Profile of the newly-appointed Deputy Governor of Ondo State

Chief Olayide Owolabi Adelami hails from Owo, Ondo State. He was born to the family of Oluka Oribokun by Pa and Mrs. Amos Adelami.

He holds the title of Member of the National Institute of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru in Jos.

Adelami graduated from the Prestigious Imade College in Owo, Ondo State before proceeding to The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Oyo State for his GCE A Level and later University of Lagos for his Bachelors of Science in Business Administration. He further got an MBA degree from the Ogun State University in Ago Iwoye.

Adelami was enlisted into the Federal Civil Service as an Accountant II in December 1983. He was later posted to the National Assembly provisional office, Abuja, as one of the pioneer staff members of the Constituent Assembly, which metamorphosed into the present-day National Assembly.

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The astute manager embarked on several projects and helped in creating special trust funds, which he spearheaded from 1996 to 2000.

He was re-called to the National Assembly in 2000 to strengthen the Department of Finance and was made the Head of Finance and Account Department three years later.

He remained in that position till 2007 when he was confirmed as a Director and was nominated for a one-year senior management course at the prestigious National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, near Jos, the Plateau State capital.

In 2014, Adelami was promoted to the position of Permanent Secretary, Directorate of Procurement, Estate and Works, a position he held until he was appointed as the Deputy Clerk at the National Assembly. Adelami remained the Deputy Clerk until his retirement in April 2018.

His political journey started shortly after his retirement when he was appointed by the presidency as the coordinator, Presidential Support Committee, Ondo State. Adelami was a governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress in 2020, but stepped down for the late Rotimi Akeredolu, who also hailed from his local government in Ondo State, and who went on to emerge as the Governor.

The new deputy governor in an interview with The Punch in 2020 said he never set out to join politics in his early plan. He said: “As an experienced and trained technocrat, it wasn’t part of my plans to join politics initially. I was expecting an appointment, but I was assigned to coordinate Ondo State for the presidential support committee of the All Progressive Congress. That was my first exposure to field politics, and this afforded me the opportunity to feel the needs of the people across the 18 local government areas of Ondo State.

“After the presidential election, I saw the need to help the people of the state as the administrator of the resources of the state. I know that I would be more impactful than what we are seeing now in the state. I have the capacity. I believe in myself that I can manage the people, the money, and the materials of the state better than what it is now.”