2019: Ajimobi, Ladoja, Akala in fresh battle of wit
There is an ongoing realignment of political structures ahead of 2019 general elections in Oyo State as many of political gladiators are seeking relevance and positions across political parties.
Political permutations and consultations have begun in the “Pacesetter State”. Many politicians have begun to seek the support of their kinsmen, while others have started visiting traditional rulers. Secret meetings are being held across the state, while verbal assaults, confrontations and condemnations, being used across political parties as political tools to discredit each other are not left out.
Some political gladiators have not publicly defected to their preferred parties to seek for greener pasture. But their body languages suggest where they belong, while some maintain their old political parties.
The reconfiguration of the state political structure is the fallout of the recent visits of the interim national caretaker committee chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Markafi, to the former bigwigs of the party in the state, promising to give all the aggrieved members of the party a level playing field if they return. Another factor is Markafi’s victory at the Supreme Court.
Senator Makarfi visited former governor Rasidi Ladoja, who defected to Accord Party from the PDP to contest governorship election in 2015. He also met former governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, who left the PDP for Labour Party prior to the 2015 election to contest the governorship seat. He also visited the former gubernatorial aspirant of the party, Engineer Seyi Makinde, and former Attorney General of Federation, Chief Richard Akinjide among others.
Makarfi, however, failed to meet the PDP flag bearer in the 2015 election, Senator Teslim Folarin, who belonged to the faction of the embattled controversial chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu Sherif and others.
Ladoja, is believed to have returned to the PDP, going by his remarks when he met Makarfi.
“When I left the PDP some years ago, it was because of the injustice done to me.
“We left because the PDP leaders, at that time, were not ready to protect the interest of all members. We are back now because the new leadership has promised to right all wrongs and avoid mistakes of the past.
“I have discussed with members of the Accord party and they have asked for amnesty; we need assurance from Makarfi that Accord Party members will be given equal treatment and a level playing ground,” Ladoja said.
There has been speculation that the former governor is interested in joining the race for the PDP national chairmanship which has been zoned to the states in the South West. A national daily (not Daily Trust) had reported that Ladoja was one of the stalwarts being considered for the post of the national chairmanship of the party. But analysts say that the leadership of the PDP may not trust a returnee with the position of number one in the party.
Meanwhile, a former senate leader, Senator Folarin, was recently sighted in a photograph with Governor Abiola Ajimobi in London. Information from the grapevine has it that Ajimobi, an APC governor purportedly invited Folarin and former governor AlaoAkala to London to discuss how to work together ahead of 2019.
A source said the London meeting among the three key political figures might likely be a political intrigue to discuss how the three of them will represent Oyo State in the senate come 2019. The source said former governor Akala was interested in contesting the Oyo North senatorial district, while Governor Ajimobi, after his second term, is also interested in returning to the senate. He said that Folarin was also planning to return to the senate to represent Oyo central, the position he held for two terms.
The decision of Folarin to join forces with the APC, according to a source, was not unconnected with the fact that Senator Sheriff lost out at the Supreme Court, a setback to the likes of Folarin who supported him during the struggle. Folarin has not officially defected to the APC. But he is said to have not been attending the PDP programme in recent time. A former close associate of Folarin, who craved for anonymity, said Folarin’s possible defection will be an intrigue to return to senate in 2019.
“I know him than anybody in the state. He wants to return to the senate. He made some mistakes before and after 2015 election. What happened in 2015 was an indication that it was popularity of Baba Adedibu that won senatorial election for us in 2003 and 2007. If he finally goes to the APC, I wish him best of luck,” he said.
Though former governor AlaoAkala, who ruled the state on the platform of the PDP between 2007 and 2011, had defected to the APC immediately governor Ajimobi broke the second term jinx, fetching his son, Olamiju Alao-Akala, a caretaker chairman of Ogbomoso north local government slot, he is not really involved in the activities of the party in the state.
However, he contested the governorship election on the platform of the Labour Party during the 2015 general elections and came third. So, he remains a major political figure in the state. Another political bigwig is a former deputy governor of the state, Alhaji Taofeek Arapaja, who has decamped from the PDP to the APC.
Already, Makinde, the 2015 Social Democratic Party (SDP) gubernatorial candidate and a former governorship aspirant of the PDP, has officially returned to the former ruling party after the Makarfi visit. Makinde, in a statement from his office, said, after consultation with the national leadership of his party, he has decided to leave the SDP for the PDP.
Last Thursday, Senator Ladoja paid a visit to the Bodija Ibadan residence of his erstwhile deputy and former governor, Alao-Akala. They had a two-hour closed door meeting.
The visit followed the official confirmation of his possible return to the PDP by the chairman of the national caretaker committee, Senator Makarfi. Before this meeting, both Ladoja and AlaoAkala had been at loggerheads since January 12, 2006 when the former was illegally removed from office to pave way for Alao-Akala as acting governor and later elected governor on the PDP platform.
Makarfi had recently informed the members of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) that the SDP governorship candidate in Oyo State, Makinde, as well as Chief Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli, who was the running mate to AlaoAkala during the 2015 governorship election of Labour Party had also returned to the party.
During the meeting, the interim chairman of the party had urged the intending returnees to hurry up, stressing that “while we reconcile and accommodate, we are not waiting for any individual to make up their mind.”
The incumbent governor, Ajimobi, who has been the major beneficiary of the crack within the hitherto solid Oyo PDP, jetted out of country few days ago and met with both Alao-Akala and Folarin.
Folarin, a former Senate leader, who on arrival from London, confirmed to reporters on phone that he has not left the PDP but was on consultations across political divides. He also visited Ladoja last week. He had a closed door meeting as political permutation and intrigues get underway.
A source also confirmed that Makinde had also been meeting with Ladoja and a few other bigwigs as he officially announced his defection from the SDP to the PDP recently.
From the foregoing, the present situation, going by the movement of the political giants in Oyo State, has shown that the battle for 2019 will be a “war of the giants”.
With Akala, Folarin and Ajimobi in one possible camp, pundits say it is an indication that the speculation that the APC may still control Oyo State is feasible as their purported quest to go to the senate in 2019 remains a pointer to the political impending strategies and intrigues. But the PDP political game will determine what eventually happens in 2019.