FOR residents of Ogun State it has been a season of sponsored protests against the decision of the National Working Committee(NWC), of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to recognize the candidature of Prince Adedapo Abiodun for its Governorship as against the preferred choice of Governor Ibikunle Amosun, Hon Abiodun Abdulkabir Akinlade.
Amosun apart from insisting on Akinlade being accepted by the NWC also in what a lot of people see as discourteous accused the Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole of conniving with the former Governor of Lagos State ,Senator Bola Tinubu and former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba to impose Abiodun on the party.
Immediately after the attack on the National leaders of the party came different kinds of protests believed to have been sponsored and which kicked off on Monday when some selected councilors trooped to the Arcade Grounds of the Governor’s Office in Abeokuta carrying various placards.
Numbering over a hundred, the councilors said their protest was a solidarity visit to the seat of government to register their demand with Governor Amosun for the recognition of Abdulkabir Akinlade vowing and not to accept Abiodun.
Next came on Tuesday that of some people said to be Elders in Ogun West where Akinlade hails from who vowed to maintain their stand on his candidature as flag bearer and also threatened to disown the Senator representing the area, Gbolahan Dada if he remained mute about the development whether or not he was supporting their agenda.
The Elders which included a former Minister, Chief Mrs. Iyabo Anisulowo who only on Sunday had visited President Muhammadu Buhari alongside the Governor and two paramount rulers to push Akinlade’s candidature and an Amosun Commissioner, Chief Jide Ojuko insisted that it was either an Ogun West candidate or nothing.
Rising from their meeting in Ilaro, headquarters of Ogun West Senatorial District, the Elders declared support for Akinlade who they claimed was duly elected candidate of the party.However, senator Anisulowo declined to comment on her visit to the President with the Paramount rulers
Then on Wednesday, some female members of the party also marched to the Governor’s Office singing the same allege imposition of Abiodun song and carrying placards that said that they rather support Akinlade, the Governor’s choice or nothing.
Led by Chairman of Ilugun Local Council Development Authority, Mofoluke Soremekun and some other women leaders, the protesters distrupted vehicular movement and gave Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and the NWC up till Friday to address their grievance threatening to strip themselves naked at the party headquarters,
But the NWC is unimpressed with the obviously sponsored protests and threats declaring that there was no going back on the candidacy of Prince Abiodun who it said emerged from the Direct Primary supervised by the Committee set up by the NWC
The APC spokesman, Lanre Onlilu in an interview with newsmen in Abuja said that Ogun state governor resolved to self- help in order to ensure his candidate emerge in the state adding that there is no provision for that in the party’s constitution.
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He said,” Ogun state issue is a straight forward case. If we speak to the merit of this case, the whole world saw it, the visuals were everywhere, where the Ogun State governor gathered some aspirants, stakeholders and said clearly, there won’t be primaries and right there he pointed at who the next Governor, Senator, House of Representatives candidates would be. He named himself the next Senatorial candidate for Ogun central senatorial district.
“Even if they have accepted those people, it is against the procedure, especially for a governor to openly say a thing like that.
“It was clearly stated the party gave two options which is the direct and indirect primaries and you are to have stakeholders’ meetings where majority are to decide.
“In the case of Ogun, after that exercise failed after they tried to handpick who will be what, they sent a letter that they have agreed on direct primary and the party has no choice than to endorse what you want.
“On the day they all came for screening including the governor, he suddenly left with other aspirants and returned back to Abeokuta; gathered some people and sent back to the NWC that they wanted indirect primary and the other aspirants said we were all here together, that they didn’t know when this change was made.
“Meanwhile, someone had gone to court and the court had barred the State executive from anything to do with the party but we all saw on national television where the State Governor and the State executive, actually conducted their own primary and the process threw up the Governor’s preferred candidate. it was the SSG in Ogun State, who was reading the result until it occurred to him that he had no power to announce the names, so he handed over to the state chairman of the party who also shouldn’t have done that – he is statutory barred, the court had told him not to participate in the primary.
Secondly, the state chairman has no power to conduct primary that power resides with the NWC.
Only time will tell which of the two contending parties to the dispute will carry the day in the state that has of late earned for itself needless crisis which has arrested governance on all fronts few months to the general elections.
