Retire now, you are no match for Gov. Makinde — Oyo PDP replies Sen. Teslim Folarin

By Ibiyemi Mathew

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo state has urged the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 election, Senator Teslim Folarin to retire from active politicking declaring that he is no match for Governor Seyi Makinde.

The statement by the state chapter of the PDP is coming on the heels of Folarin’s claim that he suffered defeat to the PDP in the state due to the APC’s arrangements with the PDP in the state to win the presidential election.

A statement by the Publicity Secretary of the PDP in Oyo State, Akeem Olatunji described Folarin as a sore serial loser who was fighting hard for a political comeback by associating his political misfortune to whom he ought to regard as his political master and most successful politician in the history of Oyo State, having emerged in two consecutive governorship elections with unprecedented electoral records.

Olatunji, while going down memory lane, reminded Folarin that he lost his polling booth woefully by over 100 votes, same with his Ward and local government in an election he was the gubernatorial candidate.

“So, who threw him under the bus in his polling booth, Ward and local government? Furthermore, Folarin was a nobody as far as Oyo State politics was concerned in 2003 and 2007 when as an opportunist he became a Senator by chance,” the statement said.

“Ordinarily, we would have ignored this reckless outburst by the most ungrateful politician in Oyo State since the return of democracy to Nigeria in 1999 being a political opportunist undeserving of the ground of merit and order of political ranking at the time on three different occasions.

“How can a Folarin hate himself so much that he keeps punishing himself with the psychological pain? Why can’t he just wake up from his delusions and self denial of obvious reality that Seyi Makinde is a political godfather to him and does not belong to his political class or league of politicians? What’s so hard in doing these things?

“The least Folarin could do for himself now is to hold his peace, stop talking abstractly, and if possible, retire from politics and face his private life because God has been so gracious to him to have offered him those three opportunities.

“He was a monumental failure to the good people of Oyo central who were never proud of his exploit in the Senate for the three terms, even when he became Senate Majority Leader through the influence of late baba Adedibu, he still failed to make use of the exalted office once occupied by the Great late Senator Abubakar Olusola Saraki to facilitate notable projects for the people of Oyo State and most importantly the good people of Oyo Central Senatorial district.

“Governor Seyi Makinde who has since become a nationalist and unarguably the most successful politician as far as Oyo State politics is concerned could not have been a match for such a political puppet who was merely an opportunist. Isn’t it very obvious now that there is no more political godfather to help him win election that Folarin has sadly become a political orphan?

“We want to, for the sake of emphasis and record, state very clearly that winning two governorship elections back to back with such historical electoral victory were no mean feats and we urge Folarin and his likes to put respect to Makinde’s name each time it drops from their mouths because there is absolutely no basis for comparing father and son, it is in fact insulting to the sensibility of Oyo State citizens to do so. We won’t allow Folarin seek any come back from his political oblivion by associating his political misfortune to Governor Seyi Makinde,” Olatunji said.

The Publicity Secretary added that “the electoral success of the three APC Senators elected in the state was entirely a product of ‘Tinubu effect’ or what many now term Tinubu Tsunami.”

Describing the former Senator as an opportunist, Olatunji urged Folarin to :retire from politics and stop living in self denial of obvious reality stressing that politics has advanced far more than the era of political hooliganism and reckless brigandage where ‘jagba’ or jagbajantis’ as the case may be was applicable in winning elections.