ABEOKUTA – Former Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, used his 68th birthday celebration on Sunday to declare unwavering support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, while the event was conspicuously absent of major figures from the state and national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The celebration, held at the Ake Palace Pavilion in Abeokuta, was attended largely by former aides from Amosun’s tenure as governor and associates from his time in the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Notably absent were current party executives from the ward to the national level, as well as most Ogun State appointees of Governor Dapo Abiodun.
Sources at the event indicated a sparse turnout of his core political foot soldiers, with one close aide anonymously describing the celebrant as “a trouble maker.”
Despite the apparent political cold shoulder from the party’s current establishment, Amosun used the platform to reaffirm his APC membership and make a forceful case for the rotational presidency, arguing it is the South’s turn to complete an eight-year tenure.
“In the interest of Nigeria, we must observe rotation,” Amosun stated. “The last president from the North was President Muhammadu Buhari. He did… eight years. Now, it is the turn of us in the South. And we have President Tinubu in the saddle.”
He described support for the zoning arrangement as a “no-brainer” for anyone committed to national unity and fairness, adding that Tinubu, though from the South-West, represents the entire Southern region and the country.
Amosun also defended his foundational role in the Ogun State APC, asserting that the party’s history in the state cannot be written without him. “When you take Chief [Segun] Osoba, who will you take next? It’s me. It’s us. And that is why you do not destroy what you build,” he said.
He expressed confidence in the Tinubu administration’s ongoing reforms, urging patience from citizens.
Among the notable attendees were former Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Lekan Adegbite; former Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Sarafa Tunji Isola; former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Tunde Lemo; and former Senators Iyabo Anisulowo and Gbenga Obadara.
The event highlighted the lingering political rift between Amosun and the mainstream APC structure in Ogun State, even as the former governor sought to project unity and unwavering support for the national party leader.
