By Osaretin Osadebamwen
Backdoor negotiations among opposition forces in Osun State helped redirect support to Governor Ademola Adeleke and contributed significantly to his electoral victory, Alliance for Democracy (AD) chieftain, Salihu Lukman, has said.
Lukman said the last-minute negotiations enabled several opposition parties to scale down their individual investments in the election and redirect their support towards Adeleke, creating a stronger challenge at the polls.
Speaking during an interview on the outcome of the Osun election, Lukman said the significance of the negotiations could be seen in the relatively low number of votes secured by other opposition candidates.
“The result of the election is an outcome of the backdoor negotiations that have taken place,” Lukman said, noting that “none of the other parties recorded up to 20,000 votes outside the two major parties.”
He credited Adeleke for his role in managing the last-minute political arrangements, saying the governor succeeded in persuading opposition forces to reduce their individual efforts and support his candidacy.
“Credit has to be given to Governor Adeleke. The way he managed to even ensure that a lot of the opposition downplay their initiative to win votes on the last day, credit has to be given to him,” the AD chieftain said.
According to Lukman, local opposition leaders who agreed to redirect their supporters towards Adeleke also deserved recognition for recognising the importance of a united effort.
He said the Osun experience should not be viewed merely as a state-level electoral development but as a possible template for the opposition ahead of the 2027 general election.
Lukman described the election as a demonstration of the resilience of Nigerians and said it had “reignited the Nigerian spirit” by showing that voters could assert themselves and insist on the political outcome they desired.
“Osun election almost presented a roadmap in terms of how the 2027 general election should be managed,” he said.
According to him, the roadmap is straightforward: opposition parties must overcome their differences, come together and present Nigerians with a formidable alternative to the ruling party.
“The opposition need to come together to really present Nigerians with a formidable option,” Lukman said.
He argued that several factors in Osun unintentionally created an environment in which Adeleke emerged as a symbol of resistance against the All Progressives Congress (APC), helping opposition forces rally around him.
For Lukman, the lesson from Osun is therefore not simply about Adeleke’s victory but about the power of strategic coordination.
He said opposition leaders must develop the political courage to negotiate and agree on a common direction before the 2027 election, insisting that the ultimate objective should be to give Nigerians a credible and formidable alternative.
