After telling a friend that state politics isn’t worth discussing unless Nigeria’s constitution makes states financially and operationally independent of the Federal Government, he charged, “As a member of a prominent family in Ogun State, you should be interested in the state’s politics.”
Of course, the tangled or spaghetti-like politics of the contest for Governor of Ogun State should concern all its citizens. Ogun State was carved out of Western State by the military government of Gen Murtala Muhammed in 1976.
Col Ayodele Balogun, who incidentally attended Adeola Odutola College, Ijebu Ode, was pioneer Military Governor. His military successor, Brig Harrison Eghagha, handed over to the first civilian Governor, Olabisi Onabanjo, in 1979. In 1983, Governor Onabanjo, from Ijebu Division in Ogun East Senatorial District, won a second term.
In 1992, Segun Osoba of the Social Democratic Party, one of the two political parastatals of the near-endless transition programme of the military regime of Gen Ibrahim Babangida, became governor. He returned in 1999.
Former Governor Osoba, from Egba Division of Ogun Central Senatorial District, failed to secure a third term in 2003. Gbenga Daniel, from Remo Division of Ogun East Senatorial District, became governor in 2003. He won a second term in 2007, vacated the office in 2011, and the governorship pendulum swung away from Ogun East.
But contrary to expectations, and frantic efforts by Daniel to send it to Yewa Division in Ogun West Senatorial District in 2011, Ibikunle Amosun of Egba Division in the Ogun Central Senatorial District clinched it. He will be rounding off his second term by the end of May 2019.
Perhaps, in an attempt at ensuring social justice, Governor Amosun wants to “assist” the Yewa Division of Ogun West to have one of its own as next Governor of Ogun State. But the Ijebu and Remo of Ogun East have a different notion of the governorship social justice.
They argue that Ogun State has two nations; the Egba, with their Yewa kin, and the Ijebu, with their Remo cousins. As far as the Ijebu and Remo are concerned, the Ijebu – through Onabanjo, an Ijebu, and Daniel of Remo – have had two shots as governor.
They reckon that because the Egba of Abeokuta – and, by extension, the Yewa – have also had two gos at the governorship, through Osoba, and current Governor Amosun, the purpose of social justice has been served, so the governorship should return to Ogun East.
They think it was just tough luck that the Yewa didn’t get to be governor when it swung back their way in 2011. That explains the motley of governorship aspirants from Ogun East on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, the current ruling party in Ogun State.
Amosun encouraged his Yewa Division protégé, Adekunle Akinlade, to contest the governorship of the APC. Reports say that two separate congresses held, but the National Working Committee of the party endorsed the outcome of the congress that elected Dapo Abiodun.
Amosun’s efforts to right his perception of wrong to Akinlade and the Yewa Division were abortive. He therefore sided with Akinlade and his supporters who migrated in droves to the special purpose Allied People’s Movement: A move that some think makes Akinlade an independent candidate of sorts.
For supporting the APM’s Akinlade, the APC sympathisers think Amosun, now senatorial candidate and leader in Ogun State, would harm the APC’s chance of winning the governorship election in the state. They therefore think he should reduce his visibility on Akinlade’s campaign train.
Amosun has company in Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, who is contesting as Senator under the APC, while also supporting his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, the Action Alliance governorship candidate in the state.
Though you could say that Governors Amosun and Okorocha crossed party lines in this seeming comedy of errors, and even fault their claims to altruism, you cannot deny Akinlade or Nwosu from using any legal pedestal they find to achieve their ambitions.
The dilemma for both governors extends to President Muhammadu Buhari. As President and the APC leader, he has been endorsed by other political parties, and received Akinlade, governorship candidate of another political party, in Aso Rock.
The United People’s Party Chairman, