Former Ogun State Governor Olusegun Osoba said he is a political godfather and named Senator Solomon Adeola as his candidate for governor, while insisting he has never placed anyone in the administration of Governor Dapo Abiodun.
He made the remarks on The Reuben and Kike Abati Podcast, hosted by the media couple Reuben Abati and Kikelomo Atanda-Owo. A video of the conversation was shared on Sunday. Asked about godfatherism and about calls for influential figures to step back from politics, Osoba said he counsels and advises Abiodun but hardly interferes. “I’ve never nominated one person into his government,” he said.
His reasoning was practical. He has many people around him, he said, and picking one for an appointment would offend the rest. If 100 people want a job and he backs one, he said, 99 are offended. Anyone he recommended would also be viewed with suspicion by the others in the administration, and Abiodun is free to ignore advice he offers.
On the question of his own role, he was direct. He said he does not deny being a godfather and that Adeola, widely known as Yayi, is his candidate. He cited Adeola’s experience in the Lagos State House of Assembly, the House of Representatives and the Senate, and his background as an accountant who has worked on appropriation. He said he gives advice and does not insist on it.
Osoba drew a line between choosing candidates and running government. In his view, political elders can have a say in who becomes a candidate, but they should not dictate how elected officials govern. His advice to governors, he said, is to compensate and involve associates who supported their campaigns while leaving final decisions on appointments to the governor.
Osoba governed Ogun from 1992 to 1993 and again from 1999 to 2003. Abiodun took office in 2019, succeeding Ibikunle Amosun, and was re-elected in 2023, which means he cannot seek the office again.
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The political setting gives the remarks weight. The Ogun chapter of the All Progressives Congress announced Adeola as its consensus governorship candidate at a caucus meeting in Abeokuta on April 13, with Abiodun presenting him as the person the party had agreed was deserving of the flag. “Nothing will give you more joy than to fulfil all the dreams of my predecessors,” Abiodun said at the meeting. The announcement came before the party’s primaries, and the reports reviewed by The Eastern Updates do not describe the rivals or the process in detail, and do not mention Osoba’s role in it. Osoba’s statement that Adeola is his candidate is therefore his own account; it has not been confirmed by the governor’s office or the party.
The choice has divided the family of another prominent Ogun figure, former President Olusegun Obasanjo. In late June, brothers Olugbenga and Olujuwon Obasanjo, sons of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, publicly endorsed Adeola after visiting him in Abeokuta, according to a report that quoted them pledging “unalloyed support.” Their sister, former Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, opposes his candidacy. She had also sought the APC ticket, argued that the consensus process broke party guidelines and left her sidelined, and resigned from the party on June 8, citing disrespect and unfair treatment. Reports later said she planned to return to the Peoples Democratic Party; that was not confirmed in the material reviewed. The elder Obasanjo has not endorsed Adeola, and the report found no indication that his sons were speaking for him.
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The podcast itself is new. Reuben Abati and Atanda-Owo launched it in October at an event marking her 20 years in media, according to coverage of the launch. Abati is a well-known commentator and a former presidential spokesman.
Osoba’s remarks also bear on a practical question for Ogun voters: whether the next governor will answer to a political patron. Osoba says the answer, in Abiodun’s case, is no. He has said that his one rule is to advise without nominating, and that anyone he puts in a government becomes a suspect to everyone else in it. The Eastern Updates could not locate a response from the governor’s office to his account of the arrangement.
The 2027 governorship election in Ogun is scheduled for February 6, alongside governorship polls in other states, under the timetable the Independent National Electoral Commission published after moving the presidential vote to January 16.
