Najeem Salaam finished a distant third in Saturday’s Osun governorship election, yet his response to the result has drawn more attention than his vote count. In a statement posted to his social media handles, the African Democratic Congress candidate congratulated Governor Ademola Adeleke on his re-election and used the moment to make a broader point about how political contests should be handled once the votes are counted.
The numbers themselves left little room for dispute. Adeleke, running on the Accord platform, secured 511,067 votes to win comfortably, with APC’s Bola Oyebamiji trailing in second with 444,815. Salaam’s own total, 17,180 votes, placed him well behind both. Rather than dispute the outcome or stay silent, he chose to frame the result as a democratic process working as intended.
“At the end of the day, the choice of the people must prevail,” Salaam said, adding that democratic contests inevitably produce winners and losers, but that what matters most is that people are given the chance to decide. He described the outcome as a decision that deserves respect and support, regardless of who it favored.
Salaam didn’t stop at congratulations, though. He used the statement to offer Adeleke a piece of direct advice heading into his second term: treat the mandate as a chance for honest reflection. “Governance is a continuous process, and every administration has areas that require reflection, correction and improvement,” he said, encouraging the governor to identify where his first term fell short and correct course accordingly.
Running through the statement was a recurring theme, that political competition shouldn’t threaten personal or communal relationships. Invoking the Yoruba concept of Omoluabi, or good character, Salaam argued that political differences should never become grounds for threatening peace, unity, or brotherhood. He repeated the line “politics is not a do-or-die affair” twice for emphasis, framing it as a principle that should guide losing candidates and their supporters alike.
He closed by appealing to a shared sense of ownership over the state itself, arguing that Osun belongs to everyone regardless of party affiliation, and that the collective responsibility now is building a state where citizens can live with dignity and security. “Once again, congratulations, Your Excellency,” he wrote. “May your second term bring greater development, peace and prosperity to the good people of Osun State.”
