The return of the former governorship candidate of the Ogun State Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and his supporters back to the All Progressives Congress (APC) is set to ignite a fresh crisis within the ruling party. The party has given them a stringent condition, including registering as new members, a development that is not likely to be accepted by the returnees.ERNEST NWOKOLO reports
December 18, 2019, was a happy day for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State and its governorship candidate in the governorship election, Prince Dapo Abiodun, now a substantive governor. That was the day the Supreme Court reaffirmed the victory of the party, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on March 10, 2019.
The party had reason to be joyous. It also emboldened it the more to concentrate on fortifying unity within the fold and also to strategize on how best to further deliver quality governance to the people ahead of future political contests. Months earlier, both the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta, Ogun State, and Appeal Court sitting in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital had also separately and at different times, affirmed Abiodun’s victory.
The Election Petition Tribunal in Abeokuta, for example, in dismissing the petition challenging Abiodun’s victory, had held that the petition was “destined to fail, empty and failed” irredeemably.
But the victory songs in Ogun APC appeared to be morphing into songs of looming crisis with the purported return of the members who had defected en mass to the Allied People’s Movement (APM). The APM’s former candidate, Adekunle Akinlade, returned to the APC less than a week after the apex court had delivered its judgment.
The March 9 victory of APC and Abiodun was challenged in court at three levels by APM and Akinlade, who was backed by former Governor Ibikunle Amosun. They put the APM together less than six months to the general elections, not only to actualise Akinlade’s ambition, but also as a response to the alleged injustice meted out to them by APC during its primary.
While the court cases challenging of Abiodun’s victory lasted, hopes were kept alive through prayers and fasting in the camp of Akinlade that the court would crown him as governor and dethrone Abiodun, thus, to pave way for Amosun to accompany him in future Eid – El – Kabir celebration.
Amosun had on a Tuesday morning, April 21, 2018, after taking a cursory look at the thousands Muslim faithful who joined him to observe the Eid-El – Kabir prayer at the Muslim Prayer ground, Abeokuta that auspicious day told them that he would bring that did not happen this year as Abiodun, not Akinlade, succeeded him and the apex court stamped it on December 18.
Observers are in agreement that Akinlade and his APM, having lost on the field and in court despite prayers, fasting and boasting, are retracing their steps back to APC for political survival. The decision to return to the APC followed series of nocturnal meetings at Amosun’s Ibara GRA residence in the build-up to the governorship election. They left nothing to the imagination in their desperation to undermine the chances of the APC and Abiodun at the polls. But, at the same time, Amosun and his camp simultaneously propped up Akinlade and other APM candidates as the viable and alternate party and candidates for the Ogun electorate.
Amosun was also accused of sponsoring and positioning some youths on February 11, 2019, at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta, who having been primed, went wild and hurled objects at Dapo Abiodun and APC National leaders during the party’s Presidential rally in the state to the consternation of President Muhammadu Buhari and who the security operatives also shielded from the objects while the delinquent conduct lasted.
But, the said return of Akinlade and his loyalists are being viewed with suspicion by many in the state. Some fell short of reading mischief into Akinlade’s move, given his utterances at the APM Secretariat, Abeokuta, on the said day of his acclaimed return to the ruling party in the state.
While Akinlade on the surface admitted it was necessary to return to home as democrat and having learned useful lessons, he appeared to harbour motives that could put him and his loyalists on a collision course with those that would receive them in the APC.
The reality on the ground is that a new party structure – a Caretaker Committee, headed by Yemi Sanusi is in place and has been conducting the affairs of the Ogun APC since. The Committee was legitimately set by the national body of the party which at a time did suspend Amosun for alleged anti – party activities and later lifted the suspension recently.
Again, a new APC controlled government led by Governor Abiodun is also in place and not that of his predecessor that, allegedly, encouraged and condoned Akinlade and his style of politics.
Trouble is afoot if Akinlade and other returnees do not put these salient developments into consideration in expressing their dreams, expectations, and demands within the APC.
The party and the new sheriff in the state has also not jettisoned the idea of continuity in growth and development agenda for Ogun State but have chosen to pursue the continuity using a different approach, yet Akinlade appeared fixated with the old order, prompting many to wonder whether he would ever subsume his interest in that of the party or the governor.
There is also the fear that Akinlade and other returnees still consider Chief Derin Adebiyi as the head of the party in the state.
In the reckoning of the APM governorship candidate, he and his people were returning to the pre-October 2, 2018 Ogun State APC political family, apparently referring to Adebiyi’s era. He said: “As democrats and believers in the rule of law, we must now set our grievances aside, display the same courage and high sense of responsibility that kept us on through the last 15 months.
“We must at this junction show that our efforts so far were truly driven by the unwavering desire to sustain the unprecedented developmental strides recorded between 2011 and 2019 across our dear state. We have set in motion a chain of actions that hinges on our resolve to sustain this noble vision tagged the Mission to Rebuild our dear Ogun State.
“It is with this reality in mind that I most sincerely call on every one of you that it is time to return home to the pre-October 2, 2018 Ogun State APC political family with the view to sustaining our core base and consolidate our gains so far,” he reportedly told his loyalists.”
But, Ogun APC has not acknowledged the return of Akinlade and his loyalists to the party. Its Publicity Secretary, Tunde Oladunjoye, said the party only read about the development on the pages of newspapers. He said the party welcomes the advertised return of Akinlade and other APM members as a good development, but stressed that they must understand that the APC members who stayed behind and held forth to weather the storm when Akinlade and co chose the path of opposition, can’t be expected to be shoved aside.
He said Akinlade and loyalists having eaten their cake should not expect to have it back, advising them to go back to their various wards and register as “new members” and take back seat where they would be monitored to ascertain the genuineness of their repentance.
The publicity secretary also gave conditions for the acceptance of the returnees, warning the party would square up with those that want to create mischief. He said: “APC is a party of the progressives and provides room for all. The party, at any point in time, is, therefore, ready to receive repentant members back into the fold.
“However, while we see the announced return of the APM members into our party as a welcome development, we are quick to add there is a process of joining or returning our party, in accordance with the party’s constitution and established procedures. We, therefore, urge them to return to their various wards for registration and realignment.
“Also, apart from going back to their various wards to re-enroll and reconcile with their people and leaders, it is also important for them to abide by the prevailing peace and decorum in Ogun APC and work under the Caretaker Executive formed by the National Working Committee of our party under the leadership of Chief Yemi Sanusi.
“We urge all those who have cases against the party in courts to withdraw same without further delay. Only this will demonstrate their loyalty and sincerity. We wish to quote from the statement of the National Working Committee of the APC read by the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Lanre Issa-Onilu, on Monday, December 16 2019 while announcing pardon for some suspended members.
“We hope the concerned party members will seize this opportunity to fully reconcile themselves with their ward, local government, and state party structures, key into the party activities, and continue to make their own contributions to the growth and stability of the party.
“We urge them to also take steps to reconcile with groups and individuals that are important to ensuring a lasting solution to any conflict that may exist in their respective states.” (The Nation)
