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ABUJA – The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has delivered a blistering verdict on Governor Ademola Adeleke’s re-election victory, hailing it as a gutsy rebellion against federal strong-arm tactics, while savaging the governor himself for what it called a shamefully premature pledge to hand Osun State to President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

In a scathing remark that cut through the usual post-election platitudes, NDC National Publicity Secretary Osa Director celebrated the Saturday poll as a rare “triumph of the people’s will” over “tyranny,” “civilian dictatorship,” and the raw deployment of federal might. But he quickly pivoted to a damning rebuke of Adeleke, questioning whether the governor’s reported loyalty pledge to Tinubu amounts to a grotesque betrayal of the very voters, and the dead, who secured his return to office.

“He shows our elitist disposition,” Director fumed. “Political elite and ruling class are usually concerned about themselves.”

The NDC spokesman did not mince words, framing Adeleke’s declaration as not just politically inept, but morally repugnant. He demanded to know whether the governor had paused to consider the sacrifices made on his behalf, including, he alleged, lives lost during the brutal struggle surrounding the election.

“If you think of those who died in the process to ensure that he gets the victory he desired, is he saying that they should die in vain?” Director asked, his words landing like a hammer blow.

The statement laid bare a jarring paradox: Adeleke, who benefited from a popular uprising against alleged federal interference, now appears eager to deliver his state’s votes to the very political establishment that, according to the NDC, tried to crush his re-election bid. Director argued that the Osun result itself had proven the limits of presidential power, “even Bola Tinubu, with all the federal might, could not determine what the Osun people were going to do”, making Adeleke’s pledge not just hasty, but historically blind.

“I am surprised that Adeleke is promising to deliver Osun to President Bola Tinubu come 2027. I think that is too hasty of him to say,” Director declared. “Let him just savour his victory and allow the people in Osun State to decide who they are going to vote for in the presidential election in 2027.”

A Victory for the People, Until the Elite Swallowed It

The NDC’s praise for Osun voters was unsparingly vivid. Director described Saturday’s outcome as a “befitting crowning” of a citizenry that “resisted tyranny, resisted civilian dictatorship, resisted oppression and refused to be silenced.” He commended Adeleke for insisting on his right to contest, but made it crystal clear that the governor now owes his political existence to the masses, not to any backroom deal with Abuja.

Yet, in the NDC’s telling, Adeleke’s post-victory maneuvers reveal an all-too-familiar script: a populist champion who, once seated, quickly reverts to the self-serving instincts of Nigeria’s parasitic ruling class.

“He shows our elitist disposition,” Director repeated, underlining the accusation.

The timing of Adeleke’s pledge, barely hours after the votes were counted, struck the NDC as particularly offensive. Director argued that the governor had no mandate, moral, electoral, or constitutional, to pre-emptively barter Osun’s 2027 presidential votes, especially when his own re-election campaign was framed as a resistance to federal overreach.

INEC Gets a Rare Nod—and a Warning

In a rare moment of praise, the NDC commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conducting a transparent poll, but quickly pivoted to a stern caution: the credibility witnessed in Osun must not be a “flash in the pan.”

“We are going to hold them to account to live up to this standard,” Director warned, vowing that the NDC would not allow INEC to revert to opaque practices ahead of the 2027 general election.

He recalled INEC’s promises to fix technical glitches in electronic transmission, insisting that Nigerians now expect nothing less than a “transparent, participatory and credible” presidential election.

The Bigger Picture: A Democracy Still Fighting for Its Soul

Director’s intervention laid bare a profound truth about Nigeria’s fragile democracy: elections can be won at the ballot box, but the battle against elite capture is never over. The Osun result, he argued, proved that voters could resist “civilian dictatorship”, a pointed reference to the creeping authoritarianism that many observers see in the Tinubu administration’s use of state apparatus to tilt electoral contests.

But Adeleke’s apparent rush to align with the president has thrown cold water on that narrative. For the NDC, the governor’s pledge is not just a political miscalculation; it is a betrayal of the democratic spirit that carried him to victory.

“He cannot determine what the people will do,” Director insisted. “Just like Bola Tinubu, with all the federal might, could not determine what the Osun people were going to do.”

The message to Adeleke was unequivocal: you are not the kingmaker. The people are. And they will remember who stood with them and who sold them out.

As Nigeria hurtles toward 2027, the Osun election has offered a glimmer of hope that votes can still matter. But if the NDC’s indictment holds, that hope may be short-lived, crushed not by federal might, but by the very leaders the people trusted to defend their will.