilian predecessors like Bisi Akande, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Rauf Aregbesola and the outgoing governor, Mr Oyetola, against whom his performance will be evaluated.
Already, the governor-elect said during the campaigns that his administration will prioritise the welfare of workers and pensioners; boost the state economy through partnering and support for businesses; Osun money securing Osun people through homegrown infrastructure policy; people-focused social policy through skill-based education; affordable healthcare; state security and social security support; agro-based industrialisation for wealth and job creation for youths and women.
Like most Nigerian political office seekers who usually roll out their manifestos during electioneering without providing the details of how they would implement such if elected, the new governor-elect also left out the policy details of what could be considered his social contract with the people of the state.
Adesina Tosin, a socio-political commentator, advising the new governor-elect, said he must sustain the salary payment system put in place by the outgoing governor, Mr Oyetola, as Osun State civil servants would not be patient with his administration if it fails to pay them as of and when due.
Mr Tosin, however, understands that it won’t be an easy ride for the governor-elect by the time he takes charge in November, given the challenges facing the state and most states of the federation.
Late Mr Isiaka’s time is gone but left his footprints which speak to the impacts he made as governor and senator. It is Ademola’s time as governor. The ball is in his court to write his own gubernatorial history. But in doing so, observers and analysts who understand the local peculiarities of the state say he cannot afford to underperform as that may stain the name of a family which has now become a political dynasty in Osun State and beyond.
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