Under Tinubu, APC can lose a South-West state without chaos, Sanwo-Olu says

For Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the ruling All Progressives Congress losing a governorship in Nigeria’s South-West without political chaos is evidence that democracy is maturing.

Speaking at the seventh annual Freedom Online lecture in Ikeja, Sanwo-Olu pointed to the August 15 Osun election, in which Governor Ademola Adeleke defeated APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji by more than 60,000 votes. He said the result showed that political power could change hands through the ballot without damaging the democratic process.

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Under this President, the ruling party can lose a state in the South-West in an election year, and the sky does not fall. That is what a maturing democracy looks like.

“There was a time in this country when ‘federal might’ was a phrase that a ruling party used without irony,” Sanwo-Olu said. “Under this President, the ruling party can lose a state in the South-West in an election year, and the sky does not fall. That is what a maturing democracy looks like.”

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A mandate is only as strong as the process that produced it. No office in this land is worth the life of a single Nigerian and no victory won by the wrong means is a victory at all.

He described President Bola Tinubu as a lifelong democrat committed to leaving stronger institutions behind. Tinubu congratulated Adeleke after the election and later met him in Abuja, urging him to unite Osun.

Sanwo-Olu praised electoral reforms and technology but said the Independent National Electoral Commission must be ready for the 2027 elections. He also warned politicians that no ambition justified a death and urged voters to judge leaders by their performance. Calling for a rigorous media, he said, “Check the facts, mine included. Call out disinformation wherever it comes from, including from my own side.”

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Check the facts, mine included. Call out disinformation wherever it comes from, including from my own side.