The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2023 elections in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, has said that his simplicity and gentleman style of politics cost him electoral victory during the last governorship election.
He said one of the reasons he lost 99 polling units in the 2023 governorship election was because he refused to engage his political opponents with violence.
Adebutu, who spoke at Ijeun-Akoni, a remote community in Odeda Local Government Area of the state, during the 92 years remembrance of his great-grandfather, Pa Alimi Adebutu, who died and buried in the community in 1932, said he prevented his supporters from matching violence with violence in all the 99 polling units where voting processes were disrupted by thugs.
It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) cancelled votes in some polling units where there were violence during the 2023 governorship election in the State.
He alleged that hoodlums allegedly sponsored by APC went away with the act because he did not allow his supporters to repay violence with violence.
Speaking with newsmen after the prayer session, the former governorship candidate said he believes in life after death, and as such, he will not play politics of desperation and violence.
“I believe in life after death, that is me. That is what you will see in the kind of politics that I play. You will never see violence, you will never see desperation.
“One reason why 99 polling booths in the last elections were destroyed was because I refused that my people should repay violence with violence. I cannot be part of the process of spilling blood. I can’t. This is because I believe life continues after death. I am always being careful,” Adebutu said.
He said Pa Adebutu, a trader and agriculturist, lived, died and was buried in the community as against his hometown because of his good deeds and contribution to the development of the community.
“It’s good to be good. After 92 years, these people have not forgotten him. They spoke glowingly of him. When he died, they refused that his corpse should be taken home because the man served the community well. When you do well, your legacy lingers,” he said.
Speaking on possibility of contesting future elections, Adebutu said, he is eminently qualified to contest from any part of Ogun State.
He said, as a proper born Ogun indigene, he has every right to lay claim to any part of the state.
“This lineage has been there for ages, I have never claimed to be an Ẹgba man, but the truth is that, I am an Ogun person, I have the right to everywhere in Ogun state. Adebutu is Ogun state, my heritage has touched everywhere in Ogun state.
“My grand father, Pa Kareem Owoiya, the father of Sir Kessington Adebutu was born at Ijeun Akoni, so by birth, he is an Egba man and by extension, I am also an Egba man.
“Ladi is not just arriving today. In every major higher institution in Ogun State my heritage has impacted positively. My establishment that gives me my wealth is domicile in Ogun state. I am an Ogun indigene proper.”
