Osun 2022: Why I was absent at governorship debate – Adeleke

The Peoples Democratic Party candidate in Osun, Ademola Adeleke, has attributed his absence at Wednesday’s governorship debate to his busy campaign schedule.

Ahead of the July 16 governorship election in the state, four governorship candidates faced one another in a televised debate Wednesday speaking about their plans for the electorate if elected.

Governor Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Goke Omigbodu, Social Democratic Party (SDP); Akin Ogunbiyi (Accord); and Yusuf Lasun (Labour Party) participated in the debate.

The organisers of the debate, Arise TV, said Adeleke was “on his way” and would join before the end of the event, which lasted just over two hours.

The PDP candidate never showed up.

In a statement on Thursday, Mr Adeleke said he was out in the villages and local governments campaigning while the debate was ongoing.

“On Wednesday, the candidate returned late to Ede from rural campaigns to towns and villages which insisted on hosting the gubernatorial flag bearer to directly listen to details of his five-point agenda,” read the statement issued by his media aide, Oluwole Rasheed.

“The candidate also used the local tour on Wednesday to meet opinion leaders and sectoral groups with special submissions on what they expect from a PDP government if elected into office.”

“The governorship candidate thanked the people for the special meetings, noting that meeting the people was the most important thing in a campaign, where he had the opportunity to brief them on his five-point agenda.”

Meanwhile, the Vice Presidential candidate of the PDP, Ifeanyi Okowa, on Thursday, led Mr Adeleke’s campaign tour to Ede.

The Delta State governor used the opportunity to drum support for the candidate ahead of the election.

The Adeleke Campaign Organisation said the senator had already completed the tour of the 30 local governments and area offices in the state.

The organisation believes that Mr Okowa’s presence at Thursday’s rally would prelude the grand finale scheduled for the new week.