Ondo APC and a Mockery of Party Politics
The perceived endorsement of Mr. Olusegun Abraham, a governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress in Ondo State, by a national leader of the party, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, ahead of the September 3 rescheduled primary, has continued to generate mixed
As the Ondo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) prepares ahead for its gubernatorial primary rescheduled for Saturday, September 3, 2016, all eyes are on the choice of the party as its standard bearer, preparatory to the Saturday, November 26, 2016 governorship election between the two formidable parties – PDP and APC – in the state.
Interestingly, the choice of the APC candidate that is expected to slug it out with the candidate of the PDP, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), has come to the front burner of public discourse. But political watchers already perceive cracks which now unsettling the state leadership of the party along two camps – the fresh ideas and the legacy.
The fresh ideas group is believed to be made up of the young elements whose ages range from 45 to 55, while the legacy group is composed of the old men, between 60 and 70 years.
Expectedly, a young and agile candidate like Jegede, the PDP candidate, with vibrant credentials and promising potential, it is believed, is required to call the bluff of the intimidating profile of the APC candidate. Young elements being touted as likely APC candidate include Akinboye Taiwo Oyewumi, Moyosore Niran-Oladunni, Akinfehinwa Awodeyi (aka Apata) and others.
Jegede, a brilliant lawyer, in his early 50s, came to public glare, following his appointment as Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of Ondo State, at the inception of Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s administration in 2009.
Curiously, the attendant angst and bickering are currently making mockery as much as rocking the boat of the APC, following rumours of the endorsement of Abraham, one of the aspirants, by Tinubu and has pitted other aggrieved aspirants against the Ikare-Akoko politician.
With this unsavoury development, the Chairman, Ondo State chapter of the APC, Mr Isaac Kekemeke was sacked for his alleged role in the endorsement of Abraham. Going ahead with the imposition, it is feared co-aspirants might slip into despondency, despite repeated assurances by the leadership of the party of a level-playing ground.
First to fire the salvo, Dr. Tunji Abayomi, a human rights lawyer, also an aspirant, took a swipe at Tinubu, and wrote an open mail to him, warning against the repeat of the mistake of 2012 governorship, where Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) was believed to have been imposed and fielded by the defunct ACN to slug it out with Mimiko.
To further worsen the matter, the in-fighting assumed another dimension between Abraham and Akeredolu, when the latter, while featuring on a personality programme of Adaba Radio station, Akure, recently accused some co-aspirants of kidnapping delegates ahead of the primary.
According to him, “out of their desperation, some aspirants invited some delegates to a meeting, but later held them hostage. These delegates who never knew the intent of the desperate aspirants went for a meeting, but only to be confined and never allowed to go home,” he said.
Abraham, 63 years old, would later upbraid Akeredolu over his recent comments on Ondo State Radio Station, where he claimed Tinubu was not responsible for his emergence as the ACN governorship candidate in the 2012 poll and the fact that Tinubu had lost his status as the national leader of the party over his endorsement of an aspirant ahead of the forthcoming APC primary. He described his comments as unfortunate and an ungrateful act.
“The national leader was accused of imposing me, I was not imposed. Endorsement is different from imposition. Those who regarded the two as the same do not know what they are saying. The national leader only said ‘I am a preferred aspirant that can deliver the state for APC in the coming election’. There is still going to be primary election and delegates know who they are going to vote for and who can win election for the APC”, Abraham.
But in a swift reaction, Akeredolu, a former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, denied making unsavoury comments against Tinubu.
“My attention has been drawn to some stories making the rounds, especially on the social media, linking me with some ridiculous comments and incendiary quotes on the purported endorsement of candidates in the governorship primary. Those who know my antecedents will attest to the fact that I am a man of courage,” said Akeredolu.
Nevertheless, aggrieved aspirants and political watchers are alike have warned of the dire consequences of imposing a candidate on the party, thus admonishing the leadership to have a rethink before making itself a ribaldry butt of jokes.
Curiously, the attendant angst and bickering are currently making mockery as much as rocking the boat of the APC, following rumours of the endorsement of Abraham, one of the aspirants, by Tinubu and has pitted other aggrieved aspirants against the Ikare-Akoko politician