The Eselu of Iselu, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi, has said traditional rulers in Ogun State would not support the candidacy of Biyi Otegbeye of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2023 governorship election.
Ogun West, otherwise known as Yewa/Awori is the only zone that is yet to produce a governor since the creation of Ogun State in 1976.
For the 2023 election, Otegbeye is the only Ogun West candidate in the three-horse race involving two Remo indigenes – Dapo Abiodun and Ladi Adebutu of the APC and PDP respectively.
But, the Eselu said Obas in Ogun West would not throw their weights behind Otegbeye, who is from the zone.
In an interview with newsmen, the monarch said though the Obas are not against Otegbeye’s ambition, there is the need to engage more stakeholders to make Ogun West agenda a reality.
“Everything in life is about dreams, aims and objectives. It is our dream in Ogun West that one day we will be in Okemosan. But we still need better planning. We need to engage everybody, all the critical stakeholders in Ogun State; so we will be able to work out our modalities so that one day, somebody from Ogun West will be governor. I believe in Ogun West and I believe in good governance,” he stated.
Oba Akinyemi maintained that the support given to Governor Dapo Abiodun by Ogun West in 2019 accorded him the victory in the election, saying he is expected to reciprocate the gesture in 2027.
He said, “Dapo Abiodun is there today because we supported him to be there, and we expect him to reciprocate in supporting us too in 2027.
“Going into Okemosan as governor of Ogun State, not Ogun West alone, has to be between us and others zones – Central and East. And you can’t kill anybody’s dream to contest. It is the legal right of every citizen of this country to aspire about a particular position and go for it. But, we are looking at our own calculations that, the Ijebus should finish their terms, we supported them to be there. It’s a deal between us and them. We have supported them and we want them to reciprocate. It is not going to be Governor Abiodun alone, it’s going to be everybody; our brothers from the Central and our brothers from Ijebu.
“I am not saying Biyi should not contest and I’m not saying he’s not going to be the governor of Ogun State one day, but everybody still needs to put our hands on deck and work out modalities to make that dream come true. That’s our own position.”
Asked if the monarch meant this was not the right time for the ADC candidate to contest, he replied: “It is the right time for him to contest. It is the right time for everybody to aspire. But our own deal is that, we will support this governor (Abiodun) to be successful and subsequently ask all the Ijebus and the Egbas to reciprocate and support us.”
When he was asked if his words meant that Otegbeye would not get any support from Yewa/Awori traditional ruler, Oba Akinyemi replied in the affirmative, saying: “Because we have taken a position and Obaship is all about high integrity. We have taken a position and our position is that Dapo Abiodun should continue what he has started. This doesn’t kill our dream as well. We are still aspiring to be governor.”
Newspot reports that Otegbeye has the backing of the immediate past governor of Ogun, Ibikunle Amosun.
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