Governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has dismissed rumour that he’s afraid of facing any opponent in the forthcoming governorship election, declaring that he’s too popular to be nursing fear.
Adeleke emphasised that he was not afraid of competition, either from within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or the All Progressives Congress (APC), insisting that on any day, he could go to sleep knowing that the people of Osun were behind him.
The governor spoke in Abuja on Thursday, soon after appearing before the PDP screening committee on the upcoming election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has scheduled a governorship poll in Osun for August 8, 2026.
According to the timeline of the election released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), party primaries will be held from November 24 to December 15, 2025.
Campaigns will start on March 11, 2026, after the completion of other formalities.
Speaking with reporters at the Legacy House, Abuja, Adeleke argued that only a politician who had not performed in office would be afraid of going into another election.
He also disagreed with speculation that the APC-led Federal Government might use INEC and security agencies to frustrate his re-election.
“How can I be scared? I am too popular! Anywhere I go, don’t you love me? I love you! Hey, everybody says Imole! Imole! What are you talking about?
“Anywhere I go, throughout this country, even in the APC, I have some friends in the APC and in other parties. Just take APC as a case study; anytime they’re having a party or an event, I’ll go there, I’ll take over — they all love me,” he stated, beaming with a smile.
On his achievements in office, Adeleke added, “I perform very well. You know, I mean, I introduced what they call fact-checking. You can go back and fact-check in Osun and see what is going on there.
“We are in the technology era. You can just Google it and check it out; you will know that we are doing very well in Osun.”
Adeleke further stated that the beauty of next year’s election would be the fact that many more candidates from other parties would contest, giving him the opportunity to showcase what he could do differently.
He went on, “I am so confident I’m going to win. If I can defeat an incumbent, and now that I’m the governor, within two years, it’s unprecedented what we have achieved in less than two years. Man, I’m so confident that nobody can beat us there.
“My people should expect more goodies all the way — more goodies all the way throughout Osun State! We’ll be dancing, and we’ll be working.”
The Chairman of the screening committee, Hon. Adebayo Adepoju, said Adeleke demonstrated capacity during the exercise, adding that the governor was “nominated by highly placed persons in the community.”
He added, “When he came in, we asked him a few questions, and all his answers matched what he had submitted. So, we are very, very happy about what he has been able to do so far in Osun. At the end of the day, he passed the screening.”
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