“Phenomenal Job": Gbajabiamila’s Praise for Adeleke Sparks War of Words between APC and PDP in Osun

• The political dust raised by the commendation of Governor Adeleke by President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, is yet to settle as APC and PDP continue to slug it out.
• Hon Gbajabiamila, during a courtesy visit, commended Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun state, saying he has done a “phenomenal job” in the state.
• The commendation has generated bickering between the opposition APC and the ruling party PDP, but political analysts say the verbal attacks are needless

Osogbo, Osun state - In a viral one-minute, thirty-seven-second video obtained by Legit.ng, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila commended Governor Ademola Adeleke for his performance in Osun state, describing him as a capable leader and a commendable politician. He praised Adeleke for 'the good work' he is doing in the state.

Gbajabiamila, who was in Osogbo as a guest speaker at the invitation of Osun State University, paid a courtesy visit to the governor during his trip.

His words:

‎’It gives me an opportunity to sit with you, to felicitate with you and to see some of the good works that you've done, and we commend you and we pray that the Almighty God will continue to be with you in all that you're doing for the people of Osun state. Yeah, to put it very lightly, you are a very good politician, because all that one needs is for the people to be happy, for you to provide dividends of democracy, which appears that you're doing.’

Adeleke’s spokesperson’s “phenomenal statement”

Governor Adeleke’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, took advantage of Gbajabiamila’s remarks and issued a statement, quoting the President’s Chief of Staff as saying that Governor Adeleke and his team are doing a “phenomenal job.”

The statement reads in part:

‘The Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila has commended Governor Ademola Adeleke and his team members for doing a phenomenal job.

“I must say that you and members of your team are doing a phenomenal job in the state and on the national pedestal, Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila stated.”

However, the statement attributed to Gbajabiamila did not sit well with the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun state. The party responded by rejecting the remarks, stating that they do not accurately reflect the true state of affairs in the state.

Osun APC rejects comment credited to Gbajabiamila

The Osun state chapter of the APC frowned at the comments credited to Gbajabiamila, saying that the chief of staff lacked information about the state of affairs in the southwest state.

Kola Oabisi, Osun APC's media aide, said:

“We would like to assert that the CoS's remark stating that Governor Adeleke is doing a 'phenomenal job' in the state was borne out of Hon Gbajabiamila's insufficient information on the true position of governance in Osun State.

‘Information available to us confirms that the bumbling government of Senator Ademola Adeleke, in its usual characteristic to mislead its guest to earn undeserving honour, had kept the president's aide away from meeting critical stakeholders who would have appropriately laid before the visiting politician the true state of development in the state.”

Speaking with Legit.ng, Kola Olabisi added:

‘Taking into consideration the fact that he is standing in the APC and using that to service his friendship with the Governor, it is not done. They won’t take it kindly.

“I wonder (the hype of the comment) because we monitor him (Chief of Staff) and we know that he (Gbajabiamila) has made some adjustments; he knew he made a mistake so what he even said was not, I mean the gravity of what he said was not up to what was dished out by the Governor’s spokesperson. The spokesman twisted it. It was deliberate that they cut off where he eulogised the APC. That statement is capable of putting Gbajabiamila himself into trouble."

“Face governance and good politics," say analysts

With the furore lingering, political analysts have told the APC and the PDP in Osun state to face issue-based politics and not bickering. Speaking with our correspondent, political analysts, Ayo Ologun and Muritala Agboola, charged the two parties to do good politics instead of fighting a media war.

Ologun said:

"The problem lies in the inability of both the PDP and APC to distinguish between politics and governance. Gbajabiamila's visit to Osun State was in line with protocol, as it is customary for the Chief of Staff to the President to pay a courtesy visit to the host governor, particularly when attending an event at a state university, where the governor serves as the Visitor."

“He is only following the act of protocol and governance by visiting the governor and giving whatever commendation he has given. But for the APC to have gone to the public place to start criticising such a visit or condemning what their own leader, the Chief of Staff to the President, said, I think it’s not good enough.

“Opposition can be better played in a more mature manner than refusing to understand the simple act of courtesy.“

Another political analyst, Agboola, said the bickering was unnecessary, adding that the chief of staff only appreciated what the governor had done. He, however, said the bickering could be linked to the gubernatorial election coming up in 2026.

“Because of the forthcoming gubernatorial election next year, it's normal for political parties to attempt to expose their shortcomings themselves, especially the two major ones," he told Legit.ng.

“The APC has to go the extra mile to convince the voters that they will do better if given the opportunity again. On the other hand, the PDP in the state can't rest on its oars.”

Adeleke joins Gbajabiamila in prayer for APC

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Gbajabiamila made Governor Adeleke say yes to the prayer that the APC will get stronger.

He made the prayer during the courtesy visit to Governor Adeleke at the Osun government house in Osogbo. The former speaker of the House of Representatives prayed that the ruling APC would continue to grow stronger through the efforts of its members, a prayer to which he asked Governor Adeleke to say amen.

Source: Legit.ng