-How His Lotto Fortune, Connections, Failed To Make His Son Ladi Ogun Governor
-Governorship Not Lottery Business: Baba Ijebu Learns The Hard Way
By Tope Ogundipe
Chief Kessington Adebutu made his plans and God laughed. Once upon a time, the billionaire magnate and owner of Baba Ijebu Lotto vowed to make his son, Ladi, the Executive Governor of Ogun State.
Having successfully made the latter a Senator, the lottery boss committed his time and resources to the gubernatorial fantasy, hoping that the odds would favour his chubby socialite son (Ladi) and he would emerge as Ogun governor via the 2023 elections.
But nursing a gubernatorial fantasy, father and son would find, was a terrible, fickle thing–an escapist venture that often morphs into an eternal, horrendous nightmare for those who fail at it, and a fancy frantically avoided for its horrors.
Reality eventually schooled father and son as Prince Dapo Abiodun triumphed at the polls after a hard-fought run.
All the money and efforts committed to Chief Adebutu’s cause have amounted to nought. The money bag suffered a rude shock by the results of the election. At the pronouncement of Governor Abiodun as the winner of the election, Chief Adebutu experienced, for the first time ever, how a battery feels when it pours electricity into a non-conductor.
The sad fate of the Ijebu mogul may be likened to that of the fantasist who built castles in the air; his work and edifice need not be considered lost; they are in the air, where they should be. Now, he may put the foundations under them.
It need not be overemphasised that Chief Adebutu made a bad investment in the gubernatorial ambition of his son. Pundits would argue that it was actually Chief Adebutu’s dream, not Ladi’s, to make the latter go head to head with the super-performing incumbent Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun.
Like the proverbial jester who is too thick to discern when his blunders beggar the wisdom of withdrawal, Ladi failed to realise the futility of challenging Governor Abiodun to the state’s governorship seat.
Lacking the gift of foresight and brilliance in private and public offices, Ladi failed to realise that his frantic bid to beat Governor Abiodun to the Number One administrative seat in the State House was ill-advised.
Since 2018, when the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Abuja, presented Ladi Adebutu with the symbolic party flag, to enable him contest the Ogun State governorship election on the party’s platform, he had been engaged in a futile battle to occupy the State House in Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Despite enjoying the support of saboteurs interred in the power structure of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Ladi failed to defeat Abiodun at the 2023 governorship polls – his second attempt and loss.
The Supreme Court on Friday, January 19, upheld the election of Dapo Abiodun as governor of Ogun State. A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, headed by John Okoro, held that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu, failed to prove allegations of non-compliance with the Electoral Act during the conduct of the March 18 poll.
“This appeal is unmeritorious and ought to be dismissed and it is hereby dismissed. The judgement of the Court is hereby affirmed,” Tijjani Abubakar, who read the lead judgement, said.
Abiodun was re-elected as the Governor of Ogun State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in March 2023.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had announced that Abiodun polled 276,298 votes to beat his closest challenger, Adebutu, who scored 262,383 votes.
But Adebutu challenged the outcome of the poll, prompting him to file a petition at the Ogun State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in Abeokuta to challenge the result.
In his quest to overturn the governor’s victory, Adebutu alleged, among others, that the poll was not conducted in substantial compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
He contended that the election was marred by irregularities and corrupt practices, noting that over 40,000 voters from his strongholds were disenfranchised due to violence.
Also, he told the tribunal that he secured the highest number of valid votes cast at the election and, therefore, ought to have been declared the winner by INEC.
But, Adebutu’s petition was dismissed by the Hamidu Kunaza-led three-member tribunal, affirming Mr Abiodun’s election. He proceeded to the Court of Appeal to challenge the decision.
Delivering judgement on the appeal, the Court of Appeal, in its majority judgement of the three-member panel that was delivered by Joseph Ikyegh, said there was no reason to overturn the judgement of the tribunal.
But in her dissenting, minority opinion, Jane Inyang directed INEC to withdraw the Certificate of Return it issued to Abiodun and, within 90 days, conduct a fresh election in some polling units in the state.
Arguing the case at the Supreme Court, the electoral commission said the governorship and presidential elections were not determined by a margin of lead but by the spread of votes, in line with the provision of section 179 of the Nigerian constitution.
Similarly, Governor Abiodun’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), prayed the court to dismiss the appeal. He urged the court to uphold Abiodun’s victory as the validly elected governor of Ogun State, a prayer the court upheld on Friday.
For Chief Adebutu, his son, Ladi’s loss at the Supreme Court adds a bitter pill to their joint quest to unseat Dapo Abiodun as Ogun governor.
