2027: Money can’t buy Ogun voters, says PDP deputy gov candidate

Alhaja Yemi Sowunmi-Kolapo, the 2027 Ogun PDP deputy governorship candidate addressing the supporters during visit to Ijemo, Abeokuta

The Deputy Governorship Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State for the 2027 election, Yemi Sowunmi-Kolapo, has said the politics of throwing money around will only drain the spender rather than suppress the will of the state’s indigenes and residents.

Sowunmi-Kolapo, who is the Iya Sunnah of Egbaland, said her experience during the ward-to-ward tour embarked upon by the PDP had shown that no amount of money could buy the conscience of Ogun voters.

She spoke on Thursday while addressing a crowd of supporters who had gathered to welcome her during a condolence visit to a bereaved party supporter, Alhaja Kuburat Sowunmi, in Ijemo, Abeokuta.

The deputy governorship candidate said that despite what she described as propaganda by the ruling party over the exclusion of names by the Independent National Electoral Commission, which she said had “unwittingly turned itself into an opposition party struggling to claim power”, the PDP had continued to attract thousands of defectors from the All Progressives Congress.

“This shows nothing other than the fact that indigenes of the state will speak loudly with their votes in the coming polls.

“Ladi Adebutu is the next governor of Ogun State. Let them continue spending. Senator Iyabo Obasanjo is also going back to the Senate. Omo Owo, Toyin Amuzu, Dele Olaleye and all our candidates will emerge victorious,” she declared.

She added, “I am sure, with time, true sons and daughters of Ogun State, who are only on the other side to line their stomachs, will realign, sooner than later, in the interest of future generations.

“They know the implications of messing with the liberation that our forefathers fought hard for. In the comfort of their homes, they know the difference between a true son of the soil and a ‘Temu’ version.”

Speaking with journalists after the visit, Sowunmi-Kolapo said Ogun State could not be conquered with money belonging to Nigeria, urging indigenes who had yet to join the PDP to “not sell their heritage for peanuts that won’t last.”

According to her, the PDP ticket of Adebutu and Kolapo represents an ‘Ogun for Ogun’ agenda that would ensure the state’s resources benefit its people.

Some indigenes who spoke at the gathering also gave reasons for supporting the PDP ticket, citing various basic amenities and empowerment initiatives they said Adebutu had provided for residents across the state despite not holding political office.

A pastor from Oke-Ijemo, Mr Caleb Alao, argued that the APC had “ruined” the good days of PDP rule in the state.

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“We are tired of APC government. Many of the schemes established by the PDP administration have been abandoned and there is joblessness in the state.

“Ladi Adebutu has been empowering our market women and paying school fees of indigent scholars long before election. That is the kind of leader we want,” he said.

A community women’s leader, Mrs Folake Adeyemi, said Adebutu was known in the community through his foundation’s interventions for widows and farmers.

“Adebutu is not a stranger. We know his foundation, we know what he has done for widows and farmers. APC has brought hardship — cost of rice, cost of school fees, everything is high. We want a government that will feel our pain.

“Iya Sunnah has been running empowerment programmes in our community, twice a year, for about seven years. Her compassion is not about politics. We will vote for them and protect our votes,” she said.

Also endorsing the ‘Ogun for Ogun’ agenda, an elder in Ward 5, Semiu Bankole, said the initiative reflected what residents had been waiting for.

“This Ogun for Ogun agenda is what we have been waiting for. Some people want to buy our birthright because they have money.

“We are Egbas, we are proud people, we will not allow our ancestral land to be taken over by political traders who only remember Ogun during elections,” he said.

A youth leader, Ahmed Ogunsola, said the APC administration had not given residents enough reason to support another APC candidate in 2027.

“The APC government hasn’t impressed us to vote another APC in 2027. No jobs, no support for small businesses. Adebutu’s empowerment schemes have reached many of us in Abeokuta South. That is why we, the youth, are saying PDP is the way forward. We will defend our votes,” he said.

The meeting ended with residents pledging to take the ‘Ogun for Ogun’ message to all polling units in Abeokuta South.