Posted by •By AKEEB ALARAPE, Ibadan on
Petrel of Ibadan politics, High Chief Lamidi Adedibu, returned to Ibadan on Wednesday, after two weeks medical check-up overseas, with a definitive statement that he is still in control of Oyo politics.
Says ‘I'm still in charge of Oyo politics'
Petrel of Ibadan politics, High Chief Lamidi Adedibu, returned to Ibadan on Wednesday, after two weeks medical check-up overseas, with a definitive statement that he is still in control of Oyo politics.
Adedibu's statement was a contradiction to the stand of Olubadan-elect, Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade 1, that the 13 members of the Olubadan-in-council should jettison partisan politics or drop their traditional titles to play politics.
Addressing journalists at his Molete residence, Ibadan, yesterday, Adedibu, surrounded by his teeming supporters, including the deputy governor, Hon.Taofeek Arapaja and Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Moruf Atilola, however, pledged to cooperate with the new monarch to ensure peace, progress and development of Ibadanland. 'I maintain my stand. Whatever he might say about me and whatever he wishes to say about me, he is my Oba. I will never say anything to the contrary to what the Olubadan has said. He is my father and I am one of his cabinet members.
'But in respect of other people, who are making comments, they are political learners. They are mixing it up with politics and religion. By the will of God, here we are. The speaker of the state House of Assembly is here. The deputy governor is here. The former deputy governor is also here. By the will of God, I am the controller of politics here. We don't need to join issues with any other people. I have no other comment than to say glory be to God. The political power of this state is in my hand," Adedibu stated.
Adedibu refused to comment on the controversies generated by his actual position in the Olubadan line, which Oba Odugade said it was Ekarun-Olubadan and not Ekerin-Olubadan as being claimed by the old politician.
He nonetheless disclosed that he would be at the coronation ceremony physically as any Ibadan chief of his rank.
On the on-going Chief Alex Ekwueme-led reconciliation committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the octogenarian politician explained that those, who went to the Abeokuta sitting of the committee were those aggrieved with the power shift presently being witnessed in the state.
'Those people that complained from Oyo State are mainly from Ibadan and no other place within the state. They include Senator Rashidi Ladoja, Alhaji Yekini Adeojo and Chief Richard Akinjide. Their complaint was on power shift and I still maintain that power must shift and it has shifted. So what is their complaint? They are still nursing the ambition of becoming governor but we have produced four governors. They should bear it," he added.