Ex-Chief of Staff: Why I Quit Amosun’s Cabinet

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Image result for The immediate past Chief of Staff to the Ogun State Government, Chief Tolu Odebiyi,



The immediate past Chief of Staff to the Ogun State Government, Chief Tolu Odebiyi, has adduced his resignation from the cabinet of Governor Ibikunle Amosun to his refusal to be seen as a mole following his insistence to stay put within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

Odebiyi, in an exclusive chat with select journalists at his Iboro country home in Yewa North Local Government Area of the state on Monday disclosed that he chose to pull out of the cabinet, "though a painful decision to go a separate way with Amosun, it has become a honest decision.

"I decided to quit the cabinet of Amosun because I don't want to be seen as a mole. I don’t have any personal grouse with him. I have respect for the office and I have learnt a lot from him while working in his government.The main reason for going separate ways with Amosun was when the issue of going to a new party came up. Because the preferred governorship candidate of Amosun was not recognised by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, he decided to move to another party, but I refuse to move with him.”


According to the erstwhile Chief of Staff, who is Ogun West senatorial candidate in the 2019 general elections, he declined to leave the party when he was advised by his former principal to dissolve into the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) to actualise his senatorial seat ambition but insisted to remain loyal to the APC.

"When Amosun mooted the idea of moving to APM to me, he asked me to think over it and get back to him. When I consulted my people at Ogun West over it and they were all averse to the idea. I reported back to Amosun the decision of my people, and it was not well received by him. But I told him I had to be mindful of my late father, late Senator Jonathan Odebiyi, legacy because he was a true democrat and progressive. As a result, the APC tenets take after the past progressive parties like Action Group (AG), Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Alliance for Democracy (AD) and Action Congress (AC), so they are like family parties.

"Turning my back at the APC would amount to turning my back at my people in Ogun West.

"My loyalty to the party and my commitment to ensuring President Muhammadu Buhari is re-elected remain steadfast

"I don't like switching political parties because I respect party's supremacy. Also, my political pedigree has to be maintained. I stay put in a party and help to build it. My stay is critical to the development of the party. I feel it a sense of responsibility to my followers and members.

"So, I declined to leave the APC because I still maintain my loyalty to it,” Odebiyi said.

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