Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, on Monday, took a swipe at the Interim National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress, Rauf Aregbesola, saying the former governor left huge debt for his predecessors in office.

Aregbesola, who was governor between November 27, 2010, and November 27, 2018, had enjoyed a cordial public relationship with Adeleke since the latter became governor in November 2022.

He was in Osogbo, the state capital, on Sunday, where he mobilised supporters for the 2027 election in the country.

The former governor also wooed voters to join him in the ADC, promising that the party would take over Osun in 2026.

But in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, the governor alleged that Aregbesola had threatened to superintend how he would be voted out in the August 8, 2026, governorship poll.

He accused the former governor of leaving a legacy of huge debt, half salary and uncompleted projects.

“A man who left a legacy of huge state debt, half salary, scam learning tablets (Opon Imo) and several fanciful, inflated, uncompleted projects.

“Your tenure is the worst in Osun history. The empty boast of Mr Aregbesola about 2026 is a symptom of a troubled mind who sees the wrong vision, is battling his benefactor and is haunted by the pains and suffering he inflicted on millions of Osun people through his evil policies and programmes.

“A man who should be remorseful and tender public apologies for his years of maladministration has the audacity to threaten Governor Adeleke, who is clearing the mess he left behind after his eight years of anti-people, thoughtless leadership.

“Mr Aregbesola’s wickedness against workers, public servants, and Osun people knows no bounds while he wielded state power,” he said.

On how his administration has been handling the issue of the inherited debt, Adeleke said he had paid 28 months out of the half salary left behind by Aregbesola.

“The present administration has paid close to N60bn in pension debt, a legacy of this same Aregbesola.

“Pensioners and workers generally are not praying for a return to the evil days of a bad administrator who left his state in ruin after eight years,” he noted.

He further said that in less than three years, the administration had surpassed government delivery of the eight years of Aregbesola’s administration without borrowing for infrastructure projects, noting that it had reduced Osun debt left by the ex-interior minister by 40 per cent.

He added, “Mr Aregbesola is invited to note that Governor Adeleke has constructed about 200km of roads, rehabilitated over 200 schools and health centres, placed over 30,000 pensioners on free health insurance care, provided critical medical surgeries to over 60,000 Osun residents, completed several abandoned projects at Osun State University, made University of Ilesa a reality, among several others.

“If Aregbesola is to accuse Governor Adeleke of non-performance, we await his review of the dualisation of palace to brewery junction at Ilesa, which he failed to achieve while in office.

“He should check out the flyover projects at Ile Ife and Osogbo and the dualisation projects ongoing at Iwo, among others,” the statement noted.

Expressing firm belief that the electorate would support his reelection, Adeleke said, “Osun people know their present and past governors.

“Our people are smart enough to know that the worst era for Osun State is that of Mr Aregbesola under whom many pensioners lost their lives, thousands of lives were disrupted, and the state plunged into unsustainable debt still hurting the state to date. No voter in Osun is ready for a return to the dark days.

“We, therefore, dismiss Aregbesola’s boast as a blurry vision of another world other than Osun where Governor Adeleke has received accolades and awards for delivering on good governance and where Osun people have appreciated the local content policy, the non-borrowing policy, and the people’s first style of the current governor.”

He predicted that the 2026 poll would be a payback time when the Osun people would punish the former governor and his new party for allegedly inflicting pain and suffering on them throughout his eight-year rule.

Efforts to get the spokesperson for Omoluabi Progressives,  Oluseun Abosede, to react to Adeleke failed as calls did not go through his mobile line.

He also did not reply to WhatsApp messages sent to the mobile line as of the time of filing this report.