To the people of Osun, August 9, 2014, will forever remain august! It was the day they buried the shackles of perpetual slavery. They openly resisted and rejected those who sought to throw them into economic and social captivity. They broke the crab fingers of looters and killers. They expelled domination and oppression. They defied over 50,000 boots and guns deployed to the state to harass, intimidate dehumanize, and steal their inalienable right to elect a leader of their choice under a peaceful, free, fair and credible elections. They voted for the All Progressives Congress (APC). They re-elected Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as governor.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had stolen Aregbesola’s victory in 2011. He fought for three years to retrieve it. This time round, when the PDP came like a flood, the great people of Osun raised a standard against it with their votes. They have confirmed to the whole world that they elected Aregbesola in 2011 and not the candidate of the poverty development party who was wrongly declared winner then.

How could an Otunba Iyiola Omisore, the PDP governorship flag-bearer in the just concluded elections in the state, have ever dream of ruling the great and sophisticated people of Osun? In 2007, he went to the Senate by fraud. He was in prison. Nominated in prison. Won in prison. And was surreptitiously let off the hook to go to the Upper Chamber. A fugitive as federal lawmaker! He was given the appropriation committee. And he lived in a fool’s paradise thereafter. Omisore loves roasted corn. In a manner that evinced the greed in him, he grabbed two cobs and grubbed them simultaneously. What manner of man is this that sought to rule over the sophisticated people of Osun, the land of Oramiyan?

The victory is not for Aregbesola or the APC. The victory is for the great and valiant people of the State of Osun. Osun today represents the new face of true democracy in Nigeria. The people of Osun have displayed their rich pedigree with royal courage. The PDP thought they could beguile the people of Osun like they did in Ekiti. But the people were wiser. The people of Osun did not fall like the people of Ekiti. They showed resistance and now they are happy for it. They were not cowed by the overwhelming importation of thugs dressed in national security apparels and other hooded security agents to intimidate the people and make them abandon their mandate. They were not moved by the slush funds that were openly distributed to security agents in a bid to make them complicit in the rigging of the election.

Nigeria needs to borrow a leaf from this exemplary determination and courageous disposition, if this country must witness the needed change in 2015. The people of Osun were too positive to be doubtful. Too optimistic to be fearful. Too determined to be defeated. They have not only elected Aregbesola but have defeated the worst form of coup against democracy in the annals of Nigerian history. The total clampdown on the leaders of the APC with over 250 of them arrested within 12 hours led to the outcry by the leadership of the APC that except the people rose, their state might again fall into the hands of plunderers.

The Chief John Odigie-Oyegun-led superlative national leadership of the APC must be commended for their courage and doggedness to preserve and make democracy work in Nigeria. They must be specially commended for exposing the rigging plan of the PDP before the election. They must be lauded for refusing to run out of town in the face of the fiercest intimidation and political terrorism in the history of this country. Even the national publicity secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, was among the over 250 APC stalwarts that were arrested in a Gestapo style by agents of the state and detained in a bid to break the resolve of the party’s leadership and supporters at ensuring a free, fair and credible governorship poll in Osun. The leadership of the APC has been vindicated. The people can now see that the Ekiti fiasco was a broad day robbery which must be reclaimed. The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory. Security agencies at the behest of the PDP   harassed APC governors, intimidated and deceived the people of Ekiti and stole their mandate scientifically. But the leadership of the APC and the people of Osun, even though they were stretched to breaking point, persevered till victory was attained.

The victory will remain a potent signal to the federal government under the PDP and all agents of election rigging in this country not to try their evil antics in 2015. This is not 1999. This is not 2003. This is not 2007. This is not 2011. This is going to be 2015. Osun has shown the way and Nigerians will follow their sterling example to make their votes count in 2015. The PDP and all reactionary forces in Nigeria are beatable and defeat-able. Osun has proved it. Those who are banking on stolen mandates in 2015 should beware!

Ogbeni’s performance endeared him to the people. In fact, no other governor has developed Osun State like Ogbeni since its creation in 1991. His victory has successfully upturned the lies that the people of the south-west would rather prefer “stomach infrastructure” to innovative leadership and development. They bandied the lie after stealing Governor Kayode Fayemi’s victory in Ekiti State. But the state of Osun rejected the evil label. The people were ready to die for the man that is leading them out of Egypt to the promised land. They rose up, having learnt from the Ekiti heist, to defend their votes.

