Oyo 2027: Adelabu Rejects Alli’s Endorsement As APC Consensus Guber Candidate, Tackles ‘Ladoja
By Akanni Toba
Former Minister of Power and one of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirants in Oyo State, Adebayo Adelabu, has alleged that former governor of the state and the reigning Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Rasheed Adewolu Ladoja has been anti-progressive since the country returned to civilian rule in 1999.
Adelabu noted that Ladoja was at the vanguard of the reactionary forces that scuttled the reelection of progressive politicians in the state in 2003.
He accused Sarafadeen Alli, the lawmaker representing Oyo South Senatorial District and one of the Oyo APC governorship aspirants to have worked with Ladoja to “subvert” the will of the electorate.
The ex-minister also stressed that Ladoja and Alli desperately worked against him in 2019 when it became clear that he would win the governorship election following the outcomes of the elections to the National Assembly in Oyo State.
Adelabu made these claims while addressing his supporters in Ibadan on Friday, urging them to do everything within their powers to prevent history from repeating itself in 2027.
“They have been working against the progressives in the state since 1999. They were responsible for the fate that befell the progressives in 2003. They worked against us again in 2019 when I was vying for the highest political office in this state. They joined forces to make sure that I didn’t win the election” Adelabu said..
He continued, ” We won two of the three senatorial districts in the state. It was only our boss, the late Senator Abiola Ajimobi who lost. We also won 10 out of the 14 Federal Constituencies in the state. When it became clear that we were home and dry, they joined forces to scuttle our ambition”
Adelabu deliberately avoided mentioning names by carefully picking his words, using “we and they” and leaving the task of supplying names to his crowd of supporters who kept chorusing names suitable for each context in the ex-minister’s speech.
According to Adelabu, Ladoja encouraged other parties to join forces together to stop the APC from winning the gubernatorial election in 2019.
“He orchestrated a powerful coalition against us in 2019 by bringing his protege, Sharafadeen Alli of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Olufemi Lanlehin of African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Bolaji Ayorinde of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) together to support Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) all in a bid to defeat us. The coalition worked and they defeated the progressives again.” Adelabu added.
The ex-minister, however, vówed that history will not repeat itself in 2027, urging his supporters to resist the imposition of an aspirant as the party’s consensus candidate
“They are back again. They have infiltrated the progressives’ ranks in the state. They are claiming someone is a consensus candidate; the process that produced their consensus candidate was clandestine. Do people do rightful things clandestinely? No! This will not stand. We won’t allow it to stand. Their plans will not be allowed to come to fruition this time around.” the ex-minister added.
