The Minister of Power and 2023 governorship candidate of the Accord Party, AP,  in Oyo State,  Adebayo Adelabu, said his return to the All Progressives Congress, APC,  from the Accord Party, was to help President Bola Tinubu succeed in his ‘Renewed Hope Agenda.‘

 

Adelabu who made this known during his official return to APC at the party secretariat in Oke-Ado, Ibadan on Friday, said his return was not about succeeding Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State in 2027.

 

According to the Minister, he and others who left the party with him had formally returned to the APC to make the party stronger.

 

The former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria explained that they had earlier left the party based on principle and not because they had problems with APC or with party members in the State.

 

Adelabu who was the Governorship candidate of the APC in Oyo State during the 2019 election, left the party in May 2022 to join the Accord Party after failing to secure the governorship ticket of the APC.

 

Speaking to the party members at the APC Secretariat in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, the minister said, “I returned not because of 2027 governorship ambition or to take over the party, but because I believe this is a party that brought President Bola Tinubu to power, and we need to support him to deliver on his electoral promises.

 

“This is not time for politics; it is time for governance, and Tinubu needs our support for him to succeed and deliver on his Renewed Hope Agenda.

 

“I have come back to the party not to take over the party and not to dissolve executives; we have come to the party to extend hands of fellowship and reconciliation.

 

“We assure you that we are back for cooperation and collaboration for us to build a strong party so that the party will take over power in the state at the end of the day in 2027.”

 

Also speaking during the event, the APC chairman in the state, Isaac Omodewu, who was represented by the party’s secretary, Alhaji Tajudeen Olanike, said that the party is open for reconciliation and ready to listen to all aggrieved members to build a stronger party in Oyo State.

 

On his part, a former Deputy Governor, Moses Adeyemo, said that the party needs peace and unity of all members for progress.

 

Adelabu was appointed minister of power by Tinubu, after contesting and losing the 2023 Governorship election, under the platform of the Accord Party.