Osun residents have rejected Governor Ademola Adeleke’s endorsement of President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid, insisting they will decide their own votes independently of the governor’s political position on the matter.
Adeleke reaffirmed his support for Tinubu’s return to office in 2027, a position that drew immediate and strong pushback from residents of the state who said the endorsement did not reflect their own views or intentions at the polls.
Critics of the endorsement pointed to economic hardships under the federal government as a central reason for their opposition, arguing that the governor’s public backing of Tinubu ran contrary to the daily realities facing ordinary citizens across Osun State.
Residents took to social media platforms to express their disapproval, with posts declaring that 2027 is no sure win for Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress, signaling that voter sentiment in the state may not align with the governor’s stated political preference.
The pushback framed the endorsement as politically tone-deaf, with critics saying Adeleke failed to account for the frustration residents feel toward federal government economic policies that have weighed heavily on households and businesses in the state.
Adeleke‘s spokesperson defended the governor’s position, saying the endorsement is a long-standing stance and not a new political development, pushing back against the characterization that the governor had made a sudden or reactive declaration of support for the president.
The spokesperson stated that the governor’s backing of Tinubu is part of a deliberate strategy aimed at securing federal projects for Osun State, including key road infrastructure that the state government has been seeking support from the federal government to deliver for communities across the state.
The defense framed the endorsement as a governance decision rather than a personal or partisan one, with the spokesperson arguing that aligning with the president creates a favorable environment for Osun to access federal resources and development funding.
Residents responding to the endorsement maintained that their votes in 2027 remain their own decision, rejecting any suggestion that the governor’s public support for Tinubu translates into a bloc endorsement from the people of Osun State as a whole.
The reaction added to a broader conversation about the relationship between state governors and the federal government ahead of the 2027 general elections, with Osun now emerging as a visible flashpoint for tensions between executive political alignments and grassroots voter sentiment.
Critics described the endorsement as a move that did not reflect the economic concerns of ordinary Osun residents, many of whom have pointed to rising costs and declining living standards as reasons to withhold support from Tinubu’s administration in the next election cycle.
The governor’s spokesperson did not indicate whether Adeleke had consulted with party structures or community leaders before reaffirming the endorsement, and no formal response from the APC in Osun State was included in the details surrounding the controversy, leaving questions about internal party coordination unanswered.
Social media commentary following the announcement showed a divide between those who accepted the governor’s explanation about federal projects and those who said no infrastructure promise justified endorsing a candidate they hold responsible for economic difficulty.
The Tinubu 2027 re-election campaign has not yet formally launched, but endorsements from sitting governors have become a recurring feature of early political positioning ahead of the election season, with each declaration drawing scrutiny from opposition figures and civil society groups monitoring democratic accountability.
Adeleke’s endorsement of Tinubu and the public rejection from Osun residents signals that the 2027 presidential contest will draw significant debate over economic performance, federal-state relations, and whether governor-led endorsements carry meaningful weight with voters at the grassroots level.
