President Bola Tinubu has called on All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders and stakeholders in Oyo State to unite and work together to reclaim the state from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2027.

The president made the appeal on Monday during the maiden edition of the annual Lam Adesina lecture series in Ibadan.

The event, themed “Improving Nigeria’s Governance: Lessons From the Past, Strategies for the Future,” honoured the former Oyo State Governor Lam Adesina, who served from 1999 to 2003. Represented by the Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu, Tinubu stressed the strategic importance of Oyo State to the progressive fold in the upcoming elections.

Reflecting on Adesina’s legacy, Tinubu stated, “Adesina stood for high democratic ideals that underpin the democratic system of government. Ideals are essential for ensuring that power is held by the people, either directly or through elected representatives. Ideals of effective participation in governance with citizens making their views known on policy decisions.”

To honour Adesina’s memory, Tinubu urged unity within the party, declaring, “The progressives in the state must come together as one. You all must fight the fight and win the battle… Come 2027, the state must return to the progressive fold.”

The guest lecturer, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, represented by Senator Shuaib Salisu, also stressed the need for Nigeria to re-establish a value system promoting responsibility, integrity, and discipline, rather than a culture of avarice and corruption.

Dignitaries in attendance included former Ekiti State Governors Adeniyi Adebayo and Kayode Fayemi, former Senate Leader and APC Governorship candidate in the 2023 election Teslim Folarin, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari, former Oyo Deputy Governor Iyiola Oladokun, acting APC state Chairman Olayide Abas, and others.

The late Lam Adesina, who passed in 2012, was a former House of Representatives member (1979–1983), chairman of the state’s chapter of the defunct National Democratic Coalition, a respected newspaper columnist, and a notable educationist who contributed to ending military rule in Nigeria in 1999.