Abiola Ajimobi, the outgoing Governor of Oyo State, was the target of an All Progressives Congress (APC) jingle made in a last-ditch effort to win Saturday’s governorship election.
Since faring poorly at the February 23 presidential and national assembly election, APC has been jittery, fearing that its governorship candidate Bayo Adelabu could fall to Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) if the people are not placated before Saturday.
In parts of the APC jingle, Yoruba poet Ologundudu can be heard begging Oyo State people and criticising Ajimobi in caustic Yoruba, loosely translated as: “I know the people of Oyo State are angry with Ajimobi. The heartrending developments that happened during Ajimobi’s tenure are the reason you’re angry: To be dismissive of other people, to say a King amounts to nothing, to be so arrogant to the point of smashing one’s head against a tree. Acts of rudeness and the nasty things Abiola said to you still anger you.
“Please, all the people of Oyo State, I want you to accept that Ajimobi is the one who wronged you — not APC — but all of us have accepted that we will come back home to beg you. The party knows you love me, that is why they sent me to beg you. People of Oyo, please, Buhari-Osinbajo sent me to come and beg.
“I warned repeatedly back then when Ajimobi was rude to Olubadan, giving the crown to people who weren’t fit to wear it. We warned Ajimobi to go beg Olubadan for his mistake, but pride goes before a fall and a dog that will get lost won’t hear the whistle.
“Sorry, Ajimobi; can you now see that the rain can drench you not once but twice? You who won the governorship can now not win a senatorial election? Now, you’ve been put to shame.”
Among the many tipping points of Ajimobi with the people of the state, he clashed with Oba Saliu Adetunji, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, after reviewing the Ibadan Chieftaincy Law, consequently elevating some high chiefs to kingship status.
This infuriated the Olubadan, who thought the move was a plan to whittle down his authority. It was also widely believed that the Governor took the step for the political reason of using the new kings to his advantage rather than having to rely on just the Olubadan.
However, the Governor’s explanation is that that other crown-wearing chiefs act superior to their Ibadan counterparts simply because they’re high chiefs.
On Monday, SaharaReporters reported how Bola Tinubu, National leader of the APC, is now personally overseeing the Oyo governorship campaign in a desperate bid to prevent a potential surrendering of the governorship to the PDP. One of Tinubu’s recent steps, apart from buying off Adebayo Alao-Akala’s candidature, is to ban Ajimobi from showing up at APC governorship campaign meetings involving Bayo Adelabu, the party’s candidate.
Even though the Tinubu camp has denied the story, Ajimobi has not been seen at any of Adelabu’s campaign events since losing the senatorial election.
