Rufai Oseni criticises Osun governorship candidates for lack of vision at town hall debate
Arise Television anchor Rufai Oseni has expressed dissatisfaction with the performances of the Osun State governorship candidates during the town hall debate held on Tuesday.
Speaking on Wednesday, Oseni said he observed a lack of bright ideas and clear vision among the candidates, including the incumbent governor, Ademola Adeleke. He noted that only the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) candidate offered a detailed plan on healthcare.
“I felt like the candidates didn’t present bright ideas. All of them. And I felt it’s very lacklustre what Osun State is going to get, and I’m saying this across the board. I mean, I didn’t see the brightness of ideas,” he said. “Governor Adeleke was reacting to many things, trying to defend his administration, but I didn’t see a lot of brightness. I didn’t see a lot of vision. I saw more attacks. The governor was defending his achievements, including a 350-kilometre road. But what is the grand vision?”
Oseni singled out the PRP candidate, a medical doctor, as the only participant who directly addressed the health sector and outlined what he intended to do to improve it.
All the governorship candidates took part in the town hall ahead of the election scheduled for 15 August 2026. Debates of this kind are expected to move beyond the defence of past projects or the exchange of accusations. When the dominant mode becomes reaction rather than proposal, the audience is left with a record of what has been done rather than a coherent picture of what comes next.
Oseni’s assessment treats the absence of a forward-looking governing idea as the central shortcoming. The exception he identified—the PRP candidate’s focus on healthcare—serves mainly to underline the broader gap. An incumbent naturally defends existing work; the structural test of a campaign debate is whether that defence is accompanied by a clear next phase. On Oseni’s reading, most of the field failed that test. Voters will decide on Saturday whether the same assessment holds outside the studio.