Nigerians must not go to sleep. They should not be deceived by the outcome of this election, which was won due to the tenacity of the people, to believe that this outcome will usher in a free, fair and credible election in 2015. For the election to turn out the desired way, the people must insist that their votes must count. INEC cannot be trusted based on this flash in the pan in Osun. Democracy in Nigeria must truly be the government of the people, by the people and for the people and never a government of the mighty, by the mighty and for the mighty. In view of this, INEC must not take glory for the success of this election. They have always compromised wherever the people were not defiant like the people of Osun. They either shape up or ship out. The people will not tolerate any shenanigans from them in 2015. The people must be allowed to choose their leaders at all times. Osun is not the litmus test for 2015 as many erroneously think. 2015 is going to be the litmus test for credible, free and fair elections in Nigeria. Until then, let INEC not bask in false euphoria of having got it right.

Nigerians must seize this moment and say “never again” to rigging and brutal subversion of the genuine wishes and aspiration of the people for true democracy in this country. If not, we the people will have ourselves to blame, like Shakespeare said in Julius Caesar: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” This is our chance; let the Osun example be our guiding light in 2015. Nigerians are more than ever before determined to vote out corruption, insecurity, poverty, unemployment and continuous looting of our national resources.

LEADERSHIP

A leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, has congratulated Rauf Aregbesola, the party’s candidate and winner of the August 9 gubernatorial election in Osun State.
In a statement, Monday, Mr. Tinubu hailed Mr. Aregbesola for standing firm in the face of state-sponsored terror against his person, his government, and the people of Osun State.
Mr. Aregbesola polled 394,684 votes to emerge winner, beating Iyiola Omisore, his strongest challenger and candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, who got 292,747.
“Your victory is the victory of good leadership over a leadership with tyrannical tendencies,” Mr. Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, said.
“You and the people of the State of Osun have sent a clear and unambiguous message to all usurpers and individuals who exploit power to abuse and deny the people their rights. You have bruised the head of tyranny. We have heard you and we take heed as a party, the APC and Nigerians.
“The lessons from Osun abide. We should never take for granted what we have else the gangsters in power will forcefully take it from us,” Mr. Tinubu added.
The APC leader described the build-up to the Osun poll as “abominable.”
“The massing of the military and over sixty thousand security men to intimidate and harass a peaceful people is the sign of an unsecured government and party,” he said.
“It is a pre-condition to manipulate and perpetrate electoral fraud. Under any democracy, there can be no moral or political justification for the security armada against our party leaders and followers in Osun. The implications for our democracy foretells of dire consequences.
“But the APC and its vast membership nationwide will not sit idly by and allow a band of gangsters determine our future simply because they happen to be in privileged positions. Osun has demonstrated that it is possible to confront them. On our part, we accept this challenge.
“Aregbesola runs a government that places primacy on a social welfare philosophy that pursues vigorously the vision of socio-economic empowerment and developmental ethos rooted in the progressive orientation of the Yoruba nation. The people of Osun are lucky to have him as their governor and for a time such as this.
“Our Osun victory reignites and marks the next phase of taking Nigeria back. Osun re-energizes us to the common good, a commitment to the people and an unbending commitment to ensure Nigeria is governed better,” Mr. Tinubu added.
Similarly, the Afenifere Renewal Group, ARG, a Yoruba socio-political group, has applauded Osun citizens for keeping faith with “progressive politics that Yorubas are known for, despite the heavy militarization and monetization politics that besieged them.”
In a statement issued by Kunle Famoriyo, the group’s Publicity Secretary, the ARG urged Mr. Aregbesola to renew his zeal for “welfarist” politics as exemplified by Obafemi Awolowo.
“We thank the people of Osun for resisting strange politics that seeks to take root in our land. As the source of Yoruba progeny, they have shown us an example and we are confident they would be better off for it,” the statement said, while calling on all Yorubas to a renaissance of Yoruba progressive politics.
PREMIUM TIMES
 

President Goodluck Jonathan has congratulated Governor Rauf Aregbesola on his victory at the Saturday’s governorship election.
Jonathan in a statement by his spokesperson, Reuben Abati, said the peaceful conduct of the elections reaffirmed his administration’s determination to positively reform Nigeria’s electoral processes.
“The President commends the Independent National Electoral Commission and national security agencies for ensuring that the elections were free, fair, credible and peaceful in keeping with the avowed commitment of his Administration.
“President Jonathan also applauds the people of Osun State who came out en masse yesterday in all the local government areas of the state to peacefully and freely exercise their democratic right, trusting in his assurance that all necessary measures would be taken to ensure their safety and the sanctity of their votes.” Abati said.
“The President believes that the free, fair and peaceful conduct of the elections have fully reaffirmed his administration’s determination to positively reform Nigeria’s electoral processes.” Abati added.
President however, wished Aregbesola a successful second term in office.

