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Tasks TESLIM FOLARIN To Reconcile Aggrieved Parties
A lot is currently going on within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State.
The party appears to have mapped new strategies not only to unite all the aggrieved members ahead of its convention next year but also to unseat the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state in the 2027 general elections.
In fact, the recent happenings within the party are strong indicators of this development.
Not only has there been alignment and realignment within the party, but the party is also expanding its reach by accommodating new members from other political parties in the state lately.
About a month ago, a former chieftain of the PDP from Oke-Ogun and former Governor Seyi Makinde’s political ally, Senator Hosea Ayoola Agboola a.k.a. Alleluyah, dumped the party to join the APC.
Agboola, a former Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate and former Chairman of the Oyo State Advisory Council, said he quit the party to pursue his political future.
Apart from Agboola who has officially joined APC, another PDP chieftain in the state, Alhaji Adebisi Olopoeniyan was recently sighted in pictures purportedly taken after what looked like a strategic meeting in London. In the pictures were Olopoeniyan, former First Lady of Oyo State, Chief (Mrs.) Florence Ajimobi and Senator Teslim Folarin.
Also, the two leading governorship aspirants in Oyo APC, Senator Teslim Folarin, the former Senate Leader, and Chief Bayo Adelabu, the current Power Minister, have recently met with President Bola Tinubu at different times at the Aso Villa.
What we gathered was that Folarin has been tasked with the responsibility of reconciling and bringing all the aggrieved members of the party in the state back on board. And true to the notion, TKF, as the former Oyo Central Senator is popularly called, has, within a short period of time, met with a good number of APC chieftains across the state.
In a surprising turn of events, however, Folarin last week visited the Iyaganku Ibadan residence of the Power Minister, Bayo Adelabu. Later that same day, he also visited the Ikolaba house of Senator Ayoade Adeseun.
Adelabu’s aide, Otunba Femi Awogboro, commented on the visit, describing Folarin as ‘an elder brother who came to visit his junior.’ He noted that the discussion between the two leaders centered on setting aside past differences and uniting to ensure the APC’s return to power in 2027.
Other Oyo APC top shots who have embraced the reconciliatory move included the former Deputy Governor of the state, Engr. Rauf Olaniyan.
Why is Teslim Folarin in the middle of all this? Apart from being a major stakeholder in Oyo APC, Folarin is also eyeing the number one seat in the state.
In fact, he has tried a couple of times. He is hoping to secure his party’s governorship ticket and contest again in 2027. Even though this his ambition has seen him and Adelabu fall out several times. It happened in 2023 when Adelabu had to dump the party after Teslim clinched the ticket.
Adelabu defected to the Accord Party (AP), where he contested but eventually lost to Governor Seyi Makinde of the PDP. So it is a public knowledge that Folarin and Adelabu’s rivalry contributed a great deal to the APC crisis.
The internal crisis was further aggravated by the fallout from the 2023 APC congresses, which produced the late Isaac Omodewu as party chairman.
But now that they are all back to the drawing table to unite the party, people are anxiously waiting to see how the whole thing will pan out, especially with the array of stakeholders with governorship ambitions.
What we gathered, however, was that certain high-ranking party members in the state are advocating for a neutral governorship candidate, outside of Teslim Folarin and Bayo Adelabu, to emerge.
Their reasoning is that such a choice could douse the tension within the two camps as well as foster party unity and improve their prospects in the 2027 elections.
-Dare Adeniran
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