A leading aspirant in the 2026 Osun State governorship race, Kunle Rasheed Adegoke (SAN), popularly known as K-RAD, has described the Ademola Adeleke-led administration as a fortunate but grossly mismanaged government. According to him, the administration enjoys substantial federal allocations compared to other states but lacks the managerial competence to translate this into meaningful development for Osun residents.
In an exclusive interview with Tribune Newspaper, Adegoke asserted that the current Osun State government came into office at a time when the financial ingenuity and bold economic reforms of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu were beginning to yield benefits for subnational governments.
When asked to assess Governor Adeleke’s performance and offer advice to Osun residents concerned about the condition of their local governments, Adegoke said:
“The Adeleke government has not utilized its good fortune to the best advantage of the people of Osun. It has danced away its blessings and wasted its palm kernel, which was broken for it by the benevolent spirit of President Tinubu.”
He further remarked:
“The government of Governor Adeleke in Osun has not woken up to the smell of the coffee. It is a very lucky administration that came into existence when the financial wizardry and boldness of President Asiwaju Bola Tinubu became available to enrich the states.
“Within just six months of its existence, this government received ten times what Governor Oyetola received in four years—yet Oyetola, a proven financial expert, managed to maintain stellar records of prudence despite limited resources.”
“The government of ‘Uncle Demola’—as I fondly refer to it in unofficial discourse—has not, however, capitalized on this luck. Instead, it has frittered away its blessings and squandered the opportunities presented by a favorable fiscal environment.”
Highlighting agriculture as a missed opportunity, the Osogbo-born Senior Advocate of Nigeria emphasized:
“Agriculture is a vital sector that the Osun government should have harnessed for widespread impact. Osun is blessed with fertile land and a vibrant youth population, yet the government has failed to encourage youth involvement in agriculture to ensure food security and sufficiency.”
He lamented that Osun remains one of the states in Nigeria where food prices are among the highest, despite its natural endowments.
Speaking on the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), K-RAD stated:
“Despite the heavy inflow of funds into the state, Osun’s IGR has not improved since this administration came into power. That is not an indication of good governance. If not for the federal allocations, the Adeleke government would have been completely incapacitated.”
He also criticized the state government’s inability to utilize local government allocations properly:
“Due to the federal government’s refusal to release local government funds to unauthorized PDP usurpers imposed on the people, the state has been unable to complete even its substandard infrastructure projects—projects merely aimed at deceiving the public for re-election purposes.”
Reflecting on Governor Adeleke’s political strength and the outlook for the 2026 election, Adegoke—who previously contested for the Osun governorship ticket in 2018—noted:
“The incapacity of this administration is evident even in its failure to retain party members. Most of the key figures who helped it win in 2022 have now defected to the APC.”
He concluded:
“Their desperation to rig council chairmen and councillors into office is fueled by fear of electoral defeat in 2026. They want to control local governments just to access federal funds and further impoverish Osun people.”
“The question remains: what have they done with the monthly N11 billion to N12 billion allocations received from May 2023 to February 2025? By every measure, this government is a failure.”