IT is no longer news that Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) comfortably beat Senator Iyiola Omisore of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to retain his seat for another 48 months in power in weekend’s Osun State polls. What perhaps is news is the avalanche of reasons for Aregbesola’s convincing victory.
1. THE EKITI WAKE-UP CALL
Although many APC stalwarts refused to acknowledge it openly, the party went into the Ekiti election knowing defeat was a likely outcome. Some party chieftains were unhappy with Governor Kayode Fayemi whom they accused of alienating them ─ and they refused to work for him. Also, APC was fractured in Ekiti State as a result of internal conflict. The loss in Ekiti, even though not surprising to party chieftains, raised an alarm in the party as a dangerous signal to what could become of APC in 2015. The loss was originally thought to be Fayemi’s problem, but it soon dawned on the party’s strategists that it was not only humiliating, it was also capable of sending  a message to Nigerians that the “ACN content” of APC was no longer in charge of its traditional base in the south-west. With several reasons adduced for Fayemi’s loss ─ including a fall-out with Ekiti teachers ─ Aregbesola benefited from this by quickly making amends in Osun. He got a soft loan from a sister state to clear two months salary arrears of workers. He also paid pension arrears. Aregbesola also started holding meetings with top civil servants to calm frayed nerves. He began to pay compensation to landlords whose houses were demolished to pave the way for an urban renewal programme. By moving quickly to address the grievances of the citizens, Aregbesola was able to re-connect with them in a matter of six weeks after the Ekiti humiliation of APC.
2. OMISORE’S BOLA IGE BAGGAGE
Omisore was never going to fly as the opponent of Aregbesola, although backed by the “federal might” and a cash-awash Kashamu Buruji, he was faintly expected to pull a surprise. But he was never going to be Ayodele Fayose who unseated Fayemi in Ekiti. For one, when Omisore was senator representing Ife constituency in the national assembly, he was not seen as among the best performers. For years, he was the chairman of the appropriation committee ─ generally seen as a plum job ─ but he was accused of not impressing his constituents in terms of bringing development projects to the district or making a positive impact on his people. However, by far the biggest albatross on the neck of Omisore is the December 2001 murder of Chief Bola Ige, a former governor of the old Oyo State, who was then the minister of justice and attorney general of the federation. Before the murder ─ which remains unresolved ─ Omisore was engaged in a very public spat with Ige, openly insulting the respected politician. Ige was humiliated at the palace of the Ooni of Ife by thugs suspected to be loyal to Omisore. They removed Ige’s cap and threatened to beat him up. When Ige was eventually killed, fingers were pointed at Omisore, who claimed innocence. He was detained in prison, tried and eventually discharged. He even won his senate election in detention. Even though he was never convicted, the Ige stigma has never left him. It was a handy campaign tool for APC in the Osun poll. Popular musician, Lagbaja, refused to perform at Omisore’s campaign, citing the Ige murder case as his reason.
3. THE FAILED RELIGIOUS CARD
