Governor Gboyega Oyetola has described his defeat by the PDP’s Ademola Adeleke in the July 16 Osun governorship election as a “temporary setback”. 

“We have bigger projects ahead and we must not allow this temporary setback distract us,” the governor told his supporters at the Osun Government House in Oke Fia, Osogbo.

“I summoned all of you here to assure you that the present situation is just a temporary setback. It is a test of our resolve by God and we will continue to stand by him.

“Ours is God’s project and we shall not despair,” Mr Oyetola continued speaking on Friday. 

“We heard the PDP saying I am trying to convert government assets to mine. Don’t worry about them, they are simply playing to the gallery,” the governor added.

Mr Oyetola of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had failed to secure his seat for a second term in office after he lost the election to Mr Adeleke.

The Peoples Democratic Party candidate won last Saturday’s election exercise after he polled 403,371 votes against Mr Oyetola’s 375,027 votes.

Mr Adeleke had defeated the incumbent after he won in 17 local governments areas, many of them by a large margin, while Mr Oyetola won in 13 local governments.

During the Friday meeting, Mr Oyetola told his supporters not to allow the outcome of the election to cause dissatisfaction and division within the ruling party in the state. 

Kunle Adegoke, a member of Mr Oyetola’s legal team, revealed early this week that 50 lawyers had indicated their interest to support Mr Oyetola’s claim.

Mr Oyetola was reported to be prepared to seek legal means to overturn the results in his favour, with Mr Adegoke further stating that they were still studying the election results.