Aggrieved APC Aspirants Will Back Alli — Folarin

Former Senate Leader Teslim Folarin has expressed confidence that aggrieved All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirants in Oyo State will support the party’s governorship candidate, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, in the 2027 elections.

Folarin said disagreements over the party’s candidate selection process should not stop members from working together, warning that failure to unite could push them into political oblivion.

He spoke on Tuesday during an interview with journalists after visiting the APC state secretariat in Ibadan to formally inform the party of his appointment by President Bola Tinubu as coordinator for the 2027 election.

Asked about aggrieved party members, including former Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu, and whether they would work for Alli, Folarin said he expected them to join the party’s campaign.

“By the time we come and launch here formally, I expect all of them to be here. They’re all committed to the party. There’s nothing wrong in being aggrieved. You can be aggrieved, but at the end of the day, you have to look at the big picture,” he said.

Folarin maintained that party members could disagree with the process that produced candidates but should accept that the candidates had emerged and work for the party.

“You don’t have to like everybody. You may have issues about the process. Well, at the end of the day, candidates have emerged,” he said.

He recalled that some party members had also been aggrieved when he emerged as a candidate in the past, describing such disagreements as part of the political process.

Folarin, however, warned that failure to close ranks could undermine the party’s future.

“If we don’t come together, we’re all going into political oblivion, that’s the truth of the matter. And we don’t want to retire now,” he said.

On the APC’s campaign strategy for the 2027 general election, Folarin said the party would rely on Tinubu’s achievements to canvass support for the President.

“We’re gonna use Mr President’s achievement to drive this campaign,” he said.

The former Oyo State governorship candidate also disclosed plans to engage other political parties in the state as part of efforts to build what he described as a “rainbow coalition” for Tinubu.

According to him, the planned outreach would target parties without presidential candidates and those whose presidential candidates he considered weak.

“We intend to start visiting. There are some parties that have no presidential candidate, or, with all due respect, very weak presidential candidates. The message is, don’t waste your time. Let’s come together and support Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Folarin said.

He described Tinubu as his preferred choice for the presidency and said the planned engagements would seek to persuade other political groups to support the President in 2027.

Folarin’s comments come as the Oyo APC seeks to unite members dissatisfied with the candidate selection process ahead of the next general election. Although he expressed confidence that aggrieved aspirants would support the party’s candidates, he did not cite any fresh pledge from Adelabu or other aggrieved members during the interview.