The problem with Dele Momodu runs deep, deeper than most realize — by Femifoluwa Ladehl
It’s the same issue that plagued Yinka Odumakin, Rauf Aregbesola, Babafemi Ojudu and the recently deceased Afenifere leader, Ayo Adebanjo. They were never satisfied with basking in the warmth of the sun; they craved entry into its thermonuclear core, only to get scorched.
Now, they’re charred and disgraced, leaving a trail of mess wherever they turn.
This is a spontaneous reflection, so bear with me. Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) has always maintained a respectable crowd at a safe, arm’s-length distance from his powerful inner circle. This system dates back to 1993 and has grown stronger and more expansive each year through his time at home, in exile, back home, in government, in politics, out of office, during strategic sessions, back in the fray, and now at the pinnacle of power as President.
People like Dele have tried prying open doors to BAT’s power center, only to have their faces singed permanently. Dele Momodu’s recent interview on Channels Television is just another humiliating spectacle, paraded out to dance naked before the market crowd, then herded back into his cage. Dele and those like him are nothing but living embodiments of roasted specimens.
The Afenifere leader, Ayo Adebanjo, fell out with BAT over strategies for the next Alliance for Democracy (AD) elections and the party’s future between 2002 and 2004. BAT respectfully exited their AD and Afenifere, leaving it to them. What followed was bitter bile from Adebanjo until his last breath; he opposed BAT with every fiber of his being until his death on February 14, 2025, while BAT soldiered on triumphantly.
The same goes for Yinka Odumakin, who benefited immensely from BAT but initiated a public fallout when BAT refused to grant him sole control over government and party printing contracts a deal in which Babafemi Ojudu was also a partial beneficiary. Their dispute centered on awarding contracts to a publishing house (Ojudu’s) versus a printing house (Odumakin’s). Odumakin did everything to tarnish BAT, even claiming he BAT was 100 years old and possessing incriminating private documents. In the end, his attacks gained zero traction, and he carried his bitterness to the grave, dying on April 3, 2021.
Dele Momodu has countless video interviews where he honestly extolled BAT’s greatness. He recounted over 20 times how BAT saved him and his family from freezing to death in London, where he arrived penniless. He boasted of his unrestricted access to Lagos Government House, which opened doors to other major government houses nationwide, allowing him to offer celebrity-style exposés on governors for a price. Recall how he even contested the presidency in 2011 under the Labour Party, with BAT’s blessing?
Dele and BAT were key members of the Nigerian pro-democracy team that helped pivot the country smartly after General Sani Abacha’s death in 1998. Dele’s core problem is greed, he wanted to leverage BAT for power, oil and gas deals and elite Nigerian privileges. But BAT saw through him and rejected his advances, so Dele roamed the political wilderness seeking succor until Atiku Abubakar, a true political fox offered this political chicken a refuge. It was from that fox’s den that Dele began spewing trash at BAT.
But Nigerians, ever kind, will leave him to stew. When the fox returns from his failed hunts, he’ll simply devour his chicken.
The same applies to Aregbesola, who sought to carve out his own internal political territory within BAT’s universe. He helped scuttle the Ondo primaries years ago, where Rotimi Akeredolu won with Olusola Oke against BAT’s preferred candidate, Abrahams.
Where is Aregbesola today? As of 2026, he’s hibernating as National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) another political chicken in the fox’s refuge. When that fox returns empty-handed, there might be more than one chicken on the menu! Dele himself jumped ship from the LP to PDP and in 2025 to join ADC in early 2026, aligning with Aregbesola in this new opposition push. Yet, as recent protests in Osun show, retirees and stakeholders are already rejecting Aregbesola’s allies ahead of the 2026 gubernatorial race, demanding no return to his era of debt, half-salaries and unfinished projects.
So, let that association of headless, wingless morons inside ADC bide their time until they’re denied examination papers on the final day of elections. BAT’s core remains unbreached and his detractors will continue to fade into irrelevance.
©️femifoluwaLadehl
