Oyo 2023: Teslim Folarin wins APC ticket, set to battle Seyi Makinde for governorship seat

The race for who becomes the next Oyo State governor is set after the All Progressives Congress (APC) concluded its governorship primary elections late night of Friday, May 27, 2022.

The APC governorship primary was keenly contested by six aspirants including Senator Teslim Folarin, a three-time Senator of Oyo State, Chief Bayo Adelabu, the party’s 2019 candidate, Akeem Agbaje, Azeez Adeduntan, and Hakeem Alao.

After the voting process, the Chairman of the Electoral Committee announced that Senator Folarin polled a total of 954 votes to defeat five other aspirants who contested against him.

Adelabu, who was his closest challenger, got 327 votes despite being absent at the venue of the election.

Azeez Adeduntan had two votes, Akeem Alao had six votes, Hakeem Agbaje had 16 votes while 11 votes were voided.

Senator Teslim Folarin was thereafter declared the winner of the election and emerged as the APC’s governorship candidate who will now battle it out with Governor Seyi Makinde in the upcoming 2023 elections.

Governor Seyi Makinde, the incumbent governor of Oyo State had earlier on Wednesday, won the governorship ticket of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

His win means he has been endorsed by the party to run for a second term after defeating his only opponent, Hazeem Gbolarumi by 1,040 against 2 votes.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Makinde thanked all the delegates for finding him worthy to be the party’s flag bearer in the 2023 election.

The governor assured the delegates that he would continue to be honest with them and urged all PDP members in the state to continue working for the progress of the party.

The 2023 elections in Oyo State which in most cases feature the two major political parties – PDP and APC have now chosen their respective candidates.

In 2019, Seyi Makinde defeated Bayo Adelabu (the 2023 APC primary runner up) in a flawless victory following several political coalitions towards the election. Seyi Makinde of the PDP then polled a total of 515,621 votes while Bayo Adelabu of APC polled 357,982 votes despite being in the then ruling party.

In 2023, with Seyi Makinde now seeking a second term, he will be contesting directly against a three-time Senator Teslim Folarin who has now replaced Bayo Adelabu as the flagbearer of the APC.