If there is one thing we know about Governor Ademola Adeleke, it is that he likes to dance. At campaign rallies, public events and even in church, he rarely looks like the politician Nigerians are used to seeing. And after he was declared the winner of the 2026 Osun governorship election, we saw it again. Videos of him dancing and singing quickly spread across social media. And he was not the only one celebrating. Across Osun, supporters poured out to celebrate with him. But beyond the dancing, there is a more interesting question: What exactly were Osun voters celebrating? Was it the governor himself? His record? Or simply the fact that the other side had lost?

To understand this, we have to go back to a period many Osun workers still remember. You see, between 2015 and 2018, Osun’s finances were under severe pressure. This led the government at the time to introduce what it called a modulated salary structure. This means that the salaries of workers on Grade Levels 1 to 7 remained at 100 per cent; those on Levels 8 to 12 received about 75 per cent; and workers on Levels 13 to 17 received about half of their salaries. For many civil servants, the difference was not just a smaller payslip. It changed what they could afford.

For Bolaji Adeola Badamosi, for example, this caused irreversible damage. Bolaji was a public-school teacher in Osun who retired at Grade Level 14, with an expected monthly salary of about ₦106,000. However, during the modulated-salary period, she received roughly half, while understandably battling chronic glaucoma and having to rely on medication. She told the ICIR that the salary cuts made it increasingly difficult to afford the imported medication she had been using. By 2020, she had unfortunately lost her sight, and years later, she was still waiting for pension benefits and other entitlements.

For workers like Bolaji, the half-salary years were not just temporary policies; they were years lived with consequences. And when Adeleke came into office in November 2022, he inherited a state where some of those consequences had still not been settled. Adeleke’s administration began paying outstanding salaries and pension obligations in phases. And for some people, those payments became personal triumphs. One of these people is Olawale Oluwaferanmi, who in April 2026 publicly rejoiced that Adeleke had paid his father’s gratuity, his father’s salary arrears, and his mother’s salary arrears. Those payments influenced his decision to travel to his hometown, Iwo, to vote for Adeleke. That statement came before the election, which makes Iwo itself an interesting case to look at. You see, back in 2022, the APC narrowly defeated Adeleke in Iwo by just 507 votes. Four years later, Adeleke won the same local government area by 7,425 votes. Now, while this more than 60 per cent vote increase does not prove that pension payments caused the swing, it does show us something important: that for at least some voters, what the government paid, or failed to pay, was personal.

But that is only one side of the story. Because not everyone in Osun thinks Adeleke’s record deserves the celebration. One such person is Maryam Adaranijo, who lives and works in Osogbo. Although she acknowledges improvements in workers’ welfare and pension payments, she sees little to no difference between Adeleke’s administration and those before him. She questions why a road leading to the Osun-Osogbo Grove remains in poor condition despite the site’s importance and its annual festival, among other local-themed questions. For her, paying workers is important, but it is not the same thing as transforming the place where people live. And this is where the election becomes more interesting. Because Adeleke was not simply asking Osun voters to keep him in office. He was asking them to follow him to a different party. And this brings us back to the original question: Why did Adeleke win? And why did people follow him en masse to Accord? 

The truth is, there may not be one answer. Because for some workers and pensioners, it may have been about money they had spent years waiting to receive. For others, it may have been about the roads, flyovers and other projects they could see around them. And for some, it may simply have been about keeping the APC out.

But what do you think? What were Osun voters really voting for? Yes, the governor is a sight to behold, thanks to his dancing and entertainment prowess. But is that why the people of Osun have chosen to keep him in office, is it because of his records, or is it something else entirely that many of us do not know? By all indications, it appears as though these questions might continue to linger for a while, until perhaps when the dancing governor completes his second term in office.

References

• Adeleke, A. A. [@AAdeleke_01]. (2026, April). [Reply to Olawale Oluwaferanmi]. X. https://x.com/AAdeleke_01/status/2048035959682326700
• Independent National Electoral Commission. (2026). 2026 Osun State governorship election [Election results]. INEC Election Results Portal. https://cvr.inecnigeria.org/the_election_results/viewElection/2998 
• Oluwaferanmi, O. [@BOBBYFERAN]. (2026, April). [Post about payment of his parents’ salary arrears and his father’s gratuity]. X. https://x.com/BOBBYFERAN/status/2047980225812660446
• Osun State Government. (2017, January). Understanding Osun workers’ salary issues. https://www.osunstate.gov.ng/2017/01/understanding-osun-workers-salary-issues/
• Premium Times. (2026, August 10). #OsunDecides2026: What Osun residents say about Governor Adeleke’s stewardship. Premium Times.
• Premium Times. (2026, August 16). #OsunDecides2026: INEC declares Accord’s Ademola Adeleke winner of governorship election. https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/903305-updated-osundecides2026-inec-declares-accords-ademola-adeleke-winner-of-governorship-election.html
• Premium Times. (2026, August 16). DATA STORY: #OsunDecides2026: The figures that define Adeleke’s victory. https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/903371-data-story-osundecides2026-the-figures-that-define-adelekes-victory.html
• The ICIR. (2020). [Documentary featuring Bolaji Adeola Badamosi] [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/aQ2Hc-5qta4