By Mallam Olawale Rasheed
Dear President Bola Tinubu,
I start by congratulating Mr President on your two year anniversary. As much as I am a Special Adviser to Governor Ademola Adeleke, this letter is outside my official capacity as I am writing as a Nigerian citizen, a journalist and an indigene of Osun state.
I write as one among millions of Osun indigenes who is pleased and impressed by the stewardship and deliveries of Governor Ademola Adeleke, a man who from 2022 has never directly or indirectly attack your person, unlike some of your party members who have disrespected your esteemed office and person by series of irresponsible outbursts over a very harmless courtesy visit on you, the President of all Nigerians, by the Osun state governor. Sir, I declare that by all accounts, your brother, Ademola Adeleke has within less than three years, responsibly and productively governed the state with deliveries and dividends that surpass the combined output of 12 years of the previous APC rule.
Mr President must have taken a judicious note of insults and reprehensible letters and briefings against the person of Mr President by some APC operatives. I am particularly shocked at the degeneration of thinking and the elevation of insults by some of your party members in Osun state who failed to see or ignore the larger picture of your politicking within the bigger context of upcoming political warfare. One would have expected your partymen to trust your tested experience which is a product of a fireproof, painful duel that secured the presidency under the most difficult model of electoral contest. Mr President, I apologize for their immature temperament, their illegitimate assumption of high ideals and their shallow grasp of political dynamics.
Mr President may want to note that governance in Osun has produced so many results for several reasons. Governor Adeleke leads a government of like minds with direct and insistent determination to uplift the state within personal self-deprivation and sacrifice. From the Governor to every member of the team, delivery of good governance is the number one mantra.
Mr President, the outcome is that the Adeleke administration under two and half years in office constructed over 250 kilometers of roads, paid over 60 billions in pension and salary debt, rehabilitated over 200 health centres, upgraded over 100 schools, placed more than 3000 pensioners on free health insurance, purchased 31 tractors for mechanisation, launched Osun digital economy, upgraded sport sector with state sport commission among others.
The administration is almost completing three flyover bridges alongside completion of several abandoned projects. University of Ilesa is now a reality while Osun State University had five separate projects completed. The Governor harmonized the tax system, provided a 45 day window for processing of Certificate of Occupancy and implemented mining sector reform to increase revenue inflow and revived the state’s free trade zones. Several federal agencies have issued favorable reports on Osun governance. Hence, Dr Adedeji Adeleke, leaders of thought and Osun residents are proud of Governor Adeleke and his performing team.
But sir, politics being what it is, some members of your party in Osun State opted to embrace fake news of non-performance in their assessment of the governor. As they persist in peddling such lies, the party got alienated from the citizens who are enjoying the various dividends of democracy. Hence, today, Osun APC and its aspirants are unelectable. I am very sorry to note that those who misled and mismanaged your cousin and his political project are still the same set pushing the same failed strategy which led to the APC defeat in 2022.
Your Excellency, it is a matter of courtesy that a state governor should relate with the President of the republic. Nigeria’s intergovernmental politics demands such interaction. When you granted audience to the Osun State Governor, it was in fulfillment of your position as the father of the nation, a bridge builder and a leader always a step ahead of future battle. But sir, some of your party members in Osun state are permuting at lower frequency. Their worldview appears so hollow that they cannot see what you see, they cannot comprehend the strategic moves you are making to rebuild Nigeria and soften ground for future wins. To unstrategic minds, everything starts and ends with Osun governorship. Sir, we all know a Soludo brings a lot to the table as much as the Adelekes than defeated politicians who lost their wards even while occupying state offices.
Mr. President, the attacks on Governor Adeleke are borne out of refusal to accept super performance that has been validated by local and international agencies. The opposition pushes pictures of rural access roads to claim substandard work but dogged the superbly constructed grade A roads the administration constructed totalling about 250 kilometers. The Akoda Ede road they cited is adjudged by even many APC members as one of the best. Sir, the penchant to lie is one of the reasons why the Osun APC rating is so low and the party unelectable.
Sir, permit me to make reference to the issue of a second term for both the Governor and you, the leader of the nation. You are a battle tested democrat. Your love for a free and fair contest is known to all. Nobody will request you to impose him on the people. The clarion call on you is to be the father of all by allowing free contests among your sons. Osun people will then judge using their ballot papers.
But sir, some Osun APC members are wailing because for the past one year, they have been boasting that the President will rig Osun state elections for them in 2026. They often admitted that the APC is deeply unpopular in Osun but that the President will rig for them. That shameless boast evaporated because you have accepted all Osun contenders as your sons irrespective of political affiliations. You have disowned fascists who though hated, by the people, eye power through the backdoor.
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Sir, every political party has stories of pains and victimhood from past political contests. Osun PDP lost 45 members during the 2022 state elections. In the last local government crisis, Osun PDP lost seven members. Up till now, no justice was delivered and families of victims lived in pain and agony. The state leadership of PDP embraced the difficult injunction that God gives and takes. No party should therefore blackmail another with loss of lives in previous electoral battles..
Mr President may want to be notified that any report of imminent defeat of Governor Adeleke is a baseless concoction. In 2024 alone, APC lost over 40 percent of its members to the PDP. Shortly after, former Governor Aregbesola also pulled out of the party. Sir, a recent survey results from Geopolitical Survey International (GSI) polled all political tendencies in Osun state and placed Governor Adeleke at 66 percent if elections were to be held today. This survey was conducted between April and May, 2025. The only strategy of the state APC is rigging which they openly claimed you, Mr President will activate for them. Now the veil is removed. Mr President is a leader of all and the Osun election is to be conducted under a strictly free and fair context.
I want to express my personal appreciation to you, Mr President, the capo of all Osun politicians, for displaying the highest model of character as a national leader. Your hosting the Adelekes is without doubt, a demonstration of statesmanship, a manifestation of deep understanding of current reality of Osun politics and an assurance of expanded support base for future electoral contest.
Sir, Accept the assurances of my highest regards.
●Olawale Rasheed is a publisher, an entrepreneur, a politician and special adviser to the Osun state governor.
