Reasons Adebutu Is Confident About Winning Vacant Reps Seat In Abiodun’s Constituency For PDP

Insiders say that Ladi Adebutu and his team are upbeat about winning the vacant Sagamu/Ikenne/Remo North Federal Constituency House of Representatives seat.

“Their confidence is growing by the day based on the claims on the streets,” according to those in the know.

This development is significant given the prevailing political situation in the federal constituency.

Adebutu and state Governor Dapo Abiodun hail from the same local government area.

“And they are rabid political opponents,” checks revealed.

Adebutu is the power behind the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, while Abiodun is the governor on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The last occupant of the vacant Reps seat, Adewunmi Onanuga — the ranking APC member, famously known as Ijaya — was a strong ally of Governor Abiodun. She died on January 15, 2025, while serving her second term, which should have lapsed in 2027.

A by-election will determine her replacement.

“And that is where it gets really interesting. Adebutu is keen to use the opportunity to validate his political supremacy in terms of followership and grassroots influence against Abiodun,” sources disclosed.

Checks revealed that since Abiodun became governor in 2019, Adebutu — who is widely regarded as having a stronger political structure — has lost all direct and indirect electoral contests they’ve squared off in, including the 2023 gubernatorial and November 2024 local government elections.

Adebutu had protested every one of Abiodun’s electoral victories.

“But with those experiences under his belt, he is prepared to finally record a win, and it appears that everything is aligned in his favour,” his team claims.

Among the touted factors working for Adebutu and his team is that the upcoming election is an isolated one, which allows for the concentration of political force and proper monitoring by stakeholders.

“Adebutu has always asserted that the federal constituency is his stronghold and that he would always triumph over Abiodun and his party in any fair election. He is working keenly to put that to the test,” his sympathizers claim.

Findings revealed that as part of his strategy, Adebutu is working to ensure Oluwole Bolarinwa Adekunbi gets the PDP ticket for the Sagamu/Ikenne/Remo North Federal Constituency by-election.

Bolarinwa Adekunbi, famously known as Abo, was the party’s candidate for the same position in the 2023 election. He lost the election to the late Onanuga in a disputed victory for the APC.

“The plan is to return Abo as the party’s candidate and pick the campaign up from where it was left off. The belief is that the party doesn’t need to work hard to sell him to the public, giving campaigners and vote mobilizers room to focus on addressing the gaps the APC exploited to claim victory in 2023,” observers say.

Adebutu, a former occupant of the federal legislative seat, is said to be deploying all he has — including alliances across party lines — to ensure he returns the position to the PDP.

However, additional checks revealed that while the PDP’s preparation is talk-of-the-town, the plans by the APC and Governor Abiodun to retain the position remain shrouded. Sources insist that while there is a leading candidate, nobody has been officially named as the flag bearer.