Afrobeats star, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has said he was confident his uncle and Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, would win the governorship election, but feared possible manipulation of the poll by electoral institutions.
Encmediaone reports that Adeleke was returned elected by the State Returning Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission on Sunday, Prof Joshua Ogunwole.
The incumbent won the poll with a total of 511,067, to defeat Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress who polled 444,815 votes.
Davido, who spoke with journalists in Ede, Osun State residence of the Adeleke’s, said he was a bit wary because of the capacity to manipulate the outcome of the poll by the institutions.
The musician, who commended all those who worked for Adeleke’s victory, further said members of the immediate family went through a lot of stress before and during the election.
“I did not doubt that His Excellency was going to win. I was just a little wary of manipulation by institutions.
“But apart from that, if it was about votes, I knew we had it in the bag. I was just trying to make sure there was no magic because people started sending me pictures of a magic wand.
“The same thing happened at 12 o’clock: magic wand. But we thank God that people stood firmly and made it happen for us,” he said.
Commending youths in the state for their roles in the victory of his uncle, Davido also spoke on plans to rehabilitate those youths that perpetrated crimes under the cover of the electoral struggles by the political actors in the state.
He said, “First and foremost, shout out to Osun youths. You guys didn’t really give hope to the people in Osun. You guys gave hope to the whole of Nigeria because if this had gone the other way, I think Nigeria would have actually given up on what they call a free and fair election.
“You have done an amazing job, and to the ones that were causing trouble, to be honest, how many of them are really from Osun? A lot of the violence came from the people they brought in.
“But with the plans that we have for the next four years, with rehabilitation, people do change. Sometimes, conditions make some people do certain things. It’s not everybody who has had the opportunity like some others. So definitely we are rehabilitating a lot of these people.”
On the need for forgiveness to unite the state after the poll, Davido recalled the trauma the governor’s family members were subjected to, saying it may be hard to forgive but stressed it remained the only way to heal from the stress.
“Unity and forgiveness that the governor mentioned is hard, especially for me.
“Two months, three months of sleepless nights, I know what my uncle was going through, what my father was going through and what my auntie was going through. The rest of the family too.
“So, forgiveness for me is very hard, but it’s something we all have to do for the future of Osun,” Davido said.
Responding to questions about political endorsements and addressing his uncle’s declaration of support for President Bola Tinubu, Davido clarified that his personal political convictions remain independent.
“My uncle, immediately he won, came out to declare his support for Tinubu, but for me, I’m not propelled to support anybody. I personally haven’t seen anybody,” he stated.
Asked if he harboured plans to get involved in partisan politics, Davido answered affirmatively, “No, I don’t.”