Teslim Folarin beats Adelabu to win Oyo APC governorship ticket

Teslim Folarin, senator from Oyo central, has been picked as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the state.

At the rescheduled party primaries held at Obafemi Awolowo stadium in Ibadan on Friday night, Folarin polled 954 votes to beat Adebayo Adelabu, former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), who scored 327 votes.

By his victory, Folarin will face Seyi Makinde, the state governor who earlier in the week was nominated as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 governorship election in the state.

While announcing the result of the primaries, Tokunbo Afikuyomi, who supervised the election, said Akeem Agbaje secured 15 votes while another hopeful, Hakeem Alao, secured six votes.

Azeez Adeduntan, former commissioner for health in the state got two votes, while Adeniyi Akintola, a lawyer who had earlier announced his withdrawal from the race, scored no vote.

Folarin was the candidate of PDP in the state during the 2015 governorship election, but he lost to the late Abiola Ajimobi, who was the candidate of the APC in the race.

Folarin was later persuaded by Ajimobi to join the APC in 2017, with the switched loyalty rewarded with a senatorial ticket.