Teslim Folarin
Folarin in 2014
Senator for Oyo Central
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 June 2019
Preceded by	Monsurat Sunmonu
In office 3 June 2003 – 6 June 2011
Preceded by	Lekan Balogun
Succeeded by	Ayoade Ademola Adeseun
Personal details
Born	October 1963 (age 59) Oyo State, Nigeria
Political party	All Progressive Congress APC

Teslim Kolawole Folarin  (born October 1963) is a Nigerian politician, he is the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Oyo State for the 2023 gubernatorial election.

Early life and education

Folarin is a son of Alhaji and Alhaja Hamzat Folarin. He stemmed from Baale House in Oja Igbo area of Ibadan North-East Local Government area of Oyo State. Folarin is the Head (Mogaji) of his family House and a ranked traditional Chief in Ibadanland. He is the Laguna Olubadan of Ibadanland.

Folarin attended primary school in Lagos; his secondary education was completed at Nigeria’s premier secondary school, Methodist Boys High School. Folarin holds a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in political science from the University of Ibadan and a diploma degree from Harvard University, USA. He spent some years gathering valuable civil service experience in the UK, including management roles at the Department of Trade in London before returning to Nigeria in 2002. Folarin performed his obligatory NYSC tenure in Kaduna and joined politics thereafter.

Political career

Folarin contested and won the senatorial seat to represent Oyo Central in 2003 at the age of 39 years on the platform of the PDP and was re-elected for a second term in 2007 on the platform of the same PDP. Folarin remains the only legislator in Oyo State who has served two terms at the Senate. At the Senate, he was appointed Leader of the Senate. Folarin also served on the Senate Committee on Business & Rules, Marines and Transport although his particular interests were in education, power supply, and water resources. Folarin was involved in the Power probe in 2008. As the Leader of the Senate, he led debates on all Executives Bills and sponsored several private Bills himself. These included the Insurance Act, the Armed Forces Pension Act, and several others.

Folarin won the gubernatorial ticket of his party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2014. He lost the election to the incumbent Governor Senator Abiola Ajimobi of the All Progressive Congress.

Folarin defected to the opposition party All Progressive Congress in December 2017. Folarin was elected as the All Progressive Congress(APC) Oyo South senatorial candidate in September 2018.

Folarin won the senatorial position in the 2019 Oyo central senatorial district election defeating the incumbent senator, Mrs. Monsurat Sunmonu, and other candidates. He is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Content in the 9th Senate. He also sits on several other committees including National Intelligence, INEC, Interparliamentary, Constitutional Review, Finance, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), and Airforce.

Views on The New Naira Note and Emiefele

The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Oyo state, Senator Teslim Folarin, on Friday said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, “is insincere about the availability of new Naira notes in circulation.”

Folarin, the chairman, Senate Committee on Local Content, declared that the CBN’s claim that N3.2 trillion new currencies were in circulation “is a pure lie.”

In the statement issued in Ibadan by his media aide, Com. Yekeen Olaniyi, Senator Folarindecried the untold hardships on Nigerians, occasioned by the scarcity of petroleum products and currency notes.

“The glaring reality is that the Central Bank Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele is insincere about the availability of the new notes. It’s now visible to the blind and audible to the deaf that CBN Governor is acting the script of the cabals who are vehemently against the removal of subsidy.

“The CBN’s claim that N3.2 trillion new currencies are in circulation is a pure lie as almost all ATMs across the country dispensed old Naira notes from December 2022 till end of January 2023. This was an indication that the CBN was not ready for what it intended to do,” the statement read in part.

It added, “It’s saddening and unacceptable to see our people sleeping at filling stations and Automated Teller Machines (ATM) galleries. It is callous to render our people in further hardship, especially the ones struggling to survive, considering the Covid-19 pandemic which cripples the global economy and affects every home.

“Having failed in his bid to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. Emefiele moved to change the currencies without carrying along the National Assembly, state Governors, Ministers, and other critical stakeholders. He conspired with cabals to cause economic crisis and truncate our hard-earned democracy.”

Personal life

Folarin is married with children to Barr. Angela Folarin.

Death of Wife

Angela Folarin, the wife of Teslim Folarin, the senator representing Oyo Central, is dead.

The 48-year-old Mrs. Folarin, who was also a lawyer, died on Friday afternoon in the UK.

Her death was confirmed by the senator’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, YSO Olaniyi.

Although the cause of her death was not made known, Mr. Olaniyi, in a statement, said the deceased was hale and hearty until the time of her death.

“With total submission to the will of Almighty Allah, we announce the death of our wife, mother, and sister, Chief (Barr.) Angela Nwaka Folarin.

Networth

He is estimated to be worth between $2m – $10m

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References