The 2023 general elections. After the usual horse-trading, power squabbles and contestation among the state actors, virtually all political parties planning to participate in the coming elections have finally submitted the names of their candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) well ahead of the deadline. Except where substitution becomes absolutely necessary, these are the standard bearers recognised by the law to run for various offices across all levels of government. The rest is up to the electorates to decide who among the galaxy of contenders is worthy of their votes.
And at this point, one may begin to heave a sigh of relief seeing that the transition process is very well on course against the doomsday predictions of some naysayers. It will never be, because Nigerians as a people have prodigious capacity to pull back from the brinks of disaster. In so many instances, in recent past, we have demonstrated an uncanny ability to navigate turbulent terrain of predictable and unanticipated crises. That is why we are unique as a people.
Now, having achieved some reasonable levels of quietude in the polity, following the hullabaloo that characterised the intense politicking by the political gladiators, one cannot but agree with Don Marquis, an American Writer (1878-1937), who rightly quipped, saying “When chicken quits quarrelling on their food, they often find that there is enough for all of them.” It is so with the human race too.
In Ogun State as, indeed, in the rest parts of the federation, the governorship primaries of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), where Governor Adedapo Oluseun Abiodun emerged as the elected standard bearer of the party for the 2023 elections has come and gone. Moving forward, therefore, it is imperative for the stakeholders to put the unnecessary bickering of the recent past behind them and rally round the incumbent Governor to take the state to the next level. In the long-run, his genie has reveled up unity among various aggrieved parties in the ruling APC in the state.
Recently, I watched the home-coming of former Governor Ibikunle Amosun amidst the mammoth crowd of sponsored supporters who converged on the Palace of the Ake Palace ground, Abeokuta, to give him a rousing welcome after his botched ambition to run for the office of the President with a deep sense of loss. According to JK Galbraith, Canadian-born US Economist, “There are times in politics when you must be on the right side and lose.” What Senator Amosun did in the just concluded presidential primary of the APC by announcing his decision to step down for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Eagle Square, Abuja, venue of the National Convention, is politically expedient and proper for the protection of the Yoruba interest in the Nigerian project. But the unnecessary hubris brought into the scenario made me to cringe in disbelief, because absolutely nothing really called for the carnival-like procession.
In the first place, the INEC has yet to officially declare a notice for the 2023 general elections. And the campaign by aspirants to woo delegates for the presidential primary has equally come to a close. As stipulated in sections 99 (1) of the election guidelines, “political campaigns in public can only commence 90 days before the polling day and must end 24 hours prior to the election date in accordance with any other rules and regulations stipulated for candidates and their parties by INEC.” Campaigning outside prescribed time period attracts a maximum fine of N500, 000.
There can be no doubt that the Ogun Central Senator is very well aware of these restrictions as a lawmaker and politician of his standing. Yet, he deliberately feigned ignorance of it and called out his purported supporters from his Ogun Central Senatorial District to showcase the strength of his political structure. In doing so, he was only being smart by half, campaigning passionately for Tinubu, whereas beneath the façade is a deep seated hatred and animosity for Governor Abiodun.
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His words: “In this Ogun State, since 1999, I am on camera, except for Baba Olusegun Obasanjo, I am not talking of pre-1999, no human being, dead or alive, has served Ogun State the way I have served. I have done eight years as your governor. By next year, it will be my 8th year in the Senate. Just between 1999 and now, I have served Ogun State with 15 years of my lifetime. Since 1999, Ibikunle Amosun has paid his dues in Ogun State and I am still paying it. Put your mind at rest, we are APC, APC is ours.”
To start with, who does not know the intrigues that edged him out of the party? And now that he has realised the futility of his effort to wrest power from the incumbent governor, who is going to take responsibility for his decision to embark on a political journey of no return? Who cares about the ranting of an ant? What is next after the public show of shame?
Amosun lost relevance in Ogun State politics the day he swore to truncate the governorship ambition of Prince Dapo Abioudun at all cost in the run-up to the last 2019 General Elections. In and out of office, he has been causing undue disquiet in the party by promoting internal dissention, while at the same time masquerading as the founder of the modern Ogun state politics.
All of these intrigues have come to nought. Unknown to him, his political clout has run out of steam. While making mockery of himself in the name of being in charge of the structure of the APC, his erstwhile allies are walking their ways quietly back into the mainstream power politics under the firm control of Governor Abiodun. Just recently, some of his staunch supporters, like Senator Lekan Mustapha, former Commissioner for Health, Dr Tunde Ipaye who was also, Deputy, Campaign Director-General, Allied People’s Movement (APM) Governorship Candidate (Adekunle Akinlade) in the 2019 gubernatorial election, and hundreds of their supporters as well as former Commissioners ate the humble pie by reuniting with the mainstream APC loyal to the governor. The immediate past Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Jide Ojuko, in a recent reunion ceremony pledged unflinching support his teeming supporters for Governor Abiodun, saying: “We are now in APC proper, no more in illegal association. We will never go back to the road that is endless. As the party primary is concerned, you have won the ticket. If it is party politics, I would have brought only politicians, but because of election, I brought voters. With me are representatives of various bodies, unions and associations.”
