Religion has taken centre stage in the race for Osun State’s August 15 governorship election, after the APC’s deputy governorship candidate, Benjamin Adereti, accused Governor Ademola Adeleke of being a religious hypocrite, drawing a sharp response from the governor’s camp.
Adereti made the comments at the 70th anniversary celebration of Union Baptist Church, Osogbo, where he argued that the APC unlike its rivals had been deliberate about religious balance on its ticket.
He told the congregation that APC’s governorship candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, is Muslim while he himself is Christian, unlike the Accord Party, whose candidate’s religious identity, he claimed, remains unclear. He expressed confidence that the APC would win the August 15 poll, saying Osun residents were solidly behind the party.
Adeleke’s camp did not let the comments slide. Responding through his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, while addressing the Muslim community in Osogbo, the governor said his government’s record for Muslims outstrips that of previous administrations.
He pointed to an almost-completed Hajj camp in the state, which he said past administrations failed to build despite claiming to champion Muslim interests. He also cited plans for a mosque at the Government House — another first, according to him — and noted that several of his principal officers and cabinet members are Muslims, evidence, he said, of his commitment to fair representation.
The governor added that his actions, not his rivals’ claims, should be the true measure of religious sincerity.
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