The Chairman of the Oyo State Board for Technical and Vocational Education, Elder Adekola Ayoade, has dismissed insinuations that his appearance at a social gathering attended by opposition governorship candidate, Oriyomi Hamzat, amounted to political fraternization or disloyalty to Governor Seyi Makinde.
Ayoade, while reacting to a report accusing him of displaying poor political judgment by publicly associating with Hamzat, described the interpretation of the viral video as misleading and completely detached from the circumstances surrounding the event.
The controversy followed the circulation of a video showing Ayoade at a gathering where Hamzat and other prominent Ibadan indigenes were also present.
A former member of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Femi Josiah, had criticised Ayoade over his presence at the event, arguing that, as a political appointee of Makinde, he ought to have been more circumspect in his association with an opposition governorship aspirant who had repeatedly criticised the governor.
Josiah’s criticism was contained in a post in a comment section of the viral video on Facebook but was immediately deleted.
Josiah had maintained that while there was nothing wrong with attending a gathering involving people across political divides, publicly hanging out with an opponent of one’s principal leader could create a false impression of political disloyalty.
But Ayoade has rejected that interpretation, insisting that the gathering had nothing to do with partisan politics and was simply a social occasion for Ibadan indigenes.
According to him, he attended the event strictly as an invited guest and had no prior arrangement with Hamzat or any political agenda to pursue at the gathering.
He explained that he only discovered at the venue that Hamzat was among the dignitaries invited to the occasion, stressing that leaving immediately upon seeing another guest from an opposition party would have been socially inappropriate and could itself have generated unnecessary controversy.
Ayoade said his presence should therefore not be interpreted as an endorsement of Hamzat or an indication of political alignment of any form.
He argued that attending an event because of one’s identity as an Ibadan indigene does not automatically translate into political association with every politician present at the gathering.
“I was invited to the event as an Ibadan man. It was a social gathering for Ibadan sons and daughters. I did not attend because of Oriyomi Hamzat, neither did I go there to fraternise with him or anybody politically,” he said.
The Oyo government appointee further insisted that his political loyalty to Makinde remained absolute and unwavering, describing himself as a “diehard loyalist” of the governor.
Ayoade said he had no reason to abandon the Makinde political family, arguing that the governor’s record in office remained sufficient reason for him and other loyalists to continue to identify with his administration.
He specifically expressed confidence that the performance of the Makinde administration would make the political journey of the governor’s preferred successor, Abimbola Adekanbi on the platform of the Allied People’s Movement (APM), easier in the 2027 governorship election.
According to him, the achievements recorded under Makinde in less than eight years would provide a strong foundation for the governor’s political succession project.
Ayoade said, “I remain a diehard loyalist of Governor Seyi Makinde. His performance will give Adekanbi an easy ride in 2027, and for emphasis sake, I’m a full blooded APM member.
“Only a political prostitute without any second address would leave Makinde for another politician, considering his leadership and what he has achieved in less than eight years.”
He maintained that his continued support for Makinde was based not merely on personal loyalty but on his assessment of the governor’s performance and leadership.
Ayoade said the administration’s interventions in infrastructure, education, health, agriculture, transportation, workers’ welfare and other critical sectors had continued to speak for themselves.
He therefore urged those interpreting the viral video from a partisan perspective to separate social interaction from political alignment.
According to him, political actors and public officials should not be expected to shun social functions simply because individuals belonging to opposing political tendencies may be present.
He said such an approach would amount to unnecessarily politicising ordinary social relationships among indigenes of the same community.
Ayoade, however, maintained that there was no political subtext to his presence at the event and challenged those attempting to portray the incident as evidence of a crack within Makinde’s political camp to provide evidence beyond a short viral video.
He said his position remained clear: he supports Makinde, believes in the governor’s leadership and is committed to the political direction of the administration.
The Board chairman also maintained that his attendance at a social gathering should not be weaponised as evidence of disloyalty, stressing that political loyalty and social courtesy could coexist without contradiction.
He said the attempt to turn the event into a political controversy was, in his view, a reflection of the heightened political atmosphere in the state ahead of 2027 rather than a reflection of his political position.
Ayoade therefore dismissed the suggestion that he had established a political relationship with Hamzat, describing such claims as unfounded and baseless.
He reiterated that he remained firmly aligned with Makinde and expressed optimism that the governor’s record would play a decisive role in determining the outcome of the 2027 succession battle.
