Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has commended President Bola Tinubu’s respect for democratic values, noting that the recent Osun governorship election proved that Nigeria’s ruling party can lose without destabilizing the system.
Speaking at the seventh annual Freedom Online lecture in Ikeja, Sanwo-Olu pointed to the August 15 Osun election, where Accord Party’s Ademola Adeleke defeated APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji by over 60,000 votes. He highlighted Tinubu’s congratulatory message and subsequent meeting with Adeleke as evidence of the Federal Government’s commitment to democracy.
“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. This President is a lifelong democrat, and he means to leave behind a stronger democracy than he inherited, not only for Nigerians but as an example to a continent that badly needs one.”
Sanwo-Olu praised reforms such as the Electoral Act 2022 and 2026, alongside technological innovations in accreditation and result transmission, but stressed that INEC must be fully prepared for the 2027 polls. “INEC must be ready in every polling unit on the 16th of January and again on the 6th of February, and each of us has a duty to help it be ready,” he said.
He warned against violence, insisting that “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.”
On governance, Sanwo-Olu argued that voters will judge leaders by tangible results: “Voters may not be economists, but they are excellent accountants. They know whether their State built the road it promised. They know whether the primary health centre has a nurse in it. They will bring that ledger with them to the polling unit.”
He also urged the media to uphold accountability rather than partisanship: “I am not asking for a compliant press. A compliant press is of no use to a democracy; it flatters the powerful and abandons the public. I am asking for a rigorous press. Check the facts, mine included. Call out disinformation wherever it comes from, including from my own side.”
Sanwo-Olu cautioned that misinformation, especially from anonymous social media accounts and doctored videos, could pose serious risks ahead of 2027. “In the weeks ahead, the most dangerous lies will not come from newspapers. They will come from anonymous accounts and doctored videos and you are the institution best placed to answer them,” he said.
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