Ojuko is not alone in the new-found-welcoming relationship with the performing administration of Governor Abiodun. Within the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the centre is no longer holding, as the party is enmeshed in several crises, bordering on leadership structure control and the recent emergence of Ladi Adebutu as the governorship flagbearer in the coming 2023 general elections. The duo governorship aspirants, Segun Showunmi and Jimi Lawal, who lost out to Adebutu, have kicked against the choice of the Iperu-Remo born politician as the governorship candidate of the party.
In addition to the APC returnees, no fewer than 5,000 members of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun state have also defected to the party, citing the sterling performance of the state governor as the reason for their action. Recently, the defectors were largely members of Ladi Adebutu and late Senator Buruji Kashamu factions of the PDP in Iperu, Ikenne Local Government Area of the state. These included lfaneye Shittu, lsiaka Sonoiki and Mufutau Gbadamosi, as well as Adeleke Adesanya, the chairmanship candidate of the party from Buruji camp.
Governor Abiodun, welcoming the defectors, said: “I want to assure you that you will be given equal treatment as every member of the party is one family. This government is your government and we are ready to accommodate whoever is ready to join hands with us towards development of the state irrespective of religious, political or tribal affiliation.
“Our party is focused and committed to the transformation of the state. Since the inception of the current administration, a lot of developmental projects, including road reconstruction, rehabilitation of primary health centres and youth empowerment, among others, had been carried out in all the three Senatorial Districts of the State. We are currently constructing the Gateway Agro-Cargo Airport which was delayed by the previous administrations for more than a decade and by God’s grace, it will be ready for commissioning by December this year.”
While responding, Ifaneye Shittu commended the governor for the massive infrastructural development across the state, adding that the reason behind their action was to work and support the governor in his aspiration for a second term in office.
This past week, APC’s combined Ward Meeting in Wards 3, 4 and 5 in my hometown, Iperu, Ikenne Local Government also received new groups from the PDP into the progressives’ fold. This is a clear reflection of the inclusive and participatory style of governance of Governor Abiodun.
What’s more! Today, support for Prince Abiodun’s re-election bid for a second term has become a movement swirling across the length and breadth of the state. The most interesting of all is the way and manner the trend is silently changing the old narrative about bad blood politics of the immediate past administration. With his policy of inclusiveness, focused leadership and aggressive drive for economic transformation of the state, the Governor is now largely seen by the stakeholders as a bridge between the new and the old orders. Understandably, so, because he appreciates the fact that governance is about the people; it is about collective responsibility; and it is about shared value. All these are embodied in the ISEYA mantra of the administration.
And, of course, there is a sense in which the beautiful coinage is seen by all as an inspiring motivation for collective action; after all, being a governor does not necessarily mean that one is reinventing the wheel. In the course of steady progression into the future, there is bound to be new opportunities, new goals and new challenges. In all such circumstances, the ideal of good governance is to galvanise the people’s support and seek assistance where necessary for the ultimate realisation of the objective of the common good of all. On the contrary, the helmsman of the past administration’s obstinacy, arrogance of power and over bloated self-ego alienated the critical stakeholders to his administration. Yet, he is carrying on with the same toga of Mr. Know-all to the disadvantage of his political career.
Here we are under the succeeding administration of Governor Abiodun who appreciates the oceanic plentitude of natural endowment and human resources the state is blessed with and he is ever ready to tap into it. From Ogun Elders Advisory Council (OEAC) to the Inter-Party Advosory Council (IPAC), everybody is working in tandem with the Governor’s development agenda.
While the Chairman of Elders Advisory Council, Chief Oluleye Okuboyejo, has commended the governor for the increase in the ease of doing business index, which according to him, has significantly increased investment in the state, the IPC leadership has also passed a vote of confidence on the governor for good governance in the state.
Thus, having gone through the hurdles of primary, endorsement of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party as well as the scrutiny of the INEC, I dare say that no one individual, however powerful, can truncate the Governor’s re-election bid together with his deputy who is also running mate, Engr (Mrs) Noimot Salako-Oyedele.
It is already a public knowledge that clandestine moves are being made to arm-twist the NWC to prevail on Governor Abiodun to agree on a new power-sharing formula as a pre-condition for genuine truce and sustainable peace in the party after candidates’ failure for various elective positions have been duly elected, but neither the party nor the governor will ever succumb to such pressure as peace can only be built on justice, fairness and equity. For whatever reason they canvass, there is no justice in the proposal. It is like building on a quick sand. It is an invitation to crisis of an unimaginable proportion. For the avoidance of doubt, those who are agitated should know that the peace-loving governor remains in firm control of the structure of the party and will not discriminate against anyone on account of any primordial sentiment. For now or, in the nearest future, no elimination by substitution is on the table for the governor’s consideration. As far as mainstream APC is concerned, the list of all candidates duly nominated for various elective offices from governorship to the State and National Assembly remains sacrosanct.
Ogbonnikan wrote from Abeokuta, Ogun state capital
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