Exclusive: What President Tinubu Told Teslim Folarin During Closed-Door Villa Meeting Ahead of Oyo 2027
By Online Editor
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday held a closed-door meeting with former Senate Leader and the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the 2023 Oyo State election, Senator Teslim Folarin, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The high-level meeting is believed to be part of ongoing efforts by the President and the APC leadership to reconcile aggrieved stakeholders and strengthen party unity ahead of the 2027 Oyo State governorship election.
According to a source familiar with the meeting, President Tinubu appealed to Folarin to work closely with the APC’s governorship candidate for the 2027 election, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, in order to present a united front against the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State.
The source disclosed that the President assured Folarin that his loyalists would not be sidelined in the party’s future political arrangements, promising that they would be accommodated in both state and federal power-sharing structures.
“The President wants everyone on the same page. He appealed to Senator Folarin to support the party’s candidate and assured him that his political family would be carried along in future appointments and political calculations,” the source said.
The meeting comes weeks after the APC adopted Senator Sharafadeen Alli as its governorship candidate for the February 2027 election.
Folarin, who represented Oyo Central Senatorial District in the Senate, had been widely expected to seek the party’s governorship ticket again after flying the APC flag in 2023. However, he did not participate in the primary process that produced Alli as the party’s candidate.
Alli’s emergence followed months of consultations among APC leaders and stakeholders, who endorsed him as the party’s consensus candidate. He was officially presented alongside his running mate, Adesoji Adedeji, during a ceremony held in Ibadan on July 2.
Despite the endorsement, the process generated controversy within the party.
Former Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, who resigned his ministerial appointment to contest the governorship ticket, maintained that the APC national leadership had not formally announced the outcome of the primary at the time and urged party members not to rely on what he described as premature declarations.
Several other aspirants, including former Deputy Governor Rauf Olaniyan, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari, Akeem Agbaje and Oyedele Alao, also contested the ticket.
In addition, a group of aggrieved aspirants known as the G5 rejected the process that produced Alli and demanded that the party leadership address their concerns.
The disagreements prompted the APC leadership to intensify reconciliation efforts, warning that internal divisions could affect the party’s chances of reclaiming Oyo State from the PDP, which has governed the state since 2019 under Governor Seyi Makinde.
Political observers believe the President’s meeting with Folarin signals a major step in the reconciliation process, considering the former Senate Leader’s influence within the APC and his strong political structure across Oyo State.
The source further revealed that Folarin is expected to brief his supporters in the coming days on the outcome of his meeting with President Tinubu and the next direction of his political movement.
With preparations for the 2027 governorship election gathering momentum, the APC leadership is expected to continue engaging key stakeholders in a bid to consolidate support behind Sharafadeen Alli and strengthen the party’s chances of returning to power in Oyo State after two consecutive electoral defeats.
