2019: Can Ogun APC mend its fences?

The anxiety thrown up by the ongoing struggle for the governorship ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State, ahead of the next gubernatorial election, is far from abating as party chieftains and members from the western and eastern senatorial districts continue to queue behind Adekunle Akinlade and Prince Dapo Abiodun, reports Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan

Ahead of the 2019 general elections, analysts are worried that unless the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State finds a way to resolve the current intra party crisis ripping it apart, the party and its candidates may find it difficult to make good showing at the various elections across the state. Sources within and outside the APC says the current confusion over who the rightful governorship candidate of the party should be is fast tearing Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s party into shreds under his watch.

Buoyed by Amosun’s unrelenting support for Ogun West Senatorial District in the governorship race, political leaders in the zone, especially within the ruling APC, according to reliable party sources, are determined to do everything humanly possible to ensure that no other person, apart from Hon. Adekunle Abdulkadir Akinlade, their son, who got the endorsement of the governor to fly the APC ticket, emerged as the party’s candidate.

On the other side of the same state, prominent political leaders, within and outside the ruling party, have lined up behind the aspiration of Prince Dapo Abiodun, the Remo royal blood who got declared as the APC governorship candidate by the National Working Committee after two controversial primary elections in the state. Party stalwarts from Ijebu and Remo zones of the state say they will not agree to any resolution that removes Abiodun’s name from the list of APC governorship candidates.

Trouble started for the ruling party when the NWC and the state leadership disagreed over the conduct and outcome of the direct primary election carried out to elect the gubernatorial candidate of the APC. While the APC State Executive Committee announced Akinlade as winner, the NWC Electoral Committee said Abiodun emerged winner in the exercise they supervised.

Expectedly, as the two bodies continued to argue over Akinlade and Abiodun’s fate, Governor Amosun, who never hid his preference for Akinlade as part of his commitment to his pledge to ensure that the Ogun West Senatorial District produces the next governor of the state, has thrown his weight behind the Ogun APC leadership, in insisting that Akinlade be given the ticket to contest the next election.

Speaking while supervising the rescheduled party primary elections for Senate, House of Representatives and House of Assembly aspirants at the weekend, the governor decried the tension and uncertainty across the state caused by the disagreement over the governorship ticket. He however assured party members and supporters that Akinlade will be handed the APC ticket at the end of the day.

“They have told Mr. President all manner of stories, that Amosun has done this or that. Amosun will stand for justice, fairness and the truth. That is why in Ogun State come May 29, 2019, to the glory of God and the benevolence of Almighty God, Hon. Adekunle Akinlade will be the governor of the state. I have told them, if anybody wants to engage in political fight, they should wait for second term. Nobody should push us. We are not fools,” the governor said.

But within the camp of Abiodun and among political leaders in Ogun East, the governor’s position cannot be said to be generally acceptable. While some of his close aides and associates, like the Majority Leader of the House of Assembly, Yinka Mafe, are ready to go all the way with Amosun, some others are now pandering towards the candidacy of Dapo Abiodun in solidarity with the ‘Ogun East for Governor’ agenda.

Former state secretary of the defunct Grassroots Democratic Movement (GDM) and currently a topnotch of the APC in the state, Alhaji Ganiu Olomowewe, while explaining why Amosun should stop his opposition to Abiodun’s candidacy, warned that any alteration in the status quo may spell doom for the APC in the eastern senatorial district during the 2019 general election.

“The governor should stop carrying on as if Dapo Abiodun is not a member of APC. He cannot continue to say an Ogun East man is not good enough to succeed him and still expect us to support him. We must all learn to accept what we cannot change. Party members have decided at the primary election that it is Abiodun they want. The governor must respect that decision. Any change in the name of the candidate will not be acceptable to us in Ijebu and Remo zones,” he insisted.

Peace moves

All hopes of the crisis being resolved are however not lost as The Nation learnt that several efforts are being made by stakeholders to see to the amicable resolution of all the issues at hand. “It is a family matter and I can assure you that our governor is a man of peace who will stop at nothing to ensure that all parties to the misunderstanding are satisfied and adequately catered for in the final resolution,” a close aide of Amosun’s told our reporter.

