•Party says Adeleke’s victory is triumph for democracy, demands explanation for nearly four-hour interruption in result uploads
By| Goodluck E.Adubazi, Abuja
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has congratulated Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, on his victory in Saturday’s governorship election, describing the outcome as a victory for the people of the state, opposition forces and democracy.
The party, however, demanded a comprehensive explanation from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over what it described as a nearly four-hour interruption in the uploading of election results on the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) on election night.
In a statement issued on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC alleged that the suspension occurred at about 8pm when it became apparent that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was losing the election.
The party said Nigerians deserved to know who directed the stoppage and what informed the decision.
The ADC described Adeleke’s victory as significant, arguing that it demonstrated that the collective will of voters could prevail despite what it called intimidation, financial inducements and the deployment of government machinery.
It also commended the people of Osun State for, according to the party, resisting pressure and exercising their democratic rights.
The party said the scale of political and security mobilisation by the APC during the election was unprecedented, alleging that more than 30 governors, the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, legislators and other senior government officials were deployed to Osun to support the ruling party.
According to the ADC, the outcome demonstrated that political power and government machinery could not ultimately control voters’ choices inside the polling booth.
The opposition party further alleged that voters faced violence, arrests and intimidation but remained determined to participate in the election.
“Osun has shown that this is possible,” the party said, arguing that Nigerians could peacefully reject bad governance through the ballot box.
However, the ADC said the alleged interruption in IReV result uploads must not be overlooked despite the victory.
It claimed that its intelligence report indicated that INEC was directed to stop uploading results when the APC was losing, leading to several hours of interruption noticed by election observers and monitors.
The party demanded that INEC provide a full account of what happened during the period.
The ADC alleged that the incident raised concerns about a possible attempt to tamper with the election results or render the process inconclusive, adding that the alarm reportedly raised by Governor Adeleke, election monitors and observers helped draw attention to the development.
The party warned that the incident should serve as a lesson ahead of the 2027 general elections and urged Nigerians not to allow the euphoria surrounding Adeleke’s victory to obscure what it described as threats to the electoral process.
The ADC further declared that the APC would not easily surrender political power unless confronted with what it called “inevitability” through sustained opposition and voter mobilisation.
The party said the Osun election had demonstrated the importance of opposition cooperation, vigilant election monitoring and the determination of voters.
“If Osun has taught us anything this weekend, it is this: A government may deploy power everywhere, but it cannot deploy it inside the ballot booth,” the ADC said.
The party concluded by declaring that the time had come, in its view, to end what it described as APC bad governance through the ballot box.
