Alake backs Adebutu for governor: “You will eat the funeral akara of your enemies”

● Egbaland monarch anoints PDP candidate as Abiodun’s successor, praises father’s legacy

The Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, has thrown the weight of the Egba Traditional Council behind Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu, declaring him “trustworthy and reliable” and praying that he will “eat the funeral akara of anyone”  standing in his way to becoming governor.

The royal endorsement came on Sunday during a courtesy visit by Adebutu and his campaign team to the Ake Palace, as the 2027 race for Ogun State Government House begins to take shape.

“I am pleased to present Oladipupo Adebutu to all of you as a man who is trustworthy and reliable,” Oba Gbadebo told the gathering of chiefs and party leaders. “May God be with you and continue to stand by you. This step you have taken, by the grace of God, you will never regret.”

The monarch’s blessing carried the weight of lineage. He invoked the memory of Adebutu’s father, business magnate Sir Kesington “Baba Ijebu” Adebutu, recalling a 30-year association in a private club.

“We rented a place, then someone offered his house, but we wanted our own secretariat,” the Alake recounted. “We found a building opposite City Hall in Lagos. As we were contributing, Baba Adebutu stood up and said, ‘Keep your money.’ He single-handed bought the building. That is the father of Oladipupo Adebutu. The son of a lion must resemble the lion. In fact, he is an even better version of his father.”

Oba Gbadebo also noted ancestral ties, saying Adebutu’s grandfather was buried at Ijeun Akoni near Osiele, and urged Egba sons and daughters to rally behind one of their own.

Adebutu was accompanied by his running mate, Alhaja Yemi Sowunmi-Kolapo; PDP Ogun Central senatorial candidate, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo; and a host of party chieftains.

—“Local governments have collapsed”—

State PDP Chairman, Hon. Abayomi Tella, said the visit was part of wide consultations with critical stakeholders, stressing that traditional rulers remain closest to the grassroots.

Tella, a former Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Chairman, delivered a scathing assessment of the current APC administration.

He alleged that despite local governments now receiving “about ten times” the allocation he managed, no meaningful projects are visible.

“When I was chairman, we received about N200 million and we used it to build roads and provide amenities,” Tella said. “Today, they collect far more and cannot boast of a single road. The local government system has collapsed.”

He said Adebutu’s agenda centers on restoring financial autonomy and good governance to the councils.

—PDP presents “formidable team”—

Alhaja Sowunmi-Kolapo appealed to her Egbaland kinsmen for support, promising that an Adebutu administration would not disappoint.

Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, who defected from the APC after her own governorship bid, said she had come to believe Adebutu possesses the vision and political will to deliver.

“No political party has a more formidable team in Egbaland than the PDP,” Obasanjo declared, urging monarchs to back the party “in the interest of the people.”

With the Alake’s public anointing and the invocation of his father’s philanthropy, Adebutu now enters the 2027 contest with the palace’s imprimatur — and a Yoruba proverbial curse for his opponents to contend with.