Gov. Ademola Adeleke of Osun says he is confident of retaining his seat in the 2026 governorship election, saying his achievements and goodwill will enhance his re-election chances.
Adeleke stated this while speaking with newsmen shortly after he was screened by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Osun State Governorship Screening Panel in Abuja.
“I’m so confident I’m going to win. If I could defeat an incumbent, and now that I’m the governor, within two years, it’s unprecedented what we have achieved. I’m so confident that nobody can beat us there.”
He expressed confidence that the federal might would not influence the outcome of the election because he was popular and the people of the state had much love for him.
“How can I be scared? I’m too popular! Anywhere I go, people love me and everybody says `Imole.’
“What are you talking about? Anywhere I go, throughout this country, even among the All Progressives Congress (APC) people, I have some friends, as well as in other parties.
“Just take APC as a case study: anytime they’re having a party or an event, I’ll go there, I’ll take over and they all love me.
“If you are not performing, that’s when you’ll be scared. When you have your people behind you, you don’t have to fear,’’ he said.
Adeleke said that he was optimistic that President Bola Tinubu would not want to dabble into the state election, but would rather ensure free, fair and credible election.
Also speaking to newsmen, Adebayo Adepoju, the Chairman, Osun State PDP Governorship Screening Committee, described the exercise as smooth.
“We had gone through all his credentials to ascertain that everything was in order. We had done that even before he arrived; he had submitted his documents on time.
“We went through his forms, his nomination forms and we also noticed that he was nominated by very highly placed people as well as ordinary people in Osun communities.
“This just shows that he is very well accepted all around the party. We went through other credentials besides academic ones that he had submitted and everything was very, very satisfactory to us.
“When he came in, we asked him a few questions and all his answers matched what he had submitted,’’ Adepoju said.
Adepoju said that the committee was expecting more aspirants to appear before it.
He said that the committee would submit its report to the party at the conclusion of the entire exercise.
