PDP Reveals Strategy to Unseat Tinubu in 2027 After APC Loss in Osun

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the outcome of the Osun State governorship election has provided a template that Nigerians can adopt to defeat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 general election.

According to the party, the victory recorded by Governor Ademola Adeleke showed what could happen when voters remain united and protect their votes during an election.

The PDP made the position known in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary of the Interim National Working Committee, Ini Ememobong, following Adeleke’s victory in the August 15 governorship election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Adeleke the winner of the election on Sunday after he secured 511,067 votes.

His major challenger, the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, polled 404,107 votes, according to the declared result.

The result handed Adeleke a second term in office and marked another setback for the ruling APC in its attempt to take control of Osun State.

The PDP said the development was significant because Adeleke contested outside the party after leaving the PDP and joining Accord amid the crisis that had affected the opposition party.

According to the party, the result demonstrated the importance of political cooperation, grassroots mobilisation and, most importantly, the protection of votes by citizens.

“The result of the Osun Governorship elections, as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, showing a convincing win by Governor Ademola Adeleke, is a clear message from Nigerians in Osun State about what the 2027 elections will be,” the statement read.

The PDP said Adeleke’s victory did not come without challenges, alleging that the governor and his supporters faced pressure during the election period.

It attributed the outcome to what it described as the determination of Osun voters to resist attempts to influence the electoral process.

“The victory, which came at a high cost of strong will, vigilance and resistance by the people of Osun State against the entire rigging machinery of the ruling All Progressives Congress, who were desirous of winning the state at all costs,” the party said.

The opposition party also accused the APC of deploying political and institutional pressure in the build-up to the election.

It referred to the arrest and intimidation of opposition politicians as part of the developments that preceded the poll.

The PDP also mentioned the controversy surrounding a statement attributed to Senator Francis Fadahunsi, which generated widespread reactions before the election.

“That the APC wanted Osun, by fair or foul means, was not in doubt to anyone, which accounts for the unceasing intimidation, assault and arrests of opposition politicians, the ‘kill them’ directive by Senator Francis Fadahunsi and the performative invitation by the police, and his subsequent release to participate in the elections,” the statement said.

Fadahunsi had earlier faced criticism over the comment made during the election campaign.

He later clarified his position and denied that he intended to encourage violence against Accord Party members.

The PDP also raised questions about the conduct of some national institutions during the election.

It alleged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) froze the accounts of the Osun State Government and accused the police of showing partiality.

The party further criticised the delay in the uploading of polling-unit results on the INEC result viewing platform.

“We must warn that the failure of national institutions to maintain unambiguous neutrality is dangerous and anti-democratic. The manifest partiality of security agencies, especially the police, and even the shameful intervention by the EFCC freezing the accounts of the state; and the intentional delay of more than two hours in uploading the results of the 470 polling units by INEC, are acts that are not just condemnable but are actions capable of derailing democracy,” it said.

The PDP said the lesson from Osun should not be limited to the state.

It urged Nigerians who want a change of government in 2027 to remain actively involved throughout the electoral process.

The party said voting alone would not be enough if citizens failed to monitor the process and ensure that their votes were properly counted and protected.

“Nigerians must vote, protect and defend their votes,” the statement read.

It warned that the APC could use the experience of the Osun election to improve its strategy ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

The PDP said Nigerians should therefore not assume that the ruling party would simply accept defeat because it lost Osun.

“They must not think that having failed in Osun, the APC and its accomplices in the critical national institutions will repent of their ill deeds; they will rather seek to learn from the failings in Osun, to perfect their dark art of subverting the wishes of the people,” the party stated.

The party described the Osun result as an early indication of what it believes could happen in the 2027 election.

“Overall, the result from Osun is an advance payment by Nigerians against the APC, the balance will come in 2027, when Nigerians will send packing the most ineffective and destructive political class in the history of Nigeria, post-independence,” it said.

The statement also stressed the need for voters to remain vigilant as the country prepares for another major election.

According to the PDP, the ultimate purpose of an election is to ensure that the candidate preferred by voters emerges victorious.

“Election results must be reflective of the wishes of the people freely expressed through the ballot and not the enforcement of the whims and caprices of a privileged minority of oppressors.

“And to achieve this, Nigerians must never forget that the price for eternal freedom is vigilance,” the statement said.