Governors don’t win elections, people do, Aregbesola tells APC

Former Osun State Governor and National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress, Rauf Aregbesola, has cautioned the All Progressives Congress against overreliance on governors for electoral victories, insisting that elections are ultimately decided by the people, not political officeholders.

Aregbesola, while delivering the caution on Tuesday in Abuja during the public launch of ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi’s memoir, ‘The Loyalist,’ stated that the 2023 election results in the South West and South East regions confirmed this.

In the months leading up to Kano State Governor Yusuf Abba’s defection from the New Nigeria Peoples Party to the APC on Monday, several governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party had already crossed over to the ruling party.

They include Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta, Peter Mbah of Enugu, Douye Diri of Bayelsa, Agbu Kefas of Taraba, Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, and, most recently, Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State.

Beyond the governors, many prominent political actors—among them members of the National Assembly, state lawmakers, former governors, ex-ministers, and other party leaders—have also defected from the PDP to the APC.

Tinubu and other APC leaders have repeatedly dismissed allegations that these defections signal a move toward a one-party state, insisting that the ruling party remains inclusive and open to all Nigerians.

In response, Aregbesola, who left the APC for the ADC last year, urged the APC leadership to ensure that the 2027 elections are conducted in a free, fair, and credible manner.

The former Minister of Interior stated, “I still want to say something more. Something is going on that is worrisome, especially for those of us who are Democrats or aspire to be general Democrats. The fact that certain governors are defecting to the APC shows that our unity (ADC leaders) is weakened. I laugh because recent statistics in Nigeria, based on the last election, do not support this belief. In the past, to quit the government and the federal social, let them commit to a free and fair electoral process. We will then see if it is true.

“The second point is a scenario where I want to use results from two zones—just two zones—to show that when a party controls a state, it may not necessarily translate to votes. I want to use the results from the Southwest and Southeast. In the Southwest, the APC controlled all but one state. Despite this, the party’s maximum performance in that election was 55%, with the other parties sharing the rest.

“The same applied in Lagos. The APC candidate lost his ward, local government, and state. So please, for goodness’ sake, where is it claimed that governors win elections against the people’s will? That is the Southwest.

“In the Southeast, the result is even more striking. The APC had only 5.8% of the total vote from that zone. I’ll stop at that. The results of these two zones clearly show that governors do not win elections—the people do. What we require from the government overseeing the election is a commitment to a free and fair process. So first, commit yourself to a free and fair election, and let us see what the result will be. That’s what we’re asking.”

Culled from punch