2027: Group Tasks Abiodun On Smooth Handover To Ogun Indigene

A socio-political advocacy group, the Sustainability of Ogun Legacy Beyond 2027, has called on the state governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, to preserve the legacies of his administration by ensuring a smooth succession in the 2027 governorship election to an indigene of the state.

The Ogun Legacy Beyond 2027 particularly admonished Abiodun to “protect the inheritance of the people” by ensuring that political leadership of the Gateway State remains firmly rooted in its cultural and historical foundations even in the face of the looming threat of “hostile succession” bids.

Convener of the group, Dr Arabambi Abayomi, stated these in a statement yesterday in Abeokuta, the state capital.

Arguing that Ogun State maintains a deeply rooted traditional and cultural structure that should not be disregarded in political leadership decisions, Arabambi in the strongly worded statement, urged Abiodun to prevent non-indigenes or perceived outsiders from taking control of the state’s leadership.

He expressed concerns that wealthy political interests from outside the state may attempt to influence the 2027 guber election and disrupt what he described as a necessary “brother-to-brother” transition among indigenes.

Emphasising that the governor is currently faced with a defining moment in shaping how history will remember his administration, the convener declared that Abiodun has the opportunity of breaking “a cycle of contentious transitions” and ensure a peaceful handover to a true son or daughter of the state.

“Governor Abiodun has a chance to do what his predecessors could not. He can sit down with the traditional rulers, the kingmakers, the elders, and the political class, and say: “this time, we will not fight. This time, we will choose from among ourselves. This time, the succession will be brother to brother, not stranger to son.”

Arabambi urged the governor to use his political structure towards ensuring that all political parties field indigenous people who understand the assignment as a successor.

“The clock is ticking and 2027 is not far away and so, we say to Governor Dapo Abiodun: let 2027 be the year you break the jinx. Let it be said of you that when it was time to leave, you did not abandon your house to strangers.

“Let the history books record that you, an Ijebu man, handed over to an Egba, a Yewa, an Awori, a Remo – any true daughter or son of the soil – and in doing so, healed a wound that had festered for too long”.