President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been advised to consider the removal of the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, owing to the growing concerns about his capacity, leadership style, and poor decision making.
It is claimed that these may seriously harm the government and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State. The state is governed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Relating the outcome of Saturday’s by-election in Ibadan North federal constituency of Oyo State, where the Minister led the APC to a humiliating 12-0 defeat, the Concerned Progressive Leaders in Oyo State said the unimpressive growth in the power sector might not be unconnected to Adelabu’s alleged glaring poor decision-making, insensitivity to diverse perspectives, and questionable governance practices.
The leaders, who expressed sadness over the party’s abysmal performance in the election, disclosed that the unilateral imposition of the unpopular candidate on the party for the election, alleged arrogance, poor human relations and inane allotment of positions and government patronage allegedly by the Minister have crippled the party in Oyo State.
In a press statement signed by the Chairman of the Concerned Leaders, Chief Tejumola Adisa, the leaders avered that APC failed woefully in the by-election allegedly as a result of the Minister’s poor decision of single-handedly picking an unpopular candidate out of “the more qualified and popular aspirants that bought forms” for the APC House of Representatives contest.
‘’In a reckless display of naked power, the Minister without any recourse to party leaders in the local government and the state arrogantly imposed Mr Adewale Olatunji, who had not been associating with the party against more reputable and acceptable active party members, that included former local government chairmen and former members of House of Assembly.
“At the end of the day, Adelabu’s imposed candidate was roundly defeated in all the 12 wards, including his polling unit, where he struggled to win just 6 votes. Insensitive to diverse perspectives, unmindful of plurality of the state and total neglect of the loyal and dedicated members of the All Progressives Congress,who worked for the success of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the party in 2023, when Adelabu abandoned the party to take the gubernatorial ticket of the Accord Party, the Oyo State Minister gave the three major appointments allocated to Oyo State to only members of his Accord Party in just one local government.
“Exercising his power as a Minister, Chief Adelabu made Mr. Rasheed Adegboyega, a failed House of Representatives aspirant of the Accord Party in Oluyole Federal Constituency, the Executive Director, Corporate Services of Rural Electrification Agency.
Adelabu also made the president appoint the leader of the Accord Party in Oluyole Local Government, Hon. Ibrahim Olaifa, as the representative of Oyo State in the all-important South West Development Commission,” the statement read.
It added: “Capping his inane appointments, Minister Adelabu misled President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in appointing another person from Oluyole Local Government as the Oyo State Commissioner for Federal Character Commission. This position was given to the failed candidate of the Accord Party, Mr. Ayodeji Abass Aleshinloye. Unbelievably, Aleshinloye already had another federal appointment facilitated for him by Adelabu before last week’s appointment.
“In a state of 33 local government areas, it speaks to fatuousness, height of insensitivity and recklessness, which bordered on poor leadership, meagre thinking for a so-called leader to give three available appointments to persons from just one local government and all from his former political party,” the leaders noted.
They therefore urged the President to consider the immediate removal of the Minister for what they alleged was his obvious lack of capacity and ability to take good decisions and lead effectively before further harm is done to the government and the APC.
In addition, the APC stalwarts called for the annulment of all the weird appointments done by Adelabu, urging for a sharing of the positions “reasonably and justly among the three senatorial districts of the state.”
