Former Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu has dismissed speculation about his cabinet exit, stating on Saturday that he resigned with President Tinubu’s full knowledge and blessing, not without consultation as widely insinuated.
Adelabu, who relinquished his ministerial portfolio to pursue the governorship of Oyo State under the banner of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said the narrative painting his exit as a rogue or impulsive move is not only false but politically motivated.
“Adelabu actually obtained the full approval and blessing of President Tinubu before taking the decision to resign,” his media aide, Femi Awogboro, said in a statement released on his principal’s behalf. “Those spreading false speculations should desist; such claims are baseless.”
The former minister’s exit from the Federal Executive Council had sparked considerable chatter in political circles, with sources suggesting that the resignation was abrupt and that due process within the corridors of Aso Rock had not been observed.
For a government that has consistently emphasized loyalty and party discipline, the optics of a minister walking away mid-tenure to chase an elective office without the explicit imprimatur of the presidency would have been deeply damaging, both to Adelabu’s political future and his relationship with Tinubu.
It is against this backdrop that Saturday’s statement carries considerable weight. By going public with the claim of presidential approval, Adelabu is not merely defending his personal honor; he is signaling to political stakeholders in Oyo State and beyond that he remains a man firmly within the good graces of Nigeria’s most powerful political figure.
Perhaps the most telling detail in Adelabu’s statement was the pointed reference to his return to Ibadan. According to his camp, critics are “unsettled by the unprecedented crowd that welcomed him back to Ibadan last Thursday,” a reception that, by all accounts, was a significant demonstration of grassroots support in the ancient city.
For a politician entering what promises to be a fiercely contested gubernatorial race, such a homecoming carries enormous symbolic and strategic value. The imagery of thousands of supporters lining the streets of Ibadan to receive a returning son sends a clear message to rivals within and outside the APC: Adelabu is not merely a minister who has returned home; he is a candidate who commands the streets.
His handlers appear acutely aware of this optics game, using the crowd size as a rhetorical cudgel against detractors, suggesting that those fueling the resignation controversy are, in fact, motivated by fear of his growing political momentum.
Adelabu’s gubernatorial ambition in Oyo State is not new. Known in political circles by his popular sobriquet “Penkelemesi,” the Ibadan-born technocrat and businessman has long been seen as a formidable political force in the South-West.
His ministerial appointment under Tinubu had been viewed by many as a strategic positioning, one that has now given way to what his camp clearly believes is the right moment to make a decisive play for the state’s highest office.
The incumbent Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is widely expected to be his principal rival, setting the stage for what could be one of the most high-profile governorship contests in the country’s political calendar.
Political analysts will note that Adelabu’s statement, while firm in its denial, also reflects the volatile and perception-driven nature of Nigerian politics, where the court of public opinion can be just as consequential as any electoral tribunal.
The speed with which his camp moved to address the resignation controversy suggests an awareness that unanswered narratives, however baseless, can calcify into accepted wisdom.
Whether the denial is sufficient to fully douse the flames of speculation remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: Adebayo Adelabu has fired the opening salvo of what promises to be an intense political campaign, and he has done so by placing President Tinubu’s name, and by extension his endorsement, at the very center of his defense.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Former Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu has firmly dismissed claims that he resigned from President Tinubu’s cabinet without proper consultation, maintaining that he had the president’s full approval before stepping down to pursue the Oyo State governorship.
The denial appears strategically timed, as Adelabu signals he remains in Tinubu’s good graces while simultaneously launching what promises to be a powerful gubernatorial campaign—backed by a massive public reception in Ibadan that has clearly rattled his political opponents.
