The Minister of Power, Chief Bayo Adelabu is back from Accord Party to the fold of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, where he was before.
Last weekend, Adelabu officially rejoined the party he abandoned in the build-up to the 2023 elections. The welcome back ceremony was held at the Oke-Ado, Ibadan Secretariat of the party amidst pomp and pageantry.
Though Adelabu has said that he returned to APC to help President Bola Tinubu’s administration succeed not because of 2027 guber ambition.
But some school of thought in the state insisted that the development may not be unconnected with Adelabu’s grand plans to achieve his long time ambition of ruling the pacesetter state. Their assertion probably is based on Adelabu’s previous comment where he said his guber ambition was the singular reason why he left his plum job at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2018. So as to contribute more to the development of the state, in addition to his many investments in Ibadan through which he has employed hundreds of people according to him.
However, while some have described Adelabu’s return to APC as a good development, others see it as a sign of more troubles for the party given the circumstances leading to his defection. For those who aligned with the latter point of view, Adelabu has the existing structure of the party to contend with. The party’s guber candidate in the last election, Senator Teslim Folarin is firmly in control of the party in the state. The Isaac Omodewu-led Exco of Oyo APC is loyal to him, and they are not likely to give up the control of the party cheaply.
This is coupled with the fact that many loyalists may not easily forgive Adelabu for contributing to the party’s woes in the 2023 election. It also explained why his initial nomination as Minister was kicked against. They believe had it been he stayed back, the party would have won the election.
But for those who deeply understand politics, any form of opposition against Adelabu within the party as it is now will just be the normal political gimmicks. All he need to be in control was the support of the party’s leadership at the federal level which he enjoys presently. He has a cordial relationship with President Bola Tinubu who also double as the National Leader of the party. If not, he wouldn’t have been made a minister while still in another political party. He must have also gotten the green light before he finally rejoined the party.
With his return, Adelabu is now the highest ranking Oyo APC member at the federal level as a serving minister. There is also the glaring fact that Oyo APC is now in dire need of a strong leader who has a formidable structure, as well as financial wherewithal and the experience to prosecute an election as far as 2027 is concerned. The party also needs somebody with more appealing personality.
Apart from the fact that Adelabu now operates at the federal level, he perfectly fits into the aforementioned points.
Adelabu, it would be recalled, was the guber candidate of APC in 2018.
He dumped the party and joined Accord in May 2022 after his failure to secure the party’s ticket for the Oyo State governorship election.
Speaking at the welcome back event, however, Adelabu said he and others who left the party with him had formally returned to the APC to make the party stronger.
In his words “I returned not because of 2027 governorship ambition or to take over the party, but because I believe this is a party that brought President Bola Tinubu to power, and we need to support him to deliver on his electoral promises,” Adelabu said.
“This is not time for politics, it is time for governance and Tinubu needs our support for him to succeed and deliver on his Renewed Hope Agenda.
have come back to the party not to take over the party and not to dissolve executives; we have come to the party to extend hands of fellowship and reconciliation.
“We are assuring you that we are back for cooperation and collaboration for us to build a strong party so that the party will take over power in the state at the end of the day in 2027.”
– Dare Adeniran
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