Southwest chieftain of New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP), Alhaji Bisi Olopoeyan, has stated that it will be impossible for Adelabu to outshine Governor Makinde in Oyo politics unless there is a consensus. Newsbreaknaija reports.
Olopoeyan, who used to be a member of PDP and one of the products of Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu’s politics, stated this during a chat with journalists over the weekend.
Recall Olopoeyan fell out with Makinde and left the party to join NNPP after the 2019 governorship poll.
He was at loggerheads with the governor and one of his ardent critics in the last four years. Suddenly, before the last election, Olopoeyan reconciled with the Makinde and relaxed his critical posture.
He dismissed the perception that Makinde has become the emperor of Oyo politics based on the outcome of the last governorship poll and how the opposition parties became unusually silent since May 29.
According to him, “any opposition party, especially APC in Oyo that is criticising Makinde’s policies now is wasting its time and energy.”
He added: “The people will not just listen to such a party because the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration of APC is also not making life easy for Nigerians at the federal level.
That is why it looks as if there is no opposition. The opposition politicians are not finding life easy not to begin antagonising any state government.
Majority of the gubernatorial candidates of other parties later worked underneath for Makinde while some collapsed their structure into his.
“If we must blame Makinde, we should also ask what the three senators and 9 House of Representatives members of APC are giving back to their various constituencies and even their party members. This does not exclude Adelabu, Zaccheaus Adedeji, the chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service and others who got federal appointments. What did they give back to Oyo State during the palliative period?”
Olopoeyan said those who lost elections like Folarin can be excused because they lost.
“But what about those that won and those that got appointments. Makinde is a governor, fine but the young man has always proved that he is with and for the people.
That is the reason he looks like the emperor of Oyo politics but he is not. If Oyo politicians are not careful, Makinde will be the first to break the third term jinx by determining his successor in 2027.
I cannot say of tomorrow or before 2027 but with the way things are today, Makinde stands far above every other politician in Oyo politics,” he submitted.
He noted that as for those living in fools’ paradise, Adelabu would prove nothing beyond what he scored under the platform of Accord in the last governorship election.
“Makinde polled 563,756 and won in 31 of the 33 local governments, which was his actual political strength in Oyo.
“Despite the fact that Folarin did not get total support of APC members in Oyo and that the Presidency didn’t look at him, he managed to poll 256,686, which can be attributed as his original votes and a test of his popularity as compared to Adelabu, who polled 38,357 on the platform of Accord.
“The over 300, 000 Adelabu polled in 2019 was because of Ajimobi’s influence. The minister will still struggle to get an APC gubernatorial ticket in 2027 if at all he is going to get it because there are other interested politicians in the party,” Olopoeyan said.
He noted that what Makinde needs to do is to settle down and focus on serious infrastructure development in Oyo within the next three and a half years.
He also said President Tinubu may not have the time to support the ambition of any individual because the former governor of Lagos State will be busy looking for a second term, which he won’t find easy.
