Adeleke’s Final Dance or Fresh Mandate? The 2026 Budget as a Political Litmus Test

 

As dawn breaks over Osun, the governor prepares to walk into the State Assembly with a document that holds promises, figures, and perhaps, the echoes of a fading rhythm. Governor Ademola Adeleke will this morning present the 2026 Appropriation Bill, a budget not just of numbers, but of narratives.

But beneath the ceremonial applause and budgetary jargon lies a deeper question that hums through the streets of Osogbo: is this the last dance or the prelude to another performance?

For months, Osun has moved in a strange rhythm, not quite silent, not quite alive. Markets open, offices run, roads stretch on, yet something feels paused. The same energy that once made a state sway to the “dancing governor” now hums in low tone, as if the music has lost its tempo.

The 2026 budget might be Adeleke’s finest chance to rewrite his rhythm, to move from performance to purpose. But the people are watching closely. They have seen budgets wrapped in hope before, only to unwrap them and find debts, excuses, and recycled promises.

If this is indeed his last dance, then it must be graceful, not in steps, but in substance. For every borrowed hope must be repaid in trust, and every red button of deception will eventually flash on the ballot box.

Politics, after all, is a stage; the people are the judges. And when the curtain falls, applause is not automatic, it must be earned.

So, as the drums roll at the Assembly today, Osun listens not just to the figures in the budget, but to the faint question behind them:

Can a dancing democrat still command the rhythm of governance, or has the music finally stopped?

Abioye Tosin Lawrence is the publisher of Oriontimes Online Newspaper and author of Voices From The Fire: My Journey Through a Hollow Empire