Rather than be joyous that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, now has two out of the six governors in the southwest, ‘Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, has yet to congratulate Ademola Adeleke as he resumes office as helmsman in neighbouring Osun.
OYOINSIGHT.COM understands that Adeleke was inaugurated around noon on Sunday with Makinde absenting himself from the function attended by many PDP stalwarts, especially those from Oyo and other southwest states.
Apart from his media office that has not issued a congratulatory message, checks on the governor’s verified social media accounts showed that his last post was about the helmsman of the Ibadan based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA, Nteranya Sangiga who was sent off last Friday.
Two days after Adeleke’s inauguration, Makinde, apart from neither attending the event nor represented, has not also visited his brother governor.
Though Makinde congratulated Adeleke when he was declared winner in July 2022 by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, OYOINSIGHT.COM understands that Makinde supported Dotun Babayemi against the new governor before and during the primaries that produced the former senator as PDP candidate.
Only on Sunday, when Abubakar Atiku, former vice president and presidential candidate of the PDP and others landed at the Ibadan airport enroute Osogbo, the Osun State capital, Makinde was nowhere to be found to receive the visitor. He sent his chief of staff, Segun Ogunwuyi to receive them in the morning while his deputy, Bayo Lawal went to see them off around noon.
This newspaper understands that the absence of Makinde has generated criticisms within the camps of the PDP, especially in the southwest over the governor’s behavior.
Apart from Adeleke, Makinde is not disposed to the aspiration of Abubakar following the insistence of Iyorchia Ayu to remain as national chairman of the PDP.
Trouble had started early 2022 when supporters of Adeleke protested against what they termed Makinde’s interference in the affairs of the Osun PDP. They had accused him of not supporting Adeleke and favouring Dotun Babayemi.
Adeleke, OYOINSIGHT.COM recalls, later went on to defeat Babayemi at the primaries. All through the campaign period, Makinde didn’t visit Osun to offer support. He, however, congratulated Adeleke when he was declared winner against outgone Gboyega Oyetola of the APC.
Though the PDP has expelled Babayemi from the party, Makinde was seen in a picture with him at a function in Rivers State, an action that irked the leadership and members of the Osun chapter.
Also, OYOINSIGHT.COM understands that Makinde had a good working relationship with Oyetola. Apart from the joint ownership issue of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, Ogbomoso, that was amicably ceded, Oyo and Osun under the duo, signed the contract for the award of 91km Osogbo-Iwo-Ibadan expressway reconstruction.
The inauguration of Adeleke brings to two the numbers of PDP governors in the southwest, leaving APC with four.
