A member of the House of Representatives, Bamidele Salam has claimed that the Osun 2022 gubernatorial election is the most monetised in the history of Osun State.
Bamidele, who represents Ede South, Ede North, Egbedore and Ejigbo Federal Constituency in the Green chamber and who was also the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) agent at the Osun guber result declaration, stated that the description was based on the fact that massive vote buying was perpetrated during the voting exercise.
Salam, while appearing on Channels TV programme, The Gavel on Sunday, noted that despite the massive claims of vote buying, the electorates collected the money and still voted according to their conscience.
Salam, who held that the election was a referendum on a sitting government, added that the people issued the Adegboyega Oyetola administration a verdict of failure.
In his words, “The election of 2018 was won by Senator Ademola Adeleke and the electorate decided to reiterate their decision in 2022 by voting for him again.
“There was massive vote buying by the All Progressives Congress (APC) agents, if not, the margin between the results of the PDP and APC would have been higher.
“Election stipulates that the electorate must vote for something better and different.”
He also alleged that Governor Adegboyega Oyetola did not abide by the promises he made in his inaugural address on November 26, 2018.
“He promised to set up nine agro parks in the federal constituencies in the State and he has not done any yet.
“He also promised to rehabilitate the Osogbo-Iwo road which he did not work on,” he stated.
But defending the Osun State governor, Ismail Omipidan, his Chief Press Secretary alleged that the APC did not win the election because the civil servants fell for the lies, antics and propaganda of the PDP.
Recall that Ademola Adeleke of the PDP was declared the winner of the Osun 2022 gubernatorial election.
In the election result declared early on Sunday morning by Professor Oluwatoyin Temitayo Ogundipe, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer, Adeleke polled 403,371 as against the 375,027 votes for Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of the APC.
Meanwhile, Oyetola has called on his supporters to remain calm.
While stating that he has taken cognisance of the result of Saturday’s guber poll as announced by the INEC, he added that the party would respond appropriately to the guber result.