Exactly two months after the endorsement of Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola as the All Progressives Congress (APC) consensus candidate for the 2027 Ogun State governorship election, the party has announced Kudirat Adegunwa-Balogun as its deputy governorship candidate.

The announcement was made on Sunday by Governor Dapo Abiodun at an emergency APC Strategic Caucus meeting held at the party’s secretariat in Abeokuta.Governor Abiodun stated that the decision was reached after several consultations with party leaders and stakeholders in the state.

He noted that the party considered gender balance and religious tolerance in selecting her from Ososa town in Odogbolu Local Government Area of Ogun East Senatorial District.The governor said, “If the government is coming from the West, we felt that for equity and fairness, the deputy governor should come from the East. So, we sat and looked across the local governments in Ogun East and consulted widely within that constituency.“Yes, we’ve accepted. But until this august body ratifies that, we cannot consider it as something that has been formally accepted by the party and the state. So, we thought we must bring, in the same fashion that we brought the governorship candidate here…

“So today, it gives me great pleasure to announce to us who our deputy governor will be by the grace of God. today, we have among us Mrs Kudirat Abiodun Adegunwa-Balogun and, by the grace of God, Mrs Manobu will be our deputy governor.”In his remarks, the governorship candidate, Solomon Adeola, thanked the governor for the strategy deployed in the selection of various candidates for the 2027 election.Adeola disclosed that a total of 17 aspirants indicated interest in becoming the deputy governorship candidate and that all were qualified to represent the state, but one person had to emerge, hence the decision.He added that she is the daughter of the Asiwaju of Ijebuland and business mogul, Sulaiman Adegunwa.In her acceptance speech, Adegunwa-Balogun appreciated the state governor, party leaders and the governorship candidate for the trust and opportunity to serve.

Mrs Adegunwa-Balogun maintained that she does not take the support for granted but rather sees the nomination as a call to duty and a privilege to serve.Earlier in his welcome address, the Ogun APC Chairman, Yemi Sanusi, appreciated the state governor for his wisdom and congratulated all candidates who emerged victorious in the primary election.He noted that the primary election process was not yet completed, hence the purpose of the meeting.Our correspondent observed that while the state Deputy Governor, Noimot Salako-Oyedele, was absent, Iziaq Salako, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare; the Director-General of the National Sports Commission and former two-term commissioner in Ogun State, Bukola Olopade; the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Oludaisi Elemide; the Secretary to the State Government (SSG); and members of the Governor’s Elders Advisory Council (GEAC), among others, were present at the meeting.

Contrary to claims by former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, that he made the late Muhammadu Buhari president, the lawmaker representing Edo North Senatorial District, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has said Amaechi did not even vote for Buhari in 2015.

Oshiomhole, who spoke on Sunday in an interview on The Mic On Podcast, said the African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain could not vote because he was “overwhelmed” by the former Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.

According to the lawmaker, Amaechi, who served as the Director-General of Buhari’s campaign, instructed his supporters in Rivers State to boycott the election.

He said, “Amaechi lied that he made Buhari president. Amaechi was not able to vote for Buhari in 2015 because he unwisely directed the people of Rivers State to boycott the polls as he was overwhelmed by the forces of Wike.

“As Director-General of the campaign, he asked his people not to vote.”

Amaechi had, in an interview on Arise TV, claimed that it was he, and not Tinubu, who made Buhari president in 2015.

Lawmaker representing Edo North Senatorial District, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has claimed that President Bola Tinubu and his predecessor, the late Muhammadu Buhari, both members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), differ significantly in their approach to policymaking.

Oshiomhole, in an interview on The Mic On Podcast on Sunday, criticized the immediate past administration, stating that Tinubu was unable to openly criticize Buhari’s government because he played a key role in bringing him to power.

The lawmaker recalled a statement he made during Tinubu’s presidential campaign in 2022, where he declared that the former Lagos State governor would not run on Buhari’s record.

He said: “I said during Tinubu’s campaign that Asiwaju would not run on the record of Buhari.

“Even though Buhari was still a sitting president then, I said Tinubu would run on his own person and record, not the record of Buhari, because Tinubu was not a player in Buhari’s government.

“Tinubu did not even have the opportunity to nominate anyone into Buhari’s government. President Tinubu has a sophisticated mind. He had to speak as a statesman; he cannot disown his predecessor, but I can do so.”