OYO LGA POLLS: ADELABU LED THE STAR PROMOTERS OF APC CANDIDATES

OYO LG POLLS: ADELABU LED THE STAR PROMOTERS OF APC CANDIDATES

Less than 20hrs to conduct of the long-awaited local government areas and local council development areas elections in Oyo State, the National Expo Magazine hereby reveal the star supporters of All Progressives Congress (APC) chairmanship and councillorship candidates.

Since Governor Abiola Ajimobi came to power in 2011, this will be the first council poll to be conducted in the state. The last time residents of the state had the luxury of electing their counsellors and council chairmen was in 2007, when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was the ruling party, and Otunba Christopher Alao-Akala was governor.

The tenure of that set of elected council officers ended in 2010. Since then, the third tier of government in the state has been governed by administrators handpicked by the governor, with the approval of the state House of Assembly.

Previous efforts by Ajimobi to conduct council election were put on hold by legal encumbrances, which have just been resolved.

For politicians in the state, the May 12th (tomorrow) council election is not just about electing councillors and chairmen alone, but also to show the strength of political parties in the state, and to even decide which of the cleavages within the parties that call the shot.

That the APC is firmly rooted in Oyo State is not in doubt, but an independent thorough investigation into the campaigns and the events leading to the council polls by the National Expo Magazine revealed that some governorship aspirants on the platform of ruling APC gave their financial and material supports to the party's candidates; a move to curry their favours in the forthcoming governorship primaries.

The investigation revealed that only four out of the fourteen notable governorship aspirants threw their financial weights behind the candidates. It was gathered that Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN) donated cash to the campaigns of APC chairmanship candidates from Ibadan zone; the commissioner for health, Dr. Abdulazeez Adeduntan, gave cash to almost 40 carefully selected APC chairmanship candidates while the commissioner for finance, Mr. Bimbo Adekanbi financially supported all the 68 APC chairmanship candidates.

The last man standing was Chief Adebayo Adelabu alias Penkelemesi who singlehandedly funded the whole 68 APC chairmanship candidates as well as all the party's councillorship candidates whose total number is close to 700. The essence of the support was to help the candidates defray part of the legitimate campaign expenses of the candidates.

The magnitude of the supports and financial donations to the course of the party, All Progressive Congress and her candidates by the aforementioned aspirants clearly showed their preparedness and determination to win this September governorship ticket of APC in Oyo State.

Our investigation also revealed that Adelabu's gesture to reach out to all was borne out of his dedication and loyalty to the party and Governor Abiola Ajimobi. A close aide who spoke with by our correspondent said that his boss is always ready to give his best to the party and the Government of Oyo State led by Governor Ajimobi.

As we count down to the party's governorship primaries in September, we cannot wait to find out who will eventually fly the APC ticket among the top-four governorship hopefuls.

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Adebayo Kareemot
(Editor-in-Chief, The National Expo Magazine)