OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY, PRINCE DAPO ABIODUN, CON, EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF OGUN STATEOKE-MOSAN, ABEOKUTA

Your Excellency Sir,

*OTA DESERVES THE OGUN WEST SENATORIAL SEAT IN THE 2027 GENERAL ELECTIONS*

We write this open Letter with profound respect for Your Office, your Political wisdom, and your remarkable contributions to the growth and stability of Ogun State. We also write, as concerned Stakeholders from Ogun West who believe that History, logic, Political calculation, democraytic fairness, and Electoral pragmatism must guide the decision of the All Progressives Congress (APC) regarding the Ogun West Senatorial ticket in the 2027 General Elections.

This is not merely a Political appeal. It is a call for jusytice, thorough analysis, strategic thinking, and Political self-preservation for the APC.
Your Excellency, Ota Town deserves the Ogun West Senatorial seat in 2027.

Any attempt by the Leadership of the APC to remove the Senatorial ticket from Ota to another Town within Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area — whether Igbesa, Agbara, or Ado-Odo — would amount to a grave Political miscalculation with dangerous Electoral consequences for the Party.

Politics is not conducted in the realm of sentiments alone. It is fundamentally driven by numbers, influence, strategic calculations, and electoral realities. In all these critical indices, Ota stands higher above other Towns in the Local Government Area, even in Ogun West Senatorial District.
Your Excellency Sir, Ota is not merely another Town, it is the Political and Economic heartbeat of Ogun West and Ogun State in general.

It is therefore unbelievable — and Politically indefensible — that any Political Party would contemplate taking a Senatorial Seat away from a massive Electoral asset, an urban centre with huge voting strength to a comparatively remote or rural location. Such a move would send dangerous signals to the Electorate and create avoidable resentment among Voters who have consistently stood by the APC.

The bitter truth in Politics is this, the Electorate does not like being taken for granted. They may find a choice in the next best options

Ota has remained the Electoral backbone of the APC in Ogun West. The town and its surrounding communities have repeatedly demonstrated loyalty to Your Administration and to the Progressives Family.
In both the 2019 and 2023 General Elections, Ota produced the largest voting bloc in Ogun West Senatorial District and significantly contributed to Your victory at the Governorship Polls.
The electoral statistics are there for everyone to see.
In 2023 general Elections, Ado-Odo/ Ota secured 44, 568 votes for the APC while the rest four Local Government Areas in Ogun West had a combined votes of 52, 714. Ota produced over 80 percent of the 44, 568 from Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government.
The whole data of the 2023 House of Representatives and Senatorial Elections are attached to this open Letter.

Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government has consistently records one of the highest voter turnouts in Ogun State. In Ogun West Senatorial District, the Local Government contributes well above 40 percent of the total votes cast during major Elections. This is not accidental. It is the direct consequence of Ota’s population strength, urban expansion, Industrial concentration, commercial vibrancy, and cosmopolitan Character.
The APC must therefore be careful not to reward loyalty with Political exclusion.
A political party that weakens its strongest Electoral fortress risks creating avoidable fractures within its support base.
Your Excellency Sir, history has repeatedly shown that great Political Parties collapse not because of opposition attacks but because of internal miscalculations and poor Political judgment.
Ota is not only blessed with Population strength, it is equally endowed with exceptional human Capital. The town has produced highly accomplished sons and daughters who have excelled Nationally and Internationally in Politics, Governance, Engineering, Business, Academics, Diplomacy, Public Administration, and private Enterprises.
Today, three distinguished Ota indigenes are prominently positioned in the race for the Ogun West Senatorial ticket under the APC.
They are:
• Senator (Prince) Gbolahan Dada
• Hon. Engr. Lai Taiwo
• Her Excellency, Engr. Noimot Salako-Oyedele

These are not Political Lightweights, they are experienced Technocrats and accomplished Public Servants with National relevance, intellectual depth, administrative competence, and Political exposure. Most importantly, they possess the qualities required of modern Senators in today’s complex Democratic environment.

