The Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, on Sunday described the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ogun State, Oladipupo Adebutu, as “trustworthy and reliable,” declaring his support for the party’s flag bearer ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
The monarch made the remarks while receiving Adebutu at the Ake Palace, Abeokuta, during a meeting with the Egba Traditional Council, where the PDP candidate sought the support and blessings of traditional rulers for his governorship ambition.
Adebutu was accompanied by his running mate, Dr. Lateefat Sowunmi-Kolapo; the PDP senatorial candidate for Ogun Central, Iyabo Obasanjo; the Ogun State PDP Chairman, Abayomi Tella; as well as other party leaders and candidates.
Speaking during the meeting, the Alake recalled his long-standing relationship with Adebutu’s father, the renowned businessman and philanthropist, Sir Kensington Adebutu, popularly known as Baba Adebutu.
“I have belonged to a particular club with Baba Adebutu for the past 30 years.
“In our early days, we rented an apartment where we held our meetings. However, we agreed that such an arrangement was not befitting of our club.
“At one point, a member generously offered us his house as our meeting venue, but we remained resolute that we needed a permanent secretariat of our own,” the monarch said.
Oba Gbadebo recounted how members of the club eventually identified a building opposite the City Hall in Lagos for purchase but faced the challenge of raising the required funds.
“Eventually, we found a building opposite the City Hall in Lagos and negotiated to purchase it. As members began contributing towards the cost, Baba Adebutu stood up and told us to keep the money we had contributed. He single-handedly paid for the building. That is the father of Oladipupo Adebutu,” he said.
Drawing a comparison between father and son, the monarch expressed confidence in Adebutu’s character and leadership qualities.
“The son of a lion must resemble the lion. In fact, he is an even better version of his father,” Oba Gbadebo said.
“I welcome you to Egbaland. Your grandfather was buried at Ijeun Akoni, near Osiele.”
The traditional ruler went on to publicly endorse the PDP governorship candidate before members of the traditional council.
“I am pleased to present Oladipupo Adebutu to all of you as a man who is trustworthy and reliable. May God be with you and continue to stand by you,” he said.
Offering prayers for Adebutu’s political aspiration, the Alake added: “This step you have taken, by the grace of God, you will never regret. Whoever says there will be no way for you, you will eat their funeral akara.
“Once again, I warmly welcome you, and I pray that you will never regret embarking on this journey.”
Addressing the traditional rulers, Adebutu declared his readiness to implement full financial autonomy to local governments.
“I will do something that will stun this nation and put us in the right direction. Local governments shall get their own money.
“We must make sure we get local government autonomy. I have been reiterating it to you that I, Oladipupo Olatunde, son of Adebutu, was at the National Assembly twice and I can boast that I didn’t embezzle public funds. How many politicians can say this?”, he asked.
Adebutu accused governors across party lines of diverting local government funds.
“It’s not a party thing. Both APC and PDP, all the governors are embezzling local government allocations. It’s not a secret,” he said.
He argued that local councils were able to deliver more development when they had greater control over their finances.
“When PDP was in power and local governments were getting their funds, there were developments and they carried monarchs along in the scheme of things,” he said.
The PDP candidate also reflected on his years in public office and his family’s legacy of community development.
He added that while he had continued the community development efforts associated with his father and grandfather, he had realised “that without executive powers, there’s a limit to what an individual can do to develop society.”
On infrastructure financing, Adebutu said governments must adopt new approaches rather than relying on borrowing.
“You don’t borrow money for infrastructure anymore,” he said, while promising to construct roads that would improve connectivity between Ogun State and Lagos.
He also pledged to make electricity a major priority of his administration through collaboration with private investors, saying improved power supply would stimulate economic growth and create jobs.
“For electricity, private sector participation with the government, we will pursue relentlessly it and once we generate that electricity, you will see the income of our people will increase and energy procurement will decrease,” he said.
Highlighting his personal interventions in the power sector, Adebutu claimed he had donated more electricity transformers to communities than the Ogun State Government.
“I can say it categorically that I have distributed more transformers to communities across the state than the government has done,” he said.
According to him, more than 600 transformers had been provided across Ogun communities.
“Any day we install a transformer in any community, it ceases to be mine. It becomes the property of the electricity distribution company and I haven’t stopped because of that,” he said.
Explaining the rationale behind the interventions, he added: “Because I believe with electricity, it’s a direct empowerment for everybody. It is either saving you money that you will spend or it is helping you to make money.”
Adebutu while presenting himself to the Obas as a candidate ready to serve the people, saying, “I offer myself for service.”
In his remarks, the State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in State, Hon. Abayomi Tella, said that meaningful development has eluded the state since the All Progressives Congress, APC, assumed office.
The PDP Chairman said he strongly believes in Adebutu’s advocacy for local government autonomy, stressing that Adebutu is prepared and ready to lead the development of Ogun State.
The deputy Governorship candidate, Sowunmi-Kolapo called on her kinsmen to support her political aspiration, noting that she has continue to support the development of Egbaland.
While commending the strong leadership of Alake and Egba traditional council in the progress of the zone, she assured that, Adebutu, if elected, would not disappoint them.
