Babatunde Kolawole

Babatunde Gabriel Kolawole (;(born, 8th April 1975) is a Nigerian politician who served as Special Adviser on Rural and Community Development to Rotimi Akeredolu, a former Governor of Ondo State. Babatunde Kolawole was elected to the House of Representatives for Akoko South East/Akoko South West federal constituency in 2015. He is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC). And he serves as the chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo state.

Political life

In 2015, general election, Kolawole contested under the umbrella of All Progressive Congress (APC) and won the 2015 House of Representatives seat for Akoko South East/ Akoko South West federal constituency to represent the district at the Federal House of Representatives. He defeated his closest rival Debo Ologunagba of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in the keenly contested elections.

In October 2020, he was listed in the Nation newspaper as one of the forces that took part in former Governor of Ondo State, late Rotimi Akeredolu’s re-election. During a cabinet reshuffle he was appointed by late, Rotimi Akeredolu; an ex-governor of Ondo State, as Special Adviser on Rural and Community Development and reappointed to the same position on 17 March 2021.

Babatunde Kolawole is currently among the contenders jostling for APC chairmanship in Ondo State.

Tenure

Population control legislation (2015) On 24 November 2015, Babatunde Kolawole put forward a divisive motion proposing legislation aimed at slowing population growth. The proposal sparked intense debate in the green chamber. While it attracted some backers, it faced stronger opposition from more vocal critics.

ExxonMobil contract inquiry (2016) On 24 February 2016, during a plenary session, he introduced a motion urging the House of Representatives to probe the opaque process that allowed Esso Exploration and Production Limited, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, to secure four sole-source contracts worth $260 million for the Usan Deepwater Project without a competitive tendering procedure.

Bakassi Peninsula investigation (2017) In 2017, he moved a motion calling on the House of Representatives to investigate allegations that Cameroonian gendarmes had killed 97 Nigerians in the ceded Bakassi Peninsula.