2019 calculations tears Oyo APC apart

The jostle within the Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for relevance, ahead of next year’s general elections, has polarised the party into two camps. The crisis is taking a new turn, with the two factions resorting to a war of attrition. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the issues involved and how they might affect the party’s fortunes next year.

ALL is not well with the Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The fight for the party’s soul is becoming intense between the supporters of former Governor Lam Adesina and the group loyal to Governor Abiola Ajimobi. Supporters of Adesina, otherwise known as Lamists and those of Governor Ajimobi, under the aegis of the Senator Ajimobi Campaign Organisation (SENACO), are fighting over the control of the party ahead of next year’s general elections.

Following the victory of the party in the last general elections, when the Ajimobi group consolidated its hold on power, Lamists started criticising Governor Ajimobi’s style of governance. Just before last weekend’s ward congresses of the party, the group described Oyo APC as a party lacking internal democracy. It also accused Governor Ajimobi of hijacking the party’s structures in order to manipulate the result of the congresses.

Lamists also condemned the governor’s resolve to adopt a consensus arrangement in choosing the chairmanship and councillorship candidates for the May 12 local government election, saying it is undemocratic. The group said the popular demand of members of the party is for open and transparent primaries.

Justifying his preference for the consensus arrangement, Governor Ajimobi said that the list of candidates announced for the May 12 election were arrived at after a scrutiny of the three candidates submitted by the party leadership in each of the 33 local government areas and 35 local council development areas (LCDAs). He added that indirect primaries are enshrined in the party’s constitution.

A chieftain of the party, Alhaji Azeez Adebayo, described the process as undemocratic and unfair. He said with that decision Ajimobi has put the future of the party in jeopardy, by selecting only candidates that are loyal to him. He said though the governor asked the leadership of the party in each local government and LCDA to submit three names each, many of those announced did not purchase the APC nomination form or possess the party’s membership card.

Adebayo said contrary to Ajimobi’s claim that the party is one united family that the selected candidates were members of SENACO. He said: “All we demanded for was a free and transparent primary, because we felt the need for every aspirant to be given a fair chance, by creating a level-playing field for everyone. Some people purchased form while the governor hand-picked his loyalists. The governor should allow the people to decide the aspirant that is most popular in their local government. Those selected were pre-meditated.

“There is no consensus whatsoever on the candidates. Before they arrived at those names, who did they consult? If such a thing happened, I would have known in my local government, given my position in the party. How do you arrive at consensus when you select one from three names sent, when there are two groups in the party? The governor just picked people that are loyal to him. Majority of the party members are not happy with this development.”

The crisis took a new turn last week when thousands of APC members loyal to the former governor met in Ibadan and called for the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari and other national leaders of the party, to prevent the crisis from escalating during the forthcoming local government and state congress of the party.

The loyalists of the former governor, under the aegis of APC Unity Forum, insist that the forthcoming state congress must be transparent and devoid of any imposition, in accordance with the constitution of the party. In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, the forum said: “All party members must be allowed to choose their preferred executive members at all wards, local government, state and national delegates to the national convention of the party.”

In the communiqué, which was signed by its chairman, Alhaji Abu Gbadamosi and Dr Wasiu Olatunbosun, the group states: “We are constrained to make this call to avert a repeat of the disquiet, disharmony and crisis which the failure to hold free and fair primaries in accordance with the party constitution to elect party candidates for the proposed local government election has caused the APC in Oyo State.”

The forum equally wants the national leadership of the APC to “beam its searchlight on Oyo State chapter, if truly it cares for free and fair congresses. Failure to do so, we believe, will spell doom for the fortunes of the party in the 2019 elections.”

Among those who attended the meeting are 2019 governorship aspirants, a representatives of Minister of Communication, Mr Bayo Shittu, a representative of the State Deputy Governor, Chief Moses Adeyemo, two senators, members of the House of Representatives, including Mr Dapo Lam Adesina, chairmen and members representing the state at Federal Boards and Commissions.

Shittu who is nursing the ambition to succeed Ajimobi had accused the governor of planning to hijack the structures of the APC in the state ahead of the congresses. He cited the recent inauguration of the Elders’ Council and the appointment of caretaker chairmen for local councils and LCDAs as calculated moves by the governor to achieve his mission. He said the governor’s actions were alien to the APC constitution.

