A Peep into Adekunle Akinlade’s Dark side
It is doubtful if Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has ever been under fire as much as he has been in recent times within and outside the state.
While a lot of people are not so interested in his performance in office, even as his second term will soon screech to a halt, he has suddenly become the anvil of criticisms mostly because of his support for Abdulkabir Adekunle Akinlade as his anointed governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress ahead 2019.
Though the leadership of the party has assented to the emergence of Dapo Abiodun as the standard-bearer of the party in the next governorship election in the state, Amosun has been threatening fire and brimstone over the rejection of Akinlade.
In his bid to force Akinlade on the people of the state, he has sought the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari on different occasions. But Amosun has been literally left languishing to his utmost surprise, as the body language of the president reads something to the effect that “he is on his own. “
Akinlade is a Federal House of Representatives member representing Egbado South and Ipokia in Ogun West. Those who know him very well say he (Amosun) needs to study him very well like a book; otherwise, he will forever rue the day he threw him up for the governorship race in the state.
Society watch gathered that Akinlade was allegedly living his life on the fast lane in the United Kingdom. In fact, a source claimed that immediately he relocated to Lagos, some of his victims tracked him down with a determination to get rid of him.
’Two of his security aides lost their lives in his stead,’’ the source added.
Akinlade is also said to be flirtatious and he does so without any regard for his London-based wife. Not a few ladies are said to have fallen victim of his recklessness .
A source also revealed that before he got married to his present wife, Chineye Ochuba, a former beauty queen, he had earlier been married to another woman with whom he has his first child, a girl.
But he hid this part of his life from Chineye until it was too late for her to quit the relationship.
He was said to have taken advantage of the status of his first wife as a UK citizen to fast-track his documentation, and eventually his naturalisation as a British citizen.
Society Watch also gathered that Akinlade was once involved in a land scam at Alakuko area of Lagos, where he built his first mansion.
It resulted in a legal battle with the rightful owner of the land. In the end, he lost the right over the property to the man in 2012.
Against this backdrop, many wonder why Amosun has decided to settle for a man whose past is questionable, in spite of the fact that Ogun State parades a line-up of sterling technocrats and politicians with time-tested, brilliant records of public service.
His choice has even left many to think that he has some skeletons in his cupboard that he needs a character like Akinlade to conceal.