Even though the Ogun State governorship election is still almost two years away, the former Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Mr. Fola Adeola has already declared his intention to run as Abeokuta residents woke up to find the state capital flooded with his campaign posters and banners.
The posters declare Adeola to be running on the platform of the newly-registered All Progressives’ Congress, with the slogan, “Change 2015. Fola Adeola for Governor,” and were prominent in the Itoku, Isale Igbein, Ijaiye, Obantoko, Ake, Totoro, Iyana Mortuary and Lafenwa/Ayetoro Road areas of Abeokuta.
This comes barely a month after chairmen of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria in the 20 local government areas of the state endorsed the incumbent Governor Ibikunle Amosun for a second term.
All efforts to reach the renowned banker proved abortive.
But in his reaction, the State Publicity Secretary of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, Sina Oduntan, said the development was a normal thing. He said everyone had the right to show interest in any elective position in the party.
He, however, described the recent action of the chairmen of the defunct ACN in the 20 local government areas of the state as “just an endorsement”, stressing that it was not a consensus reached by the whole party.
“The governorship candidate will emerge from the state congress. Whether it is unopposed or not, the recent endorsement of Amosun is different from the consensus of the party, which is going to take place.
Adeola was the founding MD of Guaranty Trust Bank, and led the bank’s growth up to the time it went public in 2002.
He then resigned to start Fate Foundation, a non-profit aimed at increasing wealth through entrepreneurship.
He was the financier of KOWA Party, before he became the running mate to former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu on the ticket of the now-defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the 2011 presidential elections.