Aregbesola was cast as a religious fanatic by the Omisore camp, who pointed out several actions taken by the governor as either anti-Christian or pro-Muslim. Aregbesola took an Islamic finance instrument, “sukuk” bond, of N11.4 billion to build schools. He changed the motto of the state from “State of the Living Spring” to “State of the Virtuous”, allegedly because Jesus Christ is also referred to as “the Living Spring”. He also declared the beginning of the Islamic calendar a public holiday, in addition to three other Muslim holidays ─ Prophet Mohammed’s birthday, Eid-el-Fitri and Eid-el-Maloud. Christians have three holidays ─ Christmas, Easter and New Year. The re-classification of schools, in which legacy Muslim and Christian schools were merged, also generated some religious tension. However, the religious flag did not fly ─ at least not on election day. Apart from the fact that there are probably more Muslims than Christians in Osun State, Aregbesola is from Ilesa, which is predominantly Christian. This gave him a double advantage. Most importantly, though, religion has never been an electoral issue in Osun State where Muslims and Christians live together peacefully. But accused of being a religious bigot, Aregbesola reached out to key Christian leaders, including Pastor EA Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and Bishop David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Ministries, who visited the state and said good things about him. This effectively doused the “tension” in the Christian community.
4. AREGBESOLA’S DEFT POLITICKING
The PDP went into the election in bad shape ─ an ironic mirror of what happened to APC in Ekiti State. Former Osun State governor, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, left PDP for APC in the heat of the party’s primaries, complaining about the conduct of other PDP aspirants. Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, secretary to the state government when Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola was governor, also left the party and went to the Labour Party, whose flag he eventually flew in the election. Oyinlola, TheCable learnt, had suggested to the PDP that Akinbade was the man to beat Aregbesola. But Omisore got the ticket and Akinbade defected in protest. However, it was not enough that the party to be fractured. Aregbesola had to move deftly to cash in on this. He got Adeleke to team up with his campaign ─ a masterstroke, given that the man called “Serunbawon” is a very popular politician in Ede, one of the big political constituencies in the state. Next, Aregbesola got the endorsement of the power brokers in Iwo, where the Labour candidate comes from. It was another big score for him. And then, Oyinlola, the erstwhile national secretary of the PDP and former governor of the state, joined APC a few days to the election. Even though Oyinlola did not win his ward in Okuku, it was a PR set-back for the PDP, especially after President Goodluck Jonathan had met with Oyinlola in trying to get him to campaign for Omisore.
5. ABOVE ALL, PERFORMANCE
The fact that performance did not count for Dr. Kayode Fayemi in Ekiti State does not mean it would not count for Aregbesola in Osun State. It was widely said before the election that “Osun is not Ekiti”. The fact is that no other governor has impacted on Osun State since its creation in 1991. Aregbesola started by setting up a Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES), employing 40,000 graduates. For primary school pupils, he provided free meals. For secondary school students, he gave free uniforms. Those in senior secondary school got “opon imo” ─ tablet computers containing all their textbooks and past question papers. For the elderly, he paid monthly stipends. He got a N10.4 billion “sukuk bond” to build 24 model, modern schools. Each school, when completed, will accommodate 1000 students and have modern laboratories, power  and sports facilities. The state capital, Osogbo ─ a typical ancient city ─ is undergoing a face-lift with the urban renewal programme. Factories have been cropping up in the state and proving jobs for the people. Road infrastructure is being built. There is a clear direction in terms of leadership in the state. All these have made Aregbesola a very popular politicianwho draws large crowds anywhere he visits in the state.

