The recent by-election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)in Osun West Senatorial district had the younger brother of the deceased Senator Isiaka Adeleke, Ademola Adeleke clinching the senatorial seat after defeating the APC candidate, Mudashiru Hussain.
However, the rumble in the jungle that led to the Adeleke family retaining the Senatorial district is worth a critical exegesis.
The intention to run for the Senatorial by-election by Ademola Adeleke sounds more like a concerted decision within the family, no doubt based on the support they enjoyed from the people of that senatorial district. Also, it is likely to be influenced by a shared opinion especially in Osun West that the political opponents of the beloved Senator Isiaka Adeleke cannot be fully exonerated in his death.
The rumour that Isiaka Adeleke had an ambition for the governorship position of the state in 2019 did not help matters as it became a reason in the minds of his people to justify the reasons why they felt he was killed.
This in one way or the other influenced the run up to the senatorial election. Even though Adeleke was an APC member, one would have thought that the party would have ridden on the sympathy and popularity enjoyed by the Late Senator and his family, and then field his brother for the position, so as to douse any tension and retain the district for the ruling party.
But there is no doubt that the APC took for granted the powers of the lower animals by taking the advice of the jackals to field the hyenas.
Mudashiru Hussain who was initially disqualified by the APC screening committee in the state had his disqualification reversed by the NWC of the party; this is probably unconnected to the fact that he was the candidate of the governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola who is not comfortable with the popularity enjoyed by the Adelekes in the senatorial district.
The APC took all these obvious factors for granted and failed to learn from the lessons of 2015, the fact that the people are not entirely docile. It was even going to be much more difficult for them to have won with their candidate when the people suspected a foul play in the death of Isiaka Adeleke, as well as the dramas that unfolded in the run-up to the election.
The Adeleke family is well loved in that district, Isiaka Adeleke is a giant of a man who endears himself to everyone, an archetypical Yoruba politician, who is loved across board. He is popularly called ‘seru ba won’ which is not unconnected to his built and physique. It was not enough that he died suddenly. The best APC could have done was to give his brother the ticket when he showed interest, they would have retained the district. A discerning political party should know that it would be difficult to wrestle power from such family given the situation on ground.
It was an opportunity that the desperate PDP needed to cash in on. They did and alas, they are very much in contention.
The Adeleke family has a strong hold in that senatorial district but it does not mean that they cannot be defeated. The same reason that warrants their continuous hold on that constituency could also be their undoing, which is the notion that the Nigerian political landscape is built on a bedrock of personality influence and not party politics. A more credible personality who can win the heart of the people could wrestle power from them especially if Ademola Adeleke fails to leave up to expectation.
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