The minister added: “The appointment of zonal leaders or elders advisory council for the APC in Oyo State is unconstitutional and it is a clear attempt to make the state executive of the party irrelevant. It is so clear. There is no position of zonal leaders in our constitution. We must challenge that because it will be used for sinister motives. We have the state executive of the party recognised by the constitution.

“As at today, the party is at a stage where the bubble may burst, the only power I have now is to speak out my mind, so as to inspire people of like minds. If I discuss with him (the governor) with the rate things are going and he says no, will I have the moral leverage to come to the open and start talking? For me, I think the party leadership at the highest level should intervene. People are frustrated; these are the people who contributed to the emergence of the governor in 2011 and his re-election in 2015. We don’t want the APC to go the way of the PDP.”

Reacting to the comments, the Oyo State APC Publicity Secretary, Dr Olatunde AbdulAzeez, said “members of the so-called APC Unity Forum are out to create chaos and disunity within the party”. He added: “The truth is that those who are trying to blackmail Governor Ajimobi who is the leader of the APC in Oyo State are afraid of their shadows. If they can come out to tell us who they are, one-on-one, then we will tell them how they got to where they are.

“The allusion that Ajimobi is not being democratic in handling party matters is a way of calling the dog a bad name in order to hang it. In truth, Governor Ajimobi has always differed to the party and the party leaders in all decisions to be made. He has never at any point in time arrogated unnecessary power to himself. What is internal democracy? He has been consulting party leaders at every stage before decisions are taken.

“If they are true members of the APC, they should have copies of the party’s constitution and avail themselves of Article 20 (page 74), which deals with elections and appointments. Article 20 states that ‘unless otherwise provided, all party posts prescribed as implied by the constitution shall be filled by democratically conducted election at the respective national convention or congress subject, where possible, to consensus, provided that where a candidate has emerged by consensus for an elective position, a vote of yes or no by ballot or voice should be called’ to ensure it was not an imposition which could bring discontent and crisis.”

The APC spokesman said the emergence of chairmanship and councillorship candidates for the forthcoming local government election followed due process. He said the candidates emerged in line with the provision of the APC constitution.

A member of the forum, Hon. Isiaka Salami, said the group called for the intervention of the national leadership in Oyo APC crisis, because the governor no longer has regard for other members of the party, apart from those he considers his loyalists.

Salami said: “Ajimobi is putting minority on the majority members of the party. He does not listen to us, because he does not see as his loyalists. He has polarised the party in the state. Look at my own local government, Kajola, the governor imposed the chairman of the caretaker committee who will still run for the chairmanship election. The man is from Ilua, which is not up to a ward. Ilua is now in control of Kajola.

“To make the matter worse, the Head of civil service in Oyo State, a woman now determines political matters affecting Oke-Ogun, because she hails from there. Why should a civil servant be involved in political matters? If she wants to play politics, she should resign and join politics.

“The game plan of Governor Ajimobi is to ensure that his loyalists emerge at the ward and local congresses. He wants to have a grip over the ward, local government state executives, because it is the party executives at the local government that would form the Electoral College that would determine the governorship candidate.

Salami added: “It’s most likely we will have a parallel congress, if the governor went ahead to impose a governorship candidate on us. We want the governorship candidate to come from Oke-Ogun. The general consensus in Oyo State is that Oke-Ogun should produce the next governor.”

A public affairs analyst, Dr Alex Agunbiade, said the split in Oyo APC started after Ajimobi emerged as governorship candidate in 2011. The development, he said, did not go down well with the Lam Adesina group. His words: “On several occasions when Lam was alive he had complained that appointments made by Ajimobi were skewed in favour of his group, SENACO. The no-love-lost relationship between the two camps is age long.”

Agunbiade said the death of Lam Adesina should have created an opportunity to put an end to the internal rancour and division in the party. But rather than close ranks, by making the party a united family, efforts were not made in that regard. As a result, members of the APC in Oyo State still identify themselves either as Lamist group or SENACO camp. It is unfortunate. The division is posing a grave challenge to the party’s strength, as 2019 general elections draw near.

 

 

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