The National Secretary of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Dipo Olayoku, has urged Nigerians to draw lessons from what he described as the resilience of Osun voters ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Olayoku made the call on Monday while speaking on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State, during a post-election review of the August 15 Osun governorship election.

His comments followed the declaration of Governor Ademola Adeleke as winner of the election, securing a second term after defeating the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji. The election was characterised by heightened political tension, allegations and counter-allegations, and increased security deployment across the state.

Adeleke, who previously won the governorship election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), contested the latest election under the Accord Party after leaving the PDP in December.

While Olayoku said the result reflected the choice of Osun voters, he argued that the significance of the election went beyond the victory of one candidate, saying voters had demonstrated a determination to stand by their political convictions despite pressure and controversies surrounding the exercise.

“As a matter of fact, what it shows is that if people are united at some things, nothing can change their opinion. That's exactly what the election shows,” he said.

According to him, Osun voters had repeatedly demonstrated that they could make political choices without necessarily following the directives of political godfathers.

“They have always been showing it in the elections that they have their own conviction, they don't take any directive from any godfather,” Olayoku said.

He urged Nigerians to draw from that experience as political parties begin positioning themselves for the 2027 elections.

“So, it is a lesson that Nigerians should learn in 2027. People that are determined, nothing can break them, no intimidation,” he said.

Olayoku also stressed the need for voters to remain involved in the electoral process beyond casting their ballots, saying their responsibility should extend to the counting and collation of results.

He said some Osun voters remained at collation centres for hours after voting to ensure that results from their polling units were accurately captured during the collation process.

However, the NNPP chieftain said the resilience of voters should not obscure concerns over the conduct of the election. He cited allegations of intimidation, violence, vote-buying and political interference, as well as the controversy surrounding the freezing of an Osun State Government account by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) shortly before the election.

He also questioned what he described as inconsistency in the handling of vote-buying allegations, referring to a social media post by a woman who allegedly claimed that she received N15,000 to vote for the APC.

“A day after the governorship election, again, a lady came on Facebook thanking APC for giving her fifteen thousand naira to vote for them. Nothing has happened to the lady,” he said.

Olayoku further alleged that Accord Party supporters faced intimidation during the build-up to the election, arguing that the central lesson of the exercise was not simply that an opposition candidate won, but that voters remained committed to their choice despite the challenges surrounding the poll.

“But what people are praising is the resilience of the people of Osun,” he said.

He added: “But it is not the election that the people are commending, it is the resilience of the people of Osun.”

Olayoku urged Nigerians to replicate what he described as the determination of Osun voters in 2027 by participating actively in the electoral process and protecting their votes from the polling unit through the collation stage.

“That's the lesson from Osun election, not because the opposition won, but because they maintained and retained to win the elections. Anything could have happened going by what APC did before the election. They did everything to stop Osun people,” he said.