Folarin, Adelabu absent as Oyo APC reconciliation committee submits report

The 2023 governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Oyo State, Teslim Folarin; former Minister of Power and governorship aspirant, Bayo Adelabu and other aggrieved governorship APC members were absent on Wednesday as the party’s national chairman, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, met with the state reconciliation committee in Ibadan, the state capital.

Other aspirants who were conspicuously absent at the meeting were Akeem Agbaje, Hakeem Alao and former deputy governor, Rauf Olaniyan.

Addressing journalists shortly after the meeting, Yilwatda described the reconciliation of aggrieved members as a continuous process.

He stressed the need for unity among members of the party in the state, saying reconciliation remained crucial to its chances of reclaiming the state in the 2027 general election.

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.

“We are a family. It is normal for children of the same family to have some little difficulties. But we are happy that the party is still stable.

“Also, from the report that we gathered from the reconciliation committee and other stakeholders, the party is stable, and we are good to go.”

The national chairman stressed that the reconciliation process was still ongoing, adding that all the issues raised by the aggrieved members of the party would be addressed.

He said the fresh reconciliation process was aimed at addressing grievances, rebuilding trust among members and strengthening the party’s structure ahead of the elections.

On the recently concluded Osun State governorship election, Yilwatda said the APC had not taken an official position on the outcome, adding that the National Working Committee would review the election with the party’s candidate and other stakeholders before taking a position.

“We have not sat down as a party to take a position. A position as a party will involve the National Working Committee inviting candidates and taking a review of what happened in Osun State,” he said.

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Yilwatda, however, described the election as a learning experience for the party, stressing the importance of political maturity and sportsmanship.

Also speaking, the chairman of the Oyo APC reconciliation committee, Femi Lanlehin, said, “The party is making headway in its efforts to reconcile the aggrieved members before the conduct of the 2027 elections.

“The committee had met with all the aggrieved aspirants and the findings have been presented to the national chairman.

“We just came out of the primaries, and some people are not happy with the outcome. They expressed their disappointment. They were aggrieved. We have presented our findings to the national chairman of our party to act on it,” he explained.

Lanlehin added that the APC leadership was planning to have a meeting with President Bola Tinubu on how to resolve the matter as a family.

“We cannot afford to lose the 2027 election to any opposition parties in Oyo State.

“I am assuring you that we will win all the elective positions at all levels in 2027 in Oyo State,” he said.

Aside from the presentation of the findings of the committee, the meeting, which had the governorship candidate of the party, Sharafadeen Alli, in attendance, was also aimed at reconciling the aggrieved aspirants and their teeming followers across the 33 local government areas of the state.

The PUNCH reports that governorship aspirants, under the aegis of G5, had accused the party leadership of imposing Alli on them, claiming that the process that threw him up was undemocratic.

Also, Adelabu, who contested the ticket along with Alli, said he was still awaiting the national leadership of the APC to declare the result of the primaries conducted in the state.