No meeting point between Amosun and I on successor, says Obasanjo

FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo and Governor Ibikunle Amosun are not best of friends on who  becomes the next governor in the Gateway State.

Chief Obasanjo said his choice and that of the governor did not align on the choice of the next governor as from May 2019, next year.

The former president and the governor are, however, in agreement that power should shift to Ogun West Senatorial District.

The zone has not produced a governor since it was created more than 42 years ago.

Obasanjo is rooting for the governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Prince Gboyega Nasir Isiaka from Imeko. Amosun of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is pushing for House of Representatives member Abdulkabir Adekunle Akinlade of the Allied People’s Movement (APM) from Ipokia.

Both communities are in the Ogun West district.

Speaking at this year’s edition of the Ibogun-Olaogun Day in Ibogun, Ifo Local Government Area, where Amosun was also in attendance, Obasanjo said that “regardless of what could be individual’s or collective interest in the 2019 governorship  election in the state, it is the will of God that would count most in the choice of who eventually becomes the governor.”

He advised the people to support whoever emerges governor at the end of the race even as he cautioned politicians against foisting violence on the state, saying “there is no reason for Ogun not to have a peaceful election.”

Demanding an embrace and exchange of pleasantries between the ADC and APM candidates in the pubic glare, Obasanjo warned the duo against promoting acts of violence, adding “if they do not stop violence among their supporters, they would have themselves to blame.”

He described Amosun as his brother who would remain dear to his heart till he dies, but said on the issue of the present political journey in the state, their choices may not and do not align.

Obasanjo said: “I have made my choice, it may not be in tandem with yours (Amosun). Let my choice be and let yours be and let God decide and whoever gets there let all of us support him.

“I am particularly happy that the Governor spoke against violence. I want to tell you, if you do not stop violence among your supporters, you will have yourself to blame. There is no earthly reason why we should not have peaceful election in the state,”

Governor Amosun cautioned politicians against heating up the polity, urging them to conduct themselves responsibly.

Lauding the former president for consistently identifying with his root, Amosun said it should serve as a lesson for all to, always identify with their roots.

He pledged to attend the annual Ibogun Day always even after leaving the office.

The chairmen and governorship candidates of 10 political parties in the state have dissociated themselves from the purported adoption of the APM and its governorship candidate as their consensus party and candidate.

They dissociated themselves from the adoption by the Arabambi Abayomi-led Executive Committee of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC).

Addressing reporters in Abeokuta, the state capital, the governorship candidate of Better Nigeria Progressive Party (BNPP), Olusegun Olufemi, dismissed the adoption as “fraudulent, fake and embarrassment to the good people of Ogun State.”

Olufemi, who for the others, said the purported adoption of APM and its candidate by Arabambi and the IPAC  executive committee members shall not stand because it was done without carrying along other political parties and candidates who are contestants in the forthcoming general elections in the state.

He added that they have been elected to brief the press on the matter and to debunk the purported adoption, lest the unsuspecting members of the public, particularly the electorate, get ensnared in a web of deceptive and self-serving adoption by Arabambi and co.

The BNPP candidate said they have written IPAC’s national body, led by Peter Ameh, detailing Arabambi’s alleged infractions of the code of engagement in IPAC  and demanding action should be taken to call him to order.

He said: “Precisely, the executive of IPAC recently released a press statement that about 60 political parties have chosen a particular candidate as the consensus candidate for 2019 governorship election in Ogun State.

“We use this opportunity to inform (the people of Ogun state) that we reject in totality the adoption of any governorship candidate. We urge the members of the public to disregard the purported adoption of any political party or candidate.”

At yesterday’s conference were: Biola Lawal of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP); BNPP governorship candidate Olufemi; governorship candidate of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) Emmanuel Taiwo and legal adviser of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) Kehinde Ogunbiyi, among others.