Rauf Aregbesola, national secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has said the outcome of the 2023 presidential election in Lagos disproves the notion that governors can determine electoral results.
Aregbesola made the remarks on Tuesday in Abuja during the public presentation of The Loyalist, a book authored by Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC’s national publicity secretary.
According to the former Osun governor, voting patterns in the south-west and south-east during the last general election showed that political power at the state level does not automatically translate to control over voters.
His comments come against the backdrop of a growing wave of defections by governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Governors who have defected 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 and Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau. Several federal and state lawmakers, former governors, ex-ministers and other party leaders have also moved from the PDP to the APC.
Despite concerns that the defections signal a slide towards a one-party state, President Bola Tinubu and other APC leaders have dismissed such claims.
Reacting to the trend, Aregbesola urged the ruling party to prioritise the credibility of the 2027 general election.
“Something is going on that is worrisome, especially for those of us who are democrats or aspire to be democrats,” he said.
“The fact that certain governors are defecting to the APC shows that our unity is weakened.
“I laugh because recent statistics in Nigeria, based on the last election, do not support this belief.”
He noted that although the APC controlled all but one state in the south-west during the election, its performance fell short of expectations.
“Despite this, the maximum performance of the party in that election was 55 percent, with the other parties sharing the rest,” Aregbesola said.
He added that the outcome in Lagos and the south-east further reinforced his argument.
“The APC candidate (Tinubu) lost his ward, local government and state,” he said.
“So please, for goodness’ sake, when it is claimed that governors win elections against the people’s will — where?
“The APC had only 5.8 percent of the total vote from that (south-east) zone.
“The results of these two zones clearly show that governors do not win elections — the people do.”
Aregbesola said the credibility of future elections would depend largely on the conduct of those managing the process.
“So first, commit yourself to a free and fair election, and let us see what the result will be,” he added.