NIGERIAN MONITOR

The Labour Party’s Governorship Candidate sent a congratulatory letter to Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola on his victory on Saturday at the Osun Electoral Poll. The letter titled, The People Have Spoken is found below:

BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF OSUN, HIS EXCELLENCY, RAUF AREGBESOLA
After an unnecessarily tense, tortuous and even traumatic process, the Independent National Electoral Commission this morning declared me as the winner of the Osun state governorship election on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC). On behalf of my party, we are delighted to claim victory for our hard work, focus and dedication in this election. I thank the Almighty God for our triumph at the polls, against all odds.
To the good people of Osun State goes our unflinching gratitude. We salute your steadfastness, courage, loyalty, commitment and fierce determination to defend your sovereign rights and the integrity of our nascent democracy. You have demonstrated in this election that in a democracy, power truly belongs to the people. I am humbled and honoured by your trust and abiding faith in me and my party.
I pledge that your confidence in us shall never be betrayed or taken for granted. Ordinarily, this should be a moment of joy and celebration consequent upon the hard earned triumph of the people’s will. However, this election shows that democracy is still gravely endangered in Nigeria. We witnessed gross abuse of power and, of due process before, during, and even after the actual voting process. It is so sad and unfortunate that what should be a normal, routine process was maliciously allowed to snowball in to a needless virtual war by the Federal Government and the PDP. Osun state was unduly militarized in an unprecedented manner through criminal intimidation and psychological assault on our people.
This election witnessed an abuse of our security agencies and amounted to a corruption of their professional ethics and integrity. The security agencies were unprofessionally utilized in Osun state to harass, intimidate and oppress the people whose taxes are used to pay their salaries and provide their arms. Hundreds of leaders, supporters, sympathizers and agents of our party were arrested and detained. Also, hundreds of other innocent citizens including women and the aged were harassed, brutalized and traumatized.
In spite of this condemnable repression and abuse of human rights, the unflagging spirit of our people triumphed. Our victory is due to the steadfastness and resolute determination of our people to assert and defend their rights. The PDP obviously did all it could in a most desperate manner to steal the people’s mandate. A critical analysis of the elections shows a trend of general low voter turnout largely because of the atmosphere of deliberate tyranny and fear caused by the excessive militarization of the state. Despite our victory, it is pertinent to condemn and also point out the fact that the number of accredited voters in most local governments was less than half of registered voters.
Against this trend, it is curious that the bulk of the PDP candidate’s votes came from only four Local Governments- namely Ife Central, Ife East, Ife North and Ife South. This suggests an inexplicable large turnout in his stronghold which is a curious departure from the general trend of voting across the state. The outcome of this election, once again, shows the unswerving determination of our people to ensure that democracy triumphs in Nigeria. We have sent a strong signal to all and sundry that no might is powerful enough to thwart the will of the people. This should always strengthen our resolve to ensure that as from now on, every vote must not only be counted but must count in this country.
Nobody or party must ever exercise power unreasonably at any level except in accordance with the will of the people to whom sovereignty belongs. Let me assure the good people of Osun state that I appreciate that this victory is a reward for our hard work and commitment to the welfare of our people. I promise that we shall not rest on our oars but shall be spurred to work even harder with all well meaning people of the State of Osun and the generality of Nigerians to continue to enjoy your trust and support.
You can be assured that we will leave no stone unturned in our continued effort to transform Osun into a land of progress, prosperity and peace for all with renewed fervour. I realize that this victory and the challenges we went through is a call to greater service and sustained commitment to our people. I pledge a rededication of myself to the service of our people and the strengthening of democratic values in Osun and Nigeria generally. Our country remains in political bondage and we must set her free.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State has expressed his gratitude to the people of Osun State for re-electing him chief executive officer of the state for another four years. Ogbeni Aregbesola who said this via a statement on Sunday, August 10, 2014, condemned the militarisation of the state during the poll, noting that the election witnessed an abuse of our security agencies which he said amounted to corruption of their professional ethics and integrity. The re-elected governor also stated that his administration will continue to transform the state and will leave no stone unturned in the process.
Aregbesola who was the governorship candidate for the All Progressives Party won elections in 22 out of the 30 local government areas of the state, scored a total of 394684 to beat his main rival and candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Iyiola Omisore who won in eight local government areas, scored 292747 votes. 
While Sen Sunday Fajimi of the Alliance for Democracy scored 1982; Alhaji Fatai Akinbade of the Labour Party scored 8898, while the candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Elder Sunday Akinwusi scored 534. AUGUST 10,2014
 
 
 
 
 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said yesterday that facts available showed that the Osun governorship election was better than the Ekiti poll, held on June 21.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, made the statement in a telephone interview in Abuja.
“From all indications, the election has been successful even from the comments from virtually all the stakeholders – politicians, observers and others.
“Our own figures also prove that it has been successful. On our arrival time by 8 a.m. Saturday, 96.25 per cent of the polling units were opened. That is better than that of Ekiti State, which was 95.6 per cent.
“Don’t forget that Osun has 30 local government areas, while Ekiti State has 20, yet we still surpassed the performance in Ekiti,“ Idowu said.
He said other indices showed that there were no challenges with voter accreditation and voting.
“Even the announcement of the election result is another indication, which shows the functionality of our process.
“As at 7. 30 a.m. today (yesterday), the result from all the 30 local government areas were announced, while that of Ekiti was announced at about 9 a.m. the day after the election. So, from all indications, the election was a success,“ he said.
Idowu said because no human endeavour was perfect, the commission would continue to fine-tune its operations to improve on the organisation of elections.
“INEC is not saying that the Osun election is the highest we can attain; we are still going higher and we believe God that we will do better by 2015.
“We had our deployment plan and contingency plan, but every election has its complication. What INEC normally does is to deploy base on its plan and we also had contingency plan because you cannot predict the turnout of the people.
“You will notice that immediately we observed that there were challenges in some areas, the contingency plan was deployed to make up for those places.
“That is part of our operational plan and at the end of the day, I don’t think there was any place where people were unable to vote due to inadequate ad-hoc staff,“ he said.
THISDAY 

