Olawuyi: How Years Of Community Presence Helped Defeat Kwara’s Political Establishment

The political upset that took place in Kwara State in 2018, according to Hon. Olawuyi, was not built during the few weeks of campaigning. The groundwork had been laid much earlier through years of community engagement and staying connected to the people.

Olawuyi shares the experience in Seun Oloketuyi’s forthcoming book, How to Win an Election in Nigeria, where he reflects on the factors that helped him take on an established political structure during the bye-election.

According to him, one of the biggest mistakes politicians make is waiting until an election is approaching before trying to establish themselves among the people.“The fatal error most aspiring politicians make is showing up only when nomination forms are on sale,” he said.

Olawuyi said his own experience was different. Long before the 2018 bye-election, he had maintained a presence within the community and remained accessible to the people. That history became important when the election was eventually announced.

“When the bye-election was declared, the voters were not evaluating a stranger; they were protecting an investment in a known, accessible leader,” he said.

His account points to a side of electoral politics that is often overlooked which is, the relationships between politicians and voters that are built outside the excitement of campaign season.

For Olawuyi, those relationships can become particularly significant when a candidate is facing an established political structure.

The 2018 contest ultimately became an example of how a candidate with deep roots in a community could challenge an existing political establishment.

Rather than presenting the victory simply as an electoral result, Olawuyi’s recollection places emphasis on what happened before the ballot was cast, the years of engagement that helped shape how the electorate viewed him when the opportunity to contest finally arrived.

His account of the 2018 bye-election and the experience behind the upset is featured in Seun Oloketuyi’s How to Win an Election in Nigeria, scheduled for release on September 6.