By Gbenga Olarinoye

Osogbo—The campaign for Saturday’s Osun-West Senatorial bye-election entered its homestretch yesterday with leading supporters of the two main political parties, All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, making their last campaigns.

Factional national chairman of the PDP, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, who led leaders from the two main tendencies in the party to flock around the party’s candidate, Otunba Ademola Adeleke, said that Osun State would become the point of a new renaissance for the former ruling party.

Sheriff, who had in his company, Senator Iyiola Omisore, himself a major supporter of the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led tendency, described Adeleke as a unifying factor for the party who would also bring a new lease of life to the people of the senatorial district.

The assertions came as Governor Rauf Aregbesola who led the campaign of the APC candidate, Senator Mudashir Husain, debunked claims that the Adeleke family lent money to the state to help in the payment of salaries.

PDP APGA LGO

Governor Aregbesola said that on the contrary, the Adeleke family were the ones beholden to him as he charged the family to pay off its accrued tax obligations to the state.

Speaking yesterday at Apomu in Isokan local government area of the state while addressing PDP supporters, Sheriff said: “Today is the day that begins the transformation of the PDP. Osun State PDP is  intact today and that also shows that unity has come to Osun State. I want this unity to continue after Adeleke’s election and I am sure my friend Senator Omisore will agree with me.”

Speaking at the event, the Osun State PDP Chairman, Olasoji Adagunodo admonished the crowd to monitor their votes from the polling booth to the final collation center in Iwo, the senatorial district headquarter, in order to avoid manipulations.

The candidate, Otunba Adeleke, implored supporters to vote so as to end the tenure of the APC which he claimed had held the state bound in the last seven years.

He promised that he would continue with the giant strides of his late brother, Late Senator Isiaka Adeleke saying that he would disburse N25 million per local government for scholarship if voted as senator.

Governor Aregbesola who led the APC campaign to Ede yesterday, accused the family of the late Senator Isiaka Adeleke of using the incident of his death to manipulate the minds of the people of the city.

Noting that many lies had been peddled about him since the death, he particularly rebuffed claims that the younger brother of the late senator, Dr. Deji Adeleke lent money to his government to pay workers’ salaries.

He also said it was unthinkable that the Adeleke family would claim that Aregbesola begged Senator Adeleke to join APC.

Aregbesola stated that it was the late senator who came to APC uninvited because of the treatment he received in the PDP.

He added that his administration has never for any reason borrowed money from any individual or group to meet the state’s statutory obligations.

Aregbesola held that with the volume of workers’ salaries arrears and pensions at that time, no individual could have lent the state the amount required at that time.

According to him, “Deji Adeleke does not have the financial capacity to bail out Osun from  its financial challenges even before now, not to talk about lending us money to pay workers’ salaries. If anything at all, it is their family that sought and got favours from the Osun State Government under my watch. It is to the glory of God that they got the Certificate of Occupancy of their university from our government. Why didn’t those who are their new friends give them C of O of that university?

“If Deji Adeleke has so much money, why is he begging me to waive the payable tax of his university? Why cant he just pay?

“I am bold enough to say this over and over again, because I have never sought for assistance from any of the Adeleke’s family even during the life time of Senator Isiaka Adeleke, nothing as such occurred.