…as Adeleke fires back, alleges woeful performance as Governor
The political rivalry in Osun State reached a fever pitch on Thursday as Dr. Bolaji Akinola, Special Adviser to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola accused Osun state Governor Ademola Adeleke of abandoning his constitutional duties for a life of wild parties and reckless squandering of state resources.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Akinola alleged that the Governor has overseen the wholesale collapse of primary healthcare and public education while spending over 180 days outside the state in 2025 alone.
Akinola claimed that Governor Adeleke has become a tourist in his own state, alleging that the Governor spent at least ₦3 billion on private jets and luxury travel to the United States and the Caribbean in the first half of 2025.
He argued that while the Governor revels on private islands, Osun’s Primary Health Care Centres (PHCs) remain abandoned and public schools suffer from acute teacher shortages.
“What Osun people are witnessing today is not inherited failure, but the direct product of Adeleke’s incompetence,” Akinola stated, warning that the Governor faces a clear and brutal electoral defeat on August 8.
In a swift reaction, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, spokesperson to Governor Adeleke, urged the Minister’s aide to focus on his boss’s alleged under-performing ministerial leadership rather than disparaging a popularly acclaimed performing governor.
Rasheed slammed the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy as one of the most screwed up federal structures, challenging Akinola to explain why waterway deaths have reportedly surged into the thousands under Oyetola’s watch without a workable solution or strategy from the ministry.
Defending the Governor’s travels, Rasheed noted that Adeleke arrived back in Nigeria on Thursday evening from the Mining Indaba conference, a trip he claimed helped triple foreign direct investment in Osun’s mining sector from $50 million to nearly $150 million.
He mocked the Minister’s camp for media stunts and blame-shifting, asserting that Adeleke has successfully secured state shareholding in gold projects and revalidated licenses that were allegedly left comatose during Oyetola’s tenure as governor.
The state government maintained that where the previous administration failed, the current leadership is excelling through root-and-branch reforms that have earned the applause of Osun residents.