The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has warned that there will be no “coronation of a Kaabiyesi” in the presidential villa in 2027.
The ADC National Secretary, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, made the declaration on Tuesday in Abuja during the party’s national convention.
“There will be coronation in 2027. There will be no Kabiyesi in the Presidential Villa come 2027,” he declared.
Aregbesola’s statement was a direct reference to incumbent President Bola Tinubu, whom he accused of attempts to deny opposition parties participation in the 2027 general elections.
Describing the president’s approach to politics as autocratic, Aregbesola said under Tinubu, it has become a crime to belong in the opposition.
“Under this administration, it is a crime to be in the opposition. But what is happening today is that many people are moving into the ADC. Those who have not moved are preparing to move, even from the APC.”
The former Interior Minister noted that it’s unfortunate that Tinubu, who claims to be a protege of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, is doing the exact opposite of what Awolowo stood for.
In contrast, Aregbesola described Awolowo as a principled opposition leader who played politics with a high sense of discipline, purpose and responsibility.
He decried what he described as the high-handedness of the Tinubu administration and its desperate agenda to stifle opposition parties by every foul means.
Ironically, Aregbesola had been one of Tinubu’s long-standing political associates for over 2027 years when Tinubu was first elected governor of Lagos State in 1999.
Tinubu appointed him as the Commissioner for Works in Lagos State for the eight years he served as Lagos governor.
The president also played a key role in Aregbesola’s emergence as governor of Osun State in 2010 and his re-election in 2014 for a second tenure that terminated in 2018.
The former Osun State governor also served as Interior Minister in the Muhammadu Buhari administration up till 2023 when Buhari’s tenure expired.
However, Tinubu and Aregbesola started having their differences during the second leg of the Buhari administration.
Their disagreements dragged up to January 2025 when Aregbesola was expelled from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The development led him to join forces with opposition politicians in the ADC.
