Oyo: Who Will Makinde Pick As Successor?

There’s a high expectations among the good people of Oyo state as to who the state governor, Seyi Makinde will announce as successor from his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Makinde is a second term governor and his tenure is expected to end by May 29, 2027, even as some politicians in the PDP and other political parties have declared their interests in the job to become the chief executive of the Agodi Government House.

One of the aspirants on the platform of the PDP, Hazeem Gbolarunmi, a former Deputy Governor of the state declared last week that he has enough grassroots support in all the 33 Local Government Areas, LGAs in the state, to win the PDP governorship ticket and emerge the state governor in 2027.
“I have my structures across the 33 local governments. I have been in politics since 1979, working from the ward level to the state level. I am prepared and primed to win the next governorship election,” Gbolarunmi told journalists in Ibadan, the state capital last week.
It’s unclear whether he has enlisted the support of Governor Makinde for his ambition to rule the state, even as the governor is billed, according to sources close to him, to name his preferred candidate for the state’s top job.
Governor Makinde, the magazine recalls, had in March last year disclosed that he would announce his would-be successor before the end of January 2026.
“In January 2026, we know that political activities will start. I will tell you the picture of the person that will be installed there,” Makinde said during the 11th Omituntun Ramadan lecture held at the Government House arcade in Ibadan, the state’s capital. .
The question that’s currently on the lips of the people of the state, is who the governor will support as PDP candidate, and ultimately as his preferred successor.
Apart from Gbolarunmi, one of the leading PDP governorship aspirants in the state is Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo, who declared his intention to rule the state last November.

Oguntoyinbo is said to be very popular in the state, but It’s not clear whether the aspirant has the backing of the governor despite the fact that he promised to carry on with the incumbent’s legacy if he becomes governor in 2027.
Whiel declaring his intension to contest three months ago, Oguntoyinbo said he has decided to answer his peoples’ call to contest the governorship election under the PDP, saying h’es very popular, promising to bring his experince to bear as a humanitarian administrator.
He said: “I am rooted in both Ogun and Oyo States, but my father’s land has called me to Oyo.
“The political stalwarts and ancestral families said it is time to bring my humanitarian services home. I am simply honouring the call of my father’s land.”
According to him, part of his plan if he becomes governor is to carry on with the legacies of the Makinde’s government. “Part of my manifesto is to continue where he stops because continuity is sacrosanct. Governance must be consistent if we want positive legacies to endure.”

Also on the lists of aspiranst gearing up to contest the next governorship election in the state, is a popular Radio personality and an estranged ally of Governor Makinde, Oriyomi Hamzat who, a forthnignht ago declared, in Ibadan, declared that the people of the state are calling on him to throw his hat in the ring to contest the state’s top job.

Declaring his intention under the ‘Oyo N Pe O’ mantra, the radio anchor and promoter of Agidigbo FM said it’s time for the people to take their destiny in their own hands by voting a non -establishment person into the Agodi Government House.
Hamzat, who is believed to have clashed with Governor Makinde, a former ally said he’s unstoppable in his ambition, with or without Governor Makinde’s support.
“I have accepted the call of the people to serve Oyo State. This is not a step I have taken lightly. My vision is to implement programmes that will improve the lives of ordinary citizens, create opportunities for youths and women, and ensure that governance in Oyo State moves beyond rhetoric to real, measurable impact,” Hamzat declared during a political rally at the Liberty Stadium in Ibadan. He’s runing under the Accord party.