The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has described Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory in Osun’s governorship election on Saturday as a triumph for democracy and the will of the people.

The national publicity secretary of the NDC, Osa Director, in a statement on Monday, commended the people of Osun for turning out to exercise their franchise and insisting that their votes must count.

Mr Director said the results of the election demonstrated that the people could resist what he described as “tyranny”, “civilian dictatorship” and attempts to suppress their will through the electoral process.

“The victory of the Accord in the Osun State governorship election is a victory for democracy. It is a triumph of the people’s will over any authoritarian leadership.

“It is a befitting crowning of the dogged efforts of the great people of Osun who resisted tyranny, who resisted civilian dictatorship, who resisted oppression and refused to be silenced and insisted that their vote must count.

“I commend Gov. Adeleke for standing firm to insist that he has the right to contest and be voted for by his people if that is their choice, and indeed, that is actually their choice,” Mr Director said.

The NDC spokesperson said the election was significant because it showed that people could determine an election’s outcome when they were determined to exercise their democratic rights.

He said the outcome further demonstrated the importance of protecting the sanctity of the ballot and ensuring that citizens’ votes count.

Mr Director also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conducting the Osun election, while cautioning the commission against allowing the outcome to become an isolated improvement ahead of the 2027 general election.

He said the NDC would hold INEC to the standard it had set with the Osun poll, urging the commission to ensure that the transparency witnessed in the election was sustained.

“I hope this is not going to be a flash in the pan on the part of INEC to make us lose our guards and think that come 2027 it will be this transparent,” he said. 

(NAN)