Oyo: Adelabu, Folarin Shun APC Reconciliation

Key stakeholders in the Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, including two governorship aspirants, Adebayo Adelabu and Teslim Folarin, were on Wednesday absent from a meeting organised by the party’s leadership to reconcile aggrieved members in the state.
At the meeting, which was attended by the APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, other governorship aspirants who were absent included Akeem Agbaje, Engr. Hakeem Alao and Rauf Olaniyan.
Sources privy to the meeting said the party had sought to use the presentation of the findings of the state reconciliation committee to the National Chairman as an opportunity to bring aggrieved members of the party in the state, particularly governorship aspirants such as Adelabu and Folarin, together, with a view to convincing them to work for Senator Sarafadeen Ali, the party’s governorship candidate for the 2027 election.
Essentially, the absence of the APC bigwigs, the magazine learnt, has left the party uncertain about how to bring the aggrieved members together ahead of next year’s election.
Recall that Sarafadeen emerged as the party’s governorship candidate amid protests from other aspirants, who insisted that the process that led to his emergence was not transparent.
The aggrieved aspirants have, however, vowed not to work for the party’s governorship candidate, according to sources close to them.
Meanwhile, the party’s National Chairman appears not to have given up hope on the issue, saying progress is being made to bring all the aspirants and other key stakeholders together.
Prof. Nentawe, who spoke on the sidelines of the meeting in Ibadan, the state capital, disclosed to journalists that the APC, as a family, would resolve the issue for the benefit of the party. He added that the party would ensure that all the issues raised by aggrieved members were addressed amicably.
He said: “The APC is a family. Whatever is happening in the party is a family issue. It is normal for members of the same family to have challenges, but we are happy that the issues are being addressed as a family.
“Also, from the report that we gathered from the Reconciliation Committee and other stakeholders, the party is stable, and we are good to go.”