The Nation also learnt that several meetings and parleys have been called to discuss the development within and outside the state. While reliable party sources insisted that the issue is yet to be resolved in spite of the publication of Dapo Abiodun’s name by the NWC as the candidate of the APC in Ogun State, some other sources said a middle-way agreement may have been reached ‘at the top’ to lay the matter to rest.

On Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari met behind closed doors with Amosun. The meeting which is believed to be part of efforts geared towards resolving that crisis in Ogun APC was held inside the President’s office at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. It was gathered that Buhari offered to intervene in the matter when it appeared the parties involved were unyielding to previous peace moves by other stakeholders.

The governor simply told journalists at the end of the meeting that he would be returning with some unnamed persons for another meeting with the President. He was not specific on when the meeting would hold. It was also learnt that Buhari will be meeting with some other people involved in the face-off with a view to facilitating a peaceful resolution of the issue.

The Nation also learnt that party leaders, including Vice President Yemi Osibajo, have been talking to rival groups in the Ogun State  APC that are disagreeing over the outcome of the national and state assemblies primaries held in the state. “All through this week, meetings were being held here in Abeokuta and even Abuja in search of peace. And we are optimistic of peace at the end of the day,” a party leader said.

“Last week, the governor met with Vice-President Osinbajo and sources say the development in Ogun State was discussed by the two leaders as they searched for resolutions. Neither Osinbajo nor the governor spoke with State House correspondents who approached them for comments after the meeting, but we are informed that they proffered ways of possibly resolving the logjam,” another party source hinted.

Also, it was gathered that the state leadership of the party recently convened a meeting of party leaders in Abeokuta to discuss the matter. Sources at the meeting told The Nation that many of the stakeholders at the meeting were concerned about how best the matter can be resolved in such a way that the final outcome will not disturb the winning streak of the APC in the state.

“We met and discussed. We are all bothered about the turn of things and we are in agreement with Governor Amosun on this matter. We are hoping that the NWC will see reason why they should allow the leadership of the APC in Ogun State to guide them in this matter as it was done in other states. However, we are also very concerned about how the issue is resolved that the party remains one indivisible family ahead of the 2019 general elections.

“While it is true we seek justice and fairness, we also seek unity and progress of the party. We will not be happy if the outcome of this crisis damages the chances of the APC in Ogun State. That is why we are saying all those beating of drums of war should act like genuine party members and sheath their swords. At the end of the day, we must all rally round the party irrespective of who the candidate is.

“So, for some people or group of people to be issuing statements that they will not support any other candidate except the one they want now is not good for the party and it must stop. If our leaders examine the facts and decide to change the status quo, we as party faithful must be ready to accept the verdict in the interest of our great party. No sacrifice is too much to make for the party,” he added.

Agitations continue

Meanwhile, the Ijebu/Remo Forum, a group within the Ogun State chapter of APC, has urged Amosun and other stakeholders, particularly from Yewa-Awori extraction in the state, to accept Abiodun’s candidacy in the interest of peace and progress.  In a statement issued after their meeting in Sagamu on Tuesday, members of the forum saluted President Buhari, Osinbajo and Oshiomhole, for their efforts towards resolving the dispute in Ogun State APC.

The statement partly reads, “We appeal to everyone to be sportsmen and to be gallant in the present situation. Our experience has taught us that everyone will have his day. We say to our compatriots from Ogun West, in particular, that despite the intensity of this contest, the Ijebu and Remo people are no enemies of the Yewa and Awori people. Ijebu and Remo people are a people with a deep sense of history, justice and fairness.

“We seek it for ourselves and seek it for other people. Indeed, from the history of Ogun State to date, we know we are friends and allies. We have, mutually, supported each other before and we believe God that we will do so again in future. On this occasion, we appeal for your restraint and gallantry. Please be assured that the government to be led by Prince Dapo Abiodun will serve your interest and that of all of Ogun State without any discrimination.”

The statement, a copy of which was made available to our correspondent, was endorsed by its chairman, Aare Olu Dawodu, its secretary, Prince Segun Aderibigbe, Chief Bisi Rodipe, Chief O. B. Okuboyejo, Alhaji Rafiu Songonuga, Prince Adeyemi Adefulu, Bashorun Adebisi Adesanya and Dr. Rasheed Adenusi, among other prominent political and community leaders from across the eastern senatorial district of the state.