₦airaland Forum

Oyo PDP Stakeholders Reject Makinde’s Anointed Successor Adekanmbi, Cite Unpopularity

Governor Seyi Makinde’s decision to name Honourable Abimbola Adekanmbi as his preferred candidate for the 2027 governorship election has triggered strong backlash from Oyo PDP stakeholders, who overwhelmingly rejected him in favour of Dr. Debo Akande.

The carefully constituted 21-member stakeholder panel, drawn from across the state’s geopolitical zones voted 20-1 in support of Akande, Director General of the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency. Adekanmbi, the governor’s anointed choice, received only one vote.


The process began with a five-member inner caucus that sat for 15 hours. In initial voting, Adekanmbi scored zero votes while Akande led with three. After a recess and further deliberations the following day, the expanded stakeholder meeting delivered a decisive 20-1 verdict for Akande.

Sources within the party allege that despite this clear position, a directive was issued to set aside the result and declare Adekanmbi as the governor’s preferred candidate. The move is said to have been heavily influenced by Otunba Seye Famojuro, a close ally of the governor.

Stakeholders opposed to Adekanmbi raised three main concerns: his record as Commissioner for Finance under former Governor Abiola Ajimobi, during which civil servants suffered prolonged salary arrears; his recent defection to the PDP on December 10, 2025, after contesting the 2023 Oyo South senatorial ticket on the APC platform; and his Christian faith, which conflicts with an unwritten zoning agreement that the next governor should be Muslim.

A separate online claim suggesting Adekanmbi defeated Saheed Fijabi in a stakeholder vote was dismissed by insiders as “entirely false and misleading.”

The Adekanmbi imposition follows a documented record of Governor Makinde acting against agreements, party structures, and now his own stakeholder caucus.

In the run-up to the 2023 general election, Makinde was a member of the G5 group of PDP governors, alongside Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Samuel Ortom (Benue), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), who openly worked against the presidential candidacy of Atiku Abubakar over the party’s failure to honour zoning to the South. The PDP lost all five of the G5 governors’ states at the presidential poll. In Oyo, the APC’s Bola Tinubu won the presidential vote while Makinde retained the governorship on the PDP platform.

The G5 alliance has since collapsed. Wike accepted appointment as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory under President Tinubu. In a December 2025 media chat in Port Harcourt, Wike said the current crisis in the PDP was driven by Makinde’s presidential ambition, accusing him of orchestrating the absence of the National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, and pursuing litigation at the Enugu State High Court, which Wike said lacked jurisdiction over party matters. Makinde countered that during a meeting at the Presidential Villa attended by President Tinubu, Wike had pledged to “hold PDP” for the President ahead of the 2027 election. Wike has denied the claim.

The fallout fractured the party into two factions. Makinde’s faction held a national convention in Ibadan on November 15 and 16, 2025, in defiance of a Federal High Court restraining order. The Court of Appeal subsequently upheld the restraint. On May 1, 2026, the Supreme Court, in a split decision, invalidated the convention.

At an Oyo PDP stakeholders meeting on March 23, 2026, before the apex court ruling, Makinde had already declared that the vacated convention “remains the platform” through which the PDP would field its candidates for 2027.

The pattern of conduct, from sabotaging his party’s 2023 presidential ticket while securing his own re-election, to fracturing the post-2023 PDP in pursuit of a presidential vehicle, to convening a national convention in defiance of multiple court orders, now extends to the imposition of a candidate his own caucus and expanded stakeholder panel rejected by twenty votes to one.

The question for the Oyo PDP is no longer who the stakeholders chose. It is whether that choice will hold against the governor’s veto.

https://leaders.ng/2026/05/10/oyo-pdp-stakeholders-reject-makindes-anointed-successor-adekanmbi-cite-unpopularity/

Political Godfatherism at its finest , these greedy crocks do not care about the citizens, they are there dragging who becomes the next governor, neglecting the needs and worries of its people, God forbid

Btw first to comment, no be chiss 🤣😂

They are all the same......this one too will want to impose his candidate, run for senate and become a God father.


Nigeria politician...chai.

It’s funny Makinde whose himself is a baby politician is anointing a successor!

The former minister of power is the next gov in oyo state

Fashola was the minister of power in under Buhari he was the best gov in Nigeria during is tenure national issue on privatization own distribution and genco company ministers can’t do jack

Sucre6:
Political Godfatherism at its finest , these greedy crocks do not care about the citizens, they are there dragging who becomes the next governor, neglecting the needs and worries of its people, God forbid

Btw first to comment, no be chiss 🤣😂

1
Sueuelsvwowlsgxkdoeieebekdbe

Ivebeenbanned:
1
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dldhebeekelegshsksgddguffbrh

Makinde premature ambition is killing his future political dreams
They should learn politics from jagaban, Bhukari and Jonathan
Patience and perseverance are key

Ivebeenbanned:
dldhebeekelegshsksgddguffbrh

msjehelalsvwhsldhsjsodmdjdnd

Abi na Godwin obaseki makinde wan con give Oyo people 😂😂 A! Version of Obaseki

Fake news. When did news from leaders.ng start making frontpage?

...And Makinde was not a popular candidate...

Laple0541:
It’s funny Makinde whose himself is a baby politician is anointing a successor!

