16/08/2026
Dear Dr. Najeem Salaam,
I write this letter to you with a heart that carries both the weight of yesterday and the gratitude of today.
I know that the outcome of the election is not what you, your family, your supporters and all of us who believed in this journey prayed and worked for. There is disappointment, and there are questions that may take time to answer. But before anything else, I want you to know that you are not alone.
I want to encourage you, Sir, to lift your eyes beyond the result of one election and remember the greater picture.
You are still here. You survived. God preserved your life.
We cannot overlook the failed assassination attempt against you. What could have been a moment of unimaginable tragedy became, by God’s mercy, a testimony that you are still alive to see another day. For that alone, we give God all the glory.
Sometimes, God allows us to walk through battles whose immediate outcome we do not understand. But an outcome is not always a conclusion. There are battles that look like defeats in one season but become the foundation for something greater in another.
Sir, please do not allow this result to diminish your sense of worth or the significance of what you have accomplished.
You stood.
You gave yourself to a cause.
You carried the hopes of thousands of people.
You walked into a difficult political space and gave many people a reason to believe that something different was possible.
That cannot be erased by a result sheet.
I also want to appreciate you for the courage with which you carried yourself throughout this journey. It takes a special kind of strength to offer oneself for public service, knowing the sacrifices, criticism, uncertainty and personal cost that come with it.
You have not failed because you did not win this election.
Failure would have been refusing to stand.
Failure would have been refusing to try.
Failure would have been allowing fear to silence you.
You stood, and you gave the people an opportunity to choose.
That, in itself, is significant.
Please take this moment to rest, recover and breathe. Give yourself permission to feel the disappointment, but do not permit disappointment to define your future.
There is still so much ahead.
Your story is not finished.
Victory is not only in winning; victory is also in surviving the battle, keeping your integrity, preserving your courage, learning from the experience and finding the strength to rise again.
And Sir, I believe you will rise again.
On behalf of myself and, indeed, many of those who stood with you, I want you to know that we are proud of you.
I am proud that I stood on this journey with you as a candidate for the House of Assembly representing Odo-Otin Constituency. Whatever the final numbers say, I will remember the courage, the friendships, the sacrifices and the hope that this journey created.
Let us thank God for what He preserved, learn from what this election has taught us, strengthen what needs strengthening, and look toward the future with renewed wisdom.
I pray that God will heal every disappointment in your heart, renew your strength, protect you and your family, and give you clarity for the next chapter.
This is not the end of your journey.
Sometimes, God closes one chapter not because the story is over, but because He is preparing us for a chapter we could not yet see.
So, Sir, hold your head high.
You are still standing.
We are still standing.
The vision is still alive.
And the future is still before us.
With deep respect, solidarity and prayers,
Oluyemisi Adebambi, Ph.D
House of Assembly Candidate
Odo-Otin Constituency