Jubilation in Osogbo
Jonathan, governors hail election 
Victory parties continued yesterday in major towns of Osun State.
Osogbo, the state capital, was throbbing with crowds of revellers as Governor Rauf Aregbesola led a victory parade.
He was declared re-elected by the Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday morning with 394,684 votes to his opponent Iyiola Omisore’s 292,747 votes.
Aregbesola said in spite of his victory, the process was faulty and “gravely endangered democracy.”
The governor took a hard look at what he and his party – the All Progressives Congress (APC) – faced in the run-down to the election and declared that had it not been because of the People’s commitment, something untoward could have happened.
President Goodluck Jonathan, governors and other eminent Nigerians congratulated Aregbesola.
National leader of the APC Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu said Aregbesola “bruised the head of tyranny with his victory.
Tinubu, Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola and other APC leader kept vigil at the Aswiwaju residence in Lagos monitoring the situation. There was anxiety as the results were not announced by INEC Returning Officer Prof. Bamitale Oluwole, Vice Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife until 7:30am yesterday.
Addressing a huge crowd of supporters at the Nelson Mandela Freedom Park in Osogbo, the governor noted the traumatic challenges he faced before he winning the poll.
“It was so sad and unfortunate that the contest that should be a normal, routine process was allowed to snowball into a needless virtual war by the Federal Government and the Peoples’ Democratic Party.
“Ordinarily, this should be a moment of joy and celebration consequent upon the hard-earned triumph of the people’s will. However, this election shows that democracy is still gravely endangered in Nigeria. We witnessed gross abuse of power and of due process before, during, and even after the actual voting process.”
Aregbesola lamented the unduly militarisation of the election saying the people’s courage had triumphed over an unprecedented criminal intimidation and psychological assault on the state.
He said that the election witnessed an abuse of security agencies which he described as corruption of their professional ethics and integrity.
Aregbesola added that the security agencies were unprofessionally utilised to harass, intimidate and oppress the people whose taxes were used to pay their salaries.
He said: “Hundreds of leaders, supporters, sympathisers and agents of our party were arrested and detained. Also, hundreds of other innocent citizens, including women and the aged were harassed, brutalised and traumatised. In spite of this condemnable repression and abuse of human rights, the unflagging spirit of our people triumphed.
“Our victory is due to the steadfastness and resolute determination of our people to assert and defend their rights. The PDP obviously did all it could in a most desperate manner to steal the people’s mandate.
“Despite our victory, it is pertinent to condemn and also point out the fact that the number of accredited voters in most local governments was less than half of registered voters. Against this trend, it is curious that the bulk of the PDP candidate’s votes came from only four Local governments –  Ife Central, Ife East, Ife North and Ife South.”
Aregbesola said the outcome of the election reflected the unwavering determination of Osun people to ensure that democracy triumphs in Nigeria.
“With this election, the people of Osun have sent a strong signal to all and sundry that no might is powerful enough to thwart the will of the people. This should always strengthen our resolve to ensure that as from now on, every vote must not only count in Osun but must count in this country as a whole.
“Nobody or party must ever exercise power unreasonably at any level except in accordance with the will of the people to whom sovereignty belong.”
He added: Let me assure the good people of Osun state that I appreciate that this victory is a reward for our hard work and commitment to the welfare of our people.
“I promise that we shall not rest on our oars but shall be spurred to work even harder with all well meaning people of the State of Osun and the generality of Nigerians to continue to enjoy your trust and support. You can be assured that we will leave no stone unturned in our continued effort to transform Osun into a land of progress, prosperity and peace for all with renewed fervour.
“I realize that this victory and the challenges we went through is a call to greater service and sustained commitment to our people.
“I pledge a rededication of myself to the service of our people and the strengthening of democratic values in Osun and Nigeria generally. Our country remains in political bondage and we must set her free.”

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; his wife, Sherifat (left) and his Deputy, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori and many others rejoicing after being declared winner of Saturday’s governorship poll in the state, at the Government House, Osogbo, Sate of Osun on Sunday 10-08-2014

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; his wife, Sherifat (left) and his Deputy, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori rejoicing after been declare winner of Saturday’s governorship poll in the state, at the Government House, Osogbo, Sate of Osun on Sunday 10-08-2014

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; his Deputy, Mrs Titi :Laoye-Tomori and Acting Chairman of State APC, Elder Adelowo Adebiyi, addressing crowd of people at the Freedom Park, Osogbo after been declare winner of Saturday’s governorship poll in the state, at the Government House, Osogbo, Sate of Osun on Sunday 10-08-2014

Governor State of osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, acknowledging cheers from mammoth crowd who rejoice with him after been declare winner of Saturday’s governorship poll in the state, at the Government House, Osogbo, Sate of Osun on Sunday 10-08-2014

Governor State of osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, acknowledging cheers from mammoth crowd who rejoice with him after been declare winner of Saturday’s governorship poll in the state, at the Government House, Osogbo, Sate of Osun on Sunday 10-08-2014