Baby politician that beat renowned and seasoned politicians 31-2 in last election. The second governor to complete two terms in Oyo state since the start of democracy.He is indeed a baby politician lol.

What’s wrong with Seyi Makinde and this authoritarianism.. why push an unpopular candidate against your party’s choice.

This move may backfire!

Laple0541:
It’s funny Makinde whose himself is a baby politician is anointing a successor!

was wike not a baby politician when he anointed fubara? Lol

it's democratically wrong but some politicians are doing it for continuity.

Nice pick by Makinde! Say no to Islam in Yorubaland

Why is the governor opposing the choice of the caucus
Is the Debo Akande same with the person with this CV? 👇

WHO IS DR. ADEBOWALE (DEBO) AKANDE

Dr. Debo Akande is a distinguished international development leader with over 30 years of strategic leadership experience. He is the Executive Adviser to the Governor of Oyo State on International Cooperation Development and doubles as the pioneer Director-General of Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency. Debo is also a Director with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) with four portfolios in 17 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa.

He was the former Head of Olusegun Obasanjo Station in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the third largest IITA Research for Development station in Africa. He has led several international development projects for and with diverse international institutions, including the World Bank, African Development Bank, Deloitte LLP USA, USAID, UK DFID, Canada Finance, Gate Foundation Australia Aid, and British Council.

He has piloted several global agricultural development projects with verifiable success, which include the World Bank Integrated Project for Agricultural Growth (PICAGL) in the Great Lakes of Africa and the Multi-Donor AgResults Global Initiative. He was a member of the Global Consortium Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Research Program on Agriculture for Health and Nutrition and one of the four Country Coordinators of the CGIAR Flagship on Food System and Healthier Diet in the World, and the second in Africa.

He has a Doctoral Degree in Business Administration from the University of Hertfordshire, the United Kingdom. He also holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in international development studies from the United Kingdom and Diplomas in International Environmental Law at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, Switzerland, and Agribusiness Management from the African University, Nigeria. He was trained in Climate Change Management at Oxford University, United Kingdom, Food Security Policy at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Bank, Negotiation, Conflict Analysis, and Management from the United States Institute of Peace, United States, among others.

He is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute of the United Kingdom. He has authored over 20 articles in leading high-impact global journals, contributing to the discourse on agribusiness and international development worldwide. His articles have received distinct awards, including co-author of the Best Paper of the Year 2016 by the World Mycotoxin Journal.

Usmanovic95:
Baby politician that beat renowned and seasoned politicians 31-2 in last election. The second governor to complete two terms in Oyo state since the start of democracy.He is indeed a baby politician lol.

You guys will continue to misunderstand the difference between being a baby politician and being liked. You'll learn sha

Peacecore:
You guys will continue to misunderstand the difference between being a baby politician and being liked. You'll learn sha

Maybe you all need to come up with an operational definition of both "baby politician" and "seasoned politicians" because I'm tired of this constant shifting of post.

Makinde too dey feel like baba sope

Usmanovic95:
Maybe you all need to come up with an operational definition of both "baby politician" and "seasoned politicians" because I'm tired of this constant shifting of post.

Do you know that Lagos can still vote Ambode if he comes back to contest in APC. Does it remove him from the category of baby politicians? Make una learn so that you won't be making mistakes.

Peacecore:
Do you know that Lagos can still vote Ambode if he comes back to contest in APC. Does it remove him from the category of baby politicians? Make una learn so that you won't be making mistakes.

Define who a baby politician is ,if you can't ,stop quoting me

Usmanovic95:
Define who a baby politician is ,if you can't ,stop quoting me

A baby politician is someone that doesn't have a wide experience in politics. Winning elections doesn't make you a political professor? Atiku is not a baby politician even though he's not won the presidency. Jonathan is not a more experienced politician than him even though he's been elected a president so rest.

Peacecore:
A baby politician is someone that doesn't have a wide experience in politics. Winning elections doesn't make you a political professor? Atiku is not a baby politician even though he's not won the presidency. Jonathan is not a more experienced politician than him even though he's been elected a president so rest.

Isn't it a bit too early to start cracking jokes lol? a two term governor without a known political godfather is not experienced to you? One of the deciding factor G5 governors that brought in the current government to power is not experienced enough?
Back then in ibadan, this same seyi makinde you call a baby politician publicly told your experienced ATIKU what to do to emerge as the president but his ego made him reject their advice and lost the support of massive 5 governors. One of the reasons you guys don't rate seyi is because of his calm ambience, not the talkative and braggadocios type.

Usmanovic95:
Isn't it a bit too early to start cracking jokes lol? a two term governor without a known political godfather is not experienced to you? One of the deciding factor G5 governors that brought in the current government to power is not experienced enough?
Back then in ibadan, this same seyi makinde you call a baby politician publicly told your experienced ATIKU what to do to emerge as the president but his ego made him reject their advice and lost the support of massive 5 governors. One of the reasons you guys don't rate seyi is because of his calm ambience, not the talkative and braggadocios type.

Wike is their father so he's baby politician where Wike is. He can't wrestle Wike in a political fight. He was just liked to be elected twice because of his track record and that's why he lost all other national assembly posts and some state assemblies. That's to show you that it's a personal love from the electorates. Let's see how easy it'll be for him to produce his successor then.