Group advises Dapo Abiodun to disregard ‘conciliatory letter’ from Ladi Adebutu’s father

The Progressive Movement for Social Justice, a political group, has advised Dapo Abiodun, governor of Ogun, to disregard a conciliatory letter written to him by Kensington Adebutu, the father of Ladi, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the 2023 governorship election.

In a letter dated January 22, Adebutu, popularly known as Baba Ijebu, congratulated the governor for his victory at the supreme court.

He noted that “there must be an end to litigation and unhealthy rivalry” in the state.

Adebutu added that to practise what he preaches, he had counselled Ladi, his son, to put aside political opposition and join hands in moving the state forward.

However, in a statement on Wednesday, Ahmed Oladimeji, the group’s secretary, said the letter was a tactic by the businessman to seek public sympathy for his son who is facing trial for alleged vote buying.

“Unconfirmed reports say that the chief vowed that even if it was last agenda, his son would be governor,” Oladimeji alleged.

“Are the Ogun people to forget how the camp of the PDP candidate promoted division and disunity in the state just because the supreme court has now affirmed his freely given mandate?

“Without a doubt, the letter is medicine after death, a deliberate tactic to seek a political solution to the ongoing criminal trial of the PDP candidate for alleged vote buying.

 “By the way, why would the father be speaking for the son? Isn’t that in itself a confirmation of the widely held insinuation that Ladi is being remotely controlled by his father?

“The PDP candidate and his co-travellers deliberately interrupted the wheel of progress in Ogun State and prosperity will not be fair to them.”

In 2023, the federal government arraigned the PDP candidate over alleged vote buying during the governorship election.

In the suit marked AB/10C/2003, Adebutu and the other defendants are being prosecuted on a four-count charge bordering on criminal conspiracy, bribery, and two counts of undue influence which violates sections 121 and 127 of the Electoral Act 2022.