Eniola Yekini
An All Progressives Congress, APC, chieftain, Hon. Kayode Oladele, has challenged the Director-General of the Ladi Adebutu Campaign Organisation, Hon. Kehinde Sogunle, to address the legal challenges confronting his principal rather than attack Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi.
Oladele, Chairman of the Planning Committee of the Ogun State APC Presidential and Gubernatorial Campaign Council, spoke in response to Sogunle’s statement titled “A Litany of Illegalities and Impunities: The Subversion of Democratic Ethics in Ogun State.”
Oladele said Adebutu’s governorship ambition appeared to be heading for the rocks amid disputes surrounding the Peoples Democratic Party’s, PDP, nomination process, accusing Sogunle of attempting to divert attention from the opposition party’s difficulties by attacking Adeola and the APC.
Reacting to Sogunle’s allegations of financial hegemony, manufactured consensus and institutional manipulation, Oladele questioned the democratic credentials of the Ogun PDP, alleging that the party had become excessively dependent on Adebutu’s wealth and political influence.
He accused Sogunle, a former health commissioner in the State, of making unsubstantiated allegations against Adeola and the APC.
“Before appointing himself the moral guardian of Ogun politics, he should explain how Adebutu emerged, who genuinely challenged him and whether other aspirants enjoyed a level playing field,” Oladele said.
He questioned whether the Ogun PDP could sustain itself independently of Adebutu’s financial resources, alleging that the concentration of political influence around one individual undermined genuine competition within the party.
“Remove Ladi Adebutu and his family from the Ogun PDP today, the entire party structure will collapse like a house of cards,” he alleged.
Oladele also defended Adeola’s political ambition in Ogun West, describing arguments against his eligibility based on his previous representation of Lagos West as constitutionally misplaced.
“The people of Ogun West are capable of making independent political choices. Suggesting that their support for Yayi must be the product of manipulation or financial inducement insults their intelligence,” he said.
On Adeola’s emergence as the APC’s consensus choice, Oladele maintained that consensus was not illegal, challenging Sogunle to provide evidence of intimidation or the denial of any aspirant’s statutory rights.
He also defended Adeola’s constituency projects, arguing that elected representatives could legitimately be assessed on their contributions to development through lawful legislative and budgetary processes.
Oladele further distanced the APC from the PDP’s nomination disputes and its dealings with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, insisting that the ruling party neither conducted the opposition party’s primaries nor managed its internal disagreements.
Reacting to allegations involving Topa Olusegun Peter and purported attempts to manipulate the PDP nomination process, he denied any credible evidence linking Adeola to the alleged conduct.
“Serious allegations require serious evidence. Political insinuations cannot establish criminal responsibility,” he said.
Oladele also rejected the suggestion that Ogun State’s political heritage should be used to discredit Adeola’s ambition, arguing that the state’s governorship was neither a family inheritance nor the exclusive preserve of any wealthy political dynasty.
He urged Sogunle to focus on his principal’s political and legal challenges, insisting that Ogun State’s leadership should ultimately be determined by the freely expressed will of its electorate.