Akinade, who is also the Lagos State Chairman of the National Rescue Movement, NRM, described the election outcome as a positive development for Nigeria’s democracy.

“We are happy that the election was peaceful, free and fair. It reflected the wishes of the people.

“Another lesson we learnt from this election is that the general belief nowadays that votes do not count is wrong, vote actually counts.

“Osun election outcome actually cancelled and nullified this belief and narrative. We must not give up to make our democracy better and stronger,” she said.

According to her, power belongs to the people and cannot be taken away from them when they actively participate in the electoral process.

Akinade said elections would be difficult to manipulate when the electorate turns out en masse to vote and protect their votes, unlike when voters show apathy.

She, however, said the council was saddened by reported cases of violence and killings in the build-up to the election.

She urged citizens to always make themselves available to exercise their franchise during elections, especially with the 2027 general election approaching.

Mohammed said recent electoral developments, including the outcome of the Osun State governorship election, had demonstrated that federal influence could no longer guarantee victory at the polls.

According to him, the decision by some opposition parties to boycott the council polls instead of testing their popularity before voters was a tactical mistake.

“If they had listened to me, my advice was that they should have gone ahead to test their popularity. If you sit down at home and think that the Federal Government will give you latitude and leeway to win an election, President Tinubu is showing people that he is a democrat,” he said.

Mohammed cited the Osun election, where incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke was declared winner, as evidence that voters now have greater influence over electoral outcomes.

“You have seen what happened in Osun; the people voted, and their votes counted. People should know that there is no person that is going to install them—there is no monarchy here. It is democratic governance,” Mohammed added.

He urged political parties and their candidates to embrace the democratic process by engaging directly with the electorate rather than depending on external influence.

Mohammed also reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to conducting an open, credible and competitive electoral process across Bauchi State.

Speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Monday, Aliyu said the party did everything possible to win the election but acknowledged that internal divisions affected its performance.

He said: “We did our best. I mean, we did what we thought could make us win the election, but of course, here and there, at the back end, we’re discussing to see the details of really what has happened.

“We did everything, everything possible, humanly possible, to win the election, and kudos also to our government. I mean, the federal government in such a way that all the political pundits who thought that APC was going to just take it, and APC was just going to write the results and so on, things happened the way they did, and Osun people decided they wanted Accord party, and so be it.

“You know there’s a lot of internal wranglings amongst our members. You know, in Osun State, there are people who were not happy with our candidate, which is true. Some people were happy with the candidate.

“So, in terms of choice of candidate, probably that’s what we have to look at to make sure that probably the person who has the the largest followership amongst the party members is put up for election.

“Certainly some members of our party did not do what they are supposed to do because out of anger, really they didn’t like their candidate.

“So that’s the major problem internally that we had. It’s amongst us.”

Aliyu said the APC would need to review its candidate-selection process to ensure that future candidates have broader support among party members.

DAILY POST reported that the APC lost the Osun governorship election to the Accord Party, with Governor Ademola Adeleke securing victory with a wide margin.