Ogun State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2027 election, Oladipupo Adebutu, has condemned the Dapo Abiodun administration for abusing its power by allegedly politicising the education sector and weaponising the civil service for partisan mobilisation.

Mr Adebutu, in a statement by his media aide, Afolabi Orekoya, expressed his displeasure following a memo mandating primary and secondary school teachers in the state to attend a meeting in “unique attire” with the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Solomon Adeola (Yayi), scheduled for Monday.

The governorship hopeful said, “Our attention has been drawn to the memo circulating within the Ogun State public school system, issued by the leaders of the various bodies associated with Teachers of Public Schools in Ogun State with reference to the instruction by the Chairman of the Ogun State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) and State Chairman of the Association of Primary School Head Teachers of Nigeria (AOPSHON), Alhaji Comrade Adeosun Tajudeen Adekunle, under the purported directive of the Executive Chairman of the Ogun State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

“The memos mandate all Headteachers and Teachers of Public Schools, (both Primary and Secondary schools) in Ogun State to attend a meeting with the Candidate of the ruling party, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Yayi), at the Alake Pavilion on the 3rd of August, 2026, under the guise of “statutory and administrative duties.”

“We unequivocally condemn this blatant abuse of power and the weaponisation of the State’s civil service for partisan political mobilisation.

“Let us call a spade a spade: there is absolutely no statutory or administrative justification for the state’s Teaching Service Commission and the State Universal Basic Education Board to compel public school teachers and headteachers to abandon their primary duties for a mandatory meeting with a partisan political figure, a political party’s candidate for that matter. The instruction for each branch to appear in “unique attire for easy identification” further exposes this gathering for what it truly is—a political jamboree and a forced solidarity parade, forcefully utilizing our respected educators as political pawns.

“The Ogun State civil service, particularly our education sector, must remain fiercely insulated from partisan politics. Our teachers are nation-builders entrusted with the future of our children, not political foot soldiers to be marshalled at the whims of the ruling party. Coercing civil servants into attending political gatherings under the threat of administrative duty is illegal, unethical, and highly oppressive.”

Describing the move as “strange, draconian, and condemnable,” Mr Adebutu urged TESCOM and SUBEB to focus on addressing the decay in public schools that has affected both the quality of education delivery and infrastructure, improving the welfare of teachers, and elevating the standard of basic education in the state, rather than acting as a mobilisation wing for a political agenda.

The main opposition party’s flag-bearer, while urging hardworking teachers and other civil servants to remain steadfast, professional, and not be intimidated, pointed out that their loyalty is to the state and its laws, not to any individual’s political ambition.

He also stated that the good and watchful people of the state will keep resisting every attempt to drag sacred public institutions into the mud of partisan desperation.