Teslim Folarin, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo state and his counterpart in Accord party, Adebayo Adelabu have resorted to mudslinging in an attempt to curry favour from the electorate ahead of the general elections.
While Folarin is a serving Senator, currently representing Oyo Central Senatorial district in his third term, Adelabu is a former deputy governor of Central Bank of Nigeria who defected to Accord party after he lost the primary election to Folarin who emerged as the APC gubernatorial candidate. Perhaps the pain of losing to Folarin, must have prompted Adelabu to fire the first salvo.
Adelabu had described both the state governor, Seyi Makinde, and Folarin, as people without major stakes in Oyo state because they have no investments in the state. This according to Adelabu is despite the state governor having an estimated N48 billion worth of assets before becoming governor and Folarin who has represented his constituency for 12 years with millions accruing to him as a Senator.
Unfortunately, despite their wealth, both have been unable to establish a single factory, even if it is a pure water factory that will employ at least five persons in Oyo state. Adelabu wondered what they were doing with all the money they have amassed over the years and why they prefer to stash it in foreign banks.
He then described them as birds that fly as soon as a tree falls, implying that, if there were to be an implosion, both men would easily relocate abroad where their investments are stashed, leaving the people of Oyo State at their own mercy. He prided himself as being a true son of Oyo State whose treasures are rooted in the state.
In addition to not relocating out of the state after he lost the 2019 elections to Makinde, Adelabu said he made it a point of duty to add a new money yielding, job providing investment every year since 2019. This he said is because he is a true stakeholder who would not want to see the state regress or collapse.
While Makinde is yet to respond to him, Folarin felt insulted by Adelabu’s impression of him and lashed out at him. He wondered what the choice of business that each candidate engages in has to do with political campaigns adding that Adelabu’s utterance has revealed him to be a learner in the field of politics.
He called him a sore loser who ran an uninspiring campaign for the gubernatorial position in 2019 but lost scandalously.
Continuing with his tirade, Folarin advised him to leave politics for those who know how to play it well and go compete favourably with business titans, the likes of Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Tony Elumelu or even Bill Gates.
Folarin further assured the people of Oyo State that the remnants of Adelabu’s bloated ego will be finally deflated in the upcoming general election, adding that the shame of electoral defeat would make Adelabu run away from future contests.
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