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From Taiwo Oluwadare, Ibadan
A former Oyo State Commissioner for Education and immediate past Federal Character Commissioner, Professor Adeniyi Olowofela, has applauded the emerging reconciliation between Senator Teslim Folarin and Oloye Adebayo Adelabu, describing it as a long-overdue step crucial to the revival of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 elections in the state.
In a detailed statement personally signed by him on Monday reflecting on the party’s turbulent political history, Olowofela, who is also a former Chairman of Ido Local Government, recalled the chain of events that fractured the Oyo APC and weakened its electoral fortunes over the past several election cycles.
He narrated that the seeds of internal discord were sown during the 2019 APC governorship primaries, when former Governor Abiola Ajimobi, whom he described as “Mr Constituted Authority”, issued a last-minute directive at about 5:00 a.m. endorsing Adebayo Adelabu (Penkelemesi) over Joseph Tegbe. According to him, the sudden switch reshaped the contest and pushed other aspirants to step down, except Chief Niyi Akintola, who eventually left the stadium before the end of the exercise “in anger”.
Adelabu subsequently emerged as the party’s flagbearer, and although the APC campaigned intensely, the electorate preferred Seyi Makinde, who won the governorship. The APC’s challenge at the tribunal also failed, cementing Makinde’s victory.
Olowofela noted that while Adelabu lost the governorship race, Teslim Folarin won the Oyo Central Senate seat, positioning himself as a key figure in the party. But the deaths of former Governor Ajimobi in 2020 and Adebayo Alao-Akala the following year created what he described as “an obvious leadership vacuum” in the Oyo APC, a gap Folarin moved swiftly to fill.
However, he explained that Folarin’s consolidation of party structures and influence later became “his albatross”, as disagreements deepened during the build-up to the 2023 APC primaries. Adelabu, dissatisfied with the process, defected to the Accord Party.
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“I sensed a grave danger in this decision,” Olowofela said, adding that he made efforts to reach party stakeholders and even sought intervention from the top national hierarchy. “I knew the game for APC was an uphill task,” he admitted, recounting how his article titled ‘ACCORD Party Will Lose Accordingly’ was written out of concern for the looming division.
Despite Folarin initiating multiple reconciliation moves enlisting leaders such as Senator Olufemi Lanlehin and Dr. Kolawole to pacify factions, the party still suffered defeat in the 2023 elections.
According to Olowofela, the recent rapprochement between Folarin and Adelabu is the clearest sign yet that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the national leader of the APC, has intervened decisively.
“I knew the only person who could solve this problem is PBAT,” he stated. “This new wave of camaraderie and understanding is necessary if APC will take over power from PDP in Oyo State come 2027.”
Expressing optimism, Olowofela said the renewed unity has rekindled confidence among party members and supporters.
“Hope is rising,” he concluded, insisting that only a united front can reposition the APC for electoral victory in the next gubernatorial cycle.
