The immediate past Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has rejected the endorsement of Sharafadeen Alli as the consensus governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Oyo State.
On Friday, some APC leaders in Oyo endorsed the serving senator as the 2027 consensus candidate during a meeting in Ibadan, the state capital.
A former senator, Ayo Adeseun, had claimed that President Bola Tinubu backed Alli’s candidacy.
“Mr. President remains the leader of our party, and his opinion on who flies the party’s flag must be given due consideration,” Adeseun had said.
Reacting on Saturday at an APC Ibadan South-East meeting, Adelabu said he personally met Tinubu and secured the president’s approval to pursue his governorship ambition.
Speaking in Yoruba, Adelabu said those claiming the president had already endorsed another aspirant were “telling lies.”
He said before resigning from office, he insisted on meeting Tinubu face-to-face because the president appointed him.
“Before I resigned, I said, I need to see the person who appointed me for a face-to-face conversation. That was why I delayed my resignation to have time to see him (Tinubu).
“He called some stakeholders in Oyo so that when I see him, he will know what to tell me. I met him last week in a closed-door meeting. I can’t tell lies against the president publicly,” Adelabu said in Yoruba language.
According to Adelabu, Tinubu told him, “Bayo, it is time. We have been on this ambition for a very long time. It is a long-time ambition of yours. As much as I want you to be around me, I won’t hinder your ambition. Go and resign to start work’.
Adelabu added that Tinubu said he would consult stakeholders to see if a consensus arrangement was possible, but if not, the party would adopt direct primaries.
“By the grace of God, that is what he told me. He said he will look at it and reach out to two or three persons to see whether a consensus arrangement is possible, and that if it is not possible, we will go through the route of direct primary. That is what the president told me.
“Anybody saying he had a meeting with the president and that he endorsed someone is telling lies. They are telling lies.
“The president has not called anybody to endorse any candidate in Oyo,” he added.
The former minister further declared that if Tinubu eventually decides to back any candidate in the state, it would be him.