The role of a Senator in contemporary Nigeria goes beyond attending plenary sessions and moving motions. Nigeria today requires senators who possess:
• Strong negotiation skills
• National and International exposure and influence
• Capacity for persuasive argument
• Legislative Intelligence
• Economic understanding
• Strategic networking ability
• Diplomatic maturity
• Grassroots political connection
• Broad local and global perspectives

The Senate is a sophisticated arena of National bargaining, influence, Power negotiation, coalition-building, and strategic Legislative engagement. Ogun West cannot afford to send a weak representative to such an environment. This becomes even more important when one considers the calibre of Political figures emerging from other senatorial districts in Ogun State.

In Ogun East Senatorial District, there is an emergence of an influential Personality in Your Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun. In Ogun Central Senatorial District, another formidable Political titan, Senator Salisu Shuaib has emerged.

Why then should Ogun West become the odd one out? Why should Ogun West lower its Political standards when the other Zones are fielding heavy Political gladiators with enormous influence and negotiating capacity? Ogun West deserves equal Political strength and equal political prestige, considering the towering status and negotiation skills of the current Senator Yayi who vacates the seat in 2027 in furtherance of service to Ogun State as executive governor. This is why Ota’s finest must be seriously considered.

Furthermore, Your Excellency, with the growing political momentum of Sen. Olamilekan Adeola as the possible first Governor from Ogun West, the Zone requires a formidable Senator who can complement such a historic Administration with Intellectual strength, strategic influence, and powerful National connections.

A Governor cannot work effectively in isolation. He requires a Senator from his own Zone as well, who understands Federal Politics, who can negotiate critical projects, influence National Conversations, attract investments, defend Regional Interests, and build strategic alliances within the National Assembly and beyond. Ota possesses candidates with such capacity. To ignore this reality would amount to weakening Ogun West at a very crucial Political moment in its History.

Your Excellency, there is another major Political danger that must not be ignored. If APC Stakeholders create the impression that Ota’s Electoral value is being deliberately undermined or Politically shortchanged, the consequences could become unpredictable in 2027.

Large urban voting Populations are Politically sensitive. They are also Politically sophisticated. When voters begin to feel marginalized, excluded, or taken for granted, they often respond in unexpected ways.

This brings to mind the famous “Otedola phenomenon” of 1991 in Lagos State, when Political calculations unexpectedly collapsed and produced Michael Otedola as Governor against prevailing Political expectations. Political history teaches one permanent lesson: never underestimate Voter reaction.

Your Excellency and APC stakeholders must therefore avoid creating conditions where Ota voters may begin to consider alternative Political options in the Ogun West Senatorial election. That would be Politically dangerous, even suicidal.

The APC today enjoys enormous goodwill in Ota because the people believe they are central stakeholders in the progressive movement. That confidence must not be shattered through avoidable political decisions that appear disconnected from electoral realities.
The path to easy and overwhelming victory for the APC in Ogun West in 2027 is very clear.

The party should strategically select one of the Three formidable Ota indigenes currently in the Senatorial race. Doing so would:
• Consolidate APC’s strongest voting base
• Strengthen Party unity
• Energize grassroots mobilization
• Enhance electoral confidence
• Neutralize opposition penetration
• Produce stronger senatorial representation
• Maintain Political balance within Ogun West

Above all, it would demonstrate fairness, political intelligence, and strategic foresight. Your Excellency, Leadership is ultimately remembered not merely for power exercised, but for wisdom displayed at defining moments. This is one of such defining moments.

The APC must not weaken its strongest fortress.
The APC must not alienate its largest voting bloc.
The APC must not gamble with Ota.
History, Political arithmetic, Electoral statistics, demographic realities, and strategic logic all point in one direction: Ota deserves the Ogun West Senatorial seat in 2027.

May wisdom guide your decisions and those of our other Leaders. May fairness prevail over narrow calculations. And may Ogun West continue to advance in unity, strength, and Political relevance.

Respectfully yours,

A. A. Adeyemo
For: Concerned Progressive Stakeholders
From Ota, Ogun West Senatorial District.