Tinubu-Adeleke billboard sparks Osun APC, Govt clash
By Deborah Oladejo, Osogbo
A billboard featuring images of President Bola Tinubu and Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke has sparked a heated exchange between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Adeleke-led administration in Osun State.
The billboard, which bore the inscription “Continuity of Progress” and was reportedly sponsored by a group identified as “Osun Leaders of Thought,” was sighted in Ward 12 of Iwo Local Government Area on Wednesday.
Reacting, the Osun APC condemned and distanced itself from the billboard, describing the pairing as an absurd display of political desperation.
In a statement signed by its Director of Media and Information, Chief Kola Olabisi, the APC said: “How can someone or a group of people, without any sense of direction, wake up and pair a political Lilliputian like Governor Adeleke with a political oracle and giant like President Tinubu?”
“It is clear that the fraudulent pairing of the photographs of President Tinubu and Governor Adeleke on the billboard is a signal to discerning minds that the ruling PDP-led government in Osun is facing declining popularity within just three years.”
“We want to state unequivocally that it is dishonest to use a good product like President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to promote what we consider a failing administration under Governor Adeleke.”
In a swift response, the Osun State Government, through a statement signed by Governor Adeleke’s spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, accused the APC of suffering an “identity crisis” and being unsettled by growing national and international recognition of the governor’s performance.
Rasheed stated: “The shock of national and local endorsements has created an identity crisis for the Osun APC, which has lost credibility from the Presidency to key national caucuses. The opposition is therefore running amok, ranting over billboards from non-governmental groups, and displaying ignorance about investment drives while facing the reality of its unelectability.”
