- He disclosed that the monarch helped midwife the APC with his timely and critical intervention, noting that the party’s formation might not have materialised without his involvement.
The Serving Overseer of Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, says the late Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, played a crucial role in the creation of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Adetona joined his ancestors on Sunday, July 13, 2025, a date which Bakare said holds deep personal and national significance.
In a tribute to the late monarch titled, “Tribute to a Patriot, Mentor and Elder Statesman — The Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebu Land,” the cleric revealed that Oba Adetona was pivotal to the formation of the APC.
He disclosed that the monarch helped midwife the APC with his timely and critical intervention, noting that the party’s formation might not have materialised without his involvement.
He said, “What many Nigerians may not know is that without Awujale’s pivotal intervention, the APC might not have emerged as a political party.”
Bakare disclosed that after the 2011 general election, he met with the king in London and implored him to facilitate negotiations between the CPC and the Action Congress of Nigeria, led by President Bola Tinubu.
“Upon his return to Nigeria, Kabiyesi convened a key meeting at the Oriental Hotel in Victoria Island and brokered the agreement that led to the formation of the APC,” Bakare stated.
He added that despite this monumental role, “Kabiyesi was non-partisan, supporting any course he thought would facilitate good governance, strengthen the national interest, foster peace and further the course of building a united Nigeria.”
Bakare described the deceased monarch as “a patriot, mentor and elder statesman” whose death marked the end of an era in Nigeria’s political and cultural history.