A presidential hopeful and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, on Thursday explained the role he played in the process that led to the emergence of Mr Dapo Abiodun as the governor of Ogun State.
While addressing a crowd of APC delegates in Abeokuta, he stated that his role was critical to the governor’s victory in the 2019 election in the state.
According to the former governor of Lagos State, party stakeholders in Ogun had rejected Governor Abiodun as the APC governorship candidate in the build-up to the election, but for his intervention.
“Dapo that’s sitting down here, could he have become Governor without me?” he queried while addressing the APC delegates in Yoruba during his consultation visit to Ogun, the home state of another presidential hopeful, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
“We were at the stadium; they tore all his posters. Even the party flag, they didn’t want to hand over it to him. I was the one who brought it. If he wants to meet God at the right place, he must know that without God and me, he would not have become Governor.”
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‘Do The Right Thing’
In his response, Governor Abiodun thanked the APC visit for his visit to the state and assured him that the people would do the right thing.
“We have listened to our national leader; he has spoken in our dialect. I do not have a doubt in my mind as to why our leader has come,” he said.
“Our leader, our people have listened to you very well. I am sure they have digested everything you said. Rest assured that we will do the right thing. We shall do the right thing.”
Addressing @OfficialAPCNg National Delegates and other stakeholders from Ogun State during the consultation visit of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu pic.twitter.com/4bRjIvcYaP
— Prince Dr. Dapo Abiodun – MFR (@dabiodunMFR) June 2, 2022
Tinubu visited Ogun in company with Governors Babajide Sanwol-Olu of Lagos and Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano, as well as former Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, among others.
In the build-up to the election, Governor Abiodun emerged as the APC candidate amid a reported dispute within the chapter of the party in the state.
Unlike the usual situation where a candidate enjoys the support of the incumbent, the governor’s predecessor, Ibikunle Amosu, threw his weight behind a former member of the House of Representatives, Adekunle Akinlade, to succeed him.
Following his failure to secure the party’s ticket, Akinlade who represented Egbado South and Ipokia Federal Constituency left the APC for the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).
He, however, lost to Governor Abiodun who is seeking to extend his term in office by another four years when his tenure ends in May 2023.
