The chairman of the Osun State Chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Pastor Olasumbo Ige has noted that about 20 born again Christians contested in the Osun governorship election noting that their lack of cooperation led to the stalemate being witnessed in the state.
In telephone chat with Church Times, Ige who is also a pastor of Assemblies of God’s Church in the state said, “out of the 48 contestants for the governorship seat, I can say authoritatively that 20 of them are born again Christians. Unfortunately they could not come together to close rank and present one single candidate. Every one of them claimed to have been led by God to contest in the election.”
He reasoned that if the contestants had closed rank perhaps they would have supported a candidate that would represent the people and deliver the state from political charlatans.
He said Mr. Akin Ogunbiyi, the Mutual Insurance MD would have been a great choice if he had won the ticket of the PDP noting however that since he did not win he expected that all the other contestants who claimed they were being called by God to contest in the race in other parties would have come together to form a synergy that would enable them to perform well at the polls. “but everyone played a solo game,” He said.
On the stance of the church on the candidate of the PDP and that of the APC he said, “All we are praying for is that the will of God will be done. We support anybody that will bring progress to the state. We are for everybody. But we are tired of era of impunity. We are tired of being slaves in our land. We are tired of idolatry and self-will in Osun State. I believe that the hand of God is involved in the governorship race in Osun.”
While expressing deep sentiment for Mr. Ogunbiyi who lost the PDP ticket with seven votes during the PDP primaries, Ige said, “That man would have done the state proud. He got born again as far as 1974. He is a gentle man and a man of purpose. But only God understands why he lost. But then we believe that the purpose and plan of God for the state will come to pass.”
The Public Relations Officer of Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor John Adeleke expressed optimism that the will of God will prevail eventually. He said, “My joy is that the elections went on peacefully. There was no crisis. No life was lost. That alone is worth praising God for. We are hopeful that the re-rerun election will turn out well. We are not backing any candidate as it were. We are praying earnestly that the will of God will prevail.”
Pastor Tunde Olawuyi who runs a ministry in Oshogbo believes the election will turn out to favour the people of Osun state. “We are so sure that the people of Osun will laugh at last. People are tired of being oppressed. They want freedom. They want a state they can truly call their own. I believe that the rerun election will produce the candidate that the Osun people truly want.”
It may be difficult to say who will carry the day in the state. Some analysts believe Oshogbo is the stronghold of the APC and may make a good showing in the rerun but there are strong indications that the re-run may eventually favour the People’s Democratic Party candidate as supporters of the candidate of the Social Democractic Party, Senator Iyiola Omisore may cast their vote for candidate of the Peoples Democractic Party, Senator Ademola Adeleke.
According to the election’s Returning Officer, Joseph Fuwape, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Ademola Adeleke, got 254,699 votes in the election while Isiaka Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress had 254,345 votes.
Iyiola Omisore of the Social Democratic Party polled 128,049 votes to place a distant third.
Fuwape went on to declare the election inconclusive due to the fact that the difference between the two leading parties was 353 votes while the number of cancelled votes was 3,5498.
“Unfortunately, as the Returning Officer, it is not possible to declare any party as the winner,” he said.
Osun re-run: The will of God will prevail-Osun PFN chair, says about 20 born again Christians contested in the race
