The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has advised the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and President Bola Tinubu to put mechanisms in place to address the grievances of members of the party in Oyo State. This to him, would help to ensure justice, fairness and equity in the party.
Adelabu made this appeal while delivering his keynote address at the 74th posthumous birthday of a former governor of the state, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, which coincided with the 6th Annual Senator Abiola Ajimobi Roundtable. The event was held at the University of Ibadan yesterday.
A member of the APC, Adelabu defected to the Accord Party before the last election, owing to his failure to cling the governorship ticket which Senator Kolawole Folarin eventually contested, but lost to Governor Seyi Makinde. Two weeks ago, he wrote to the APC leadership expressing his intention to return to the APC, being a cabinet member of President Tinubu.
Adelabu, while addressing the gathering, said that the party does not have a unifying leader in the state at the moment, but described Ajimobi as his great benefactor who persuaded him to contest the governorship election in 2019.
He said that Ajimobi encouraged him to resign as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to contest the governorship election in 2019, noting that “My resignation was not done without him. He was the one that helped me to put the resignation letter together.
“In 2019, I contested the governorship election, and in 2023, I contested again on the platform of another political party. Though we did not win, I believed that God’s time is the best. What I am now today cannot be completed without him. I owe personal eternal gratitude to him.
“I want the party to put mechanisms in place to address the grievances of the members. This will ensure justice, fairness and equity in the party,” he said.
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof Kayode Adebowale in his address on the occasion, said, “Today, we are here gathered again to honour posthumously one of the most highly revered personalities that this country has produced; an illustrious son of Ibadan, a former Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the first two-term Governor of Oyo State who served from 2011-2019 and thereafter served as the Deputy National Chairman South of the All Progressive Congress (APC) – the Late Senator Abiola Ajimobi.
“Everyone who knew Oyo State and especially Ibadan before his reign can attest to the high level of crime and insecurity in the state, such as armed robbery, including banks in front of University; the NURTW perennial crisis in the state, and all manners and forms of insecurity.
“The establishment and equipping of the ‘Operation Burst’ took care of the problems of insecurity in the state. With regards to the NURTW menace, some people went to prison and that brought about peace in the state throughout his tenure”.
Some of the notable personalities at the event include Governor Seyi Makinde of the state, who was represented by his Deputy, Barrister Abdulrahman Adebayo Lawal; Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State; Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu; Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Dr. Zacheus Adedeji; former Minister for Trade, Mrs. Onikepo Akande; former Minister for Finance, Kemi Adeosun; and the deceased’s wife, Florence Ajimobi.
Others are the senator representing Oyo North, Dr. Abdulfatai Buhari; Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Saliu Adelabu; Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Professor Kayode Adebowale; former Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Professor Adeolu Akande; former APC Chairman, Chief Akin Oke; Professor Tunji Olaopa and Professor Tajudeen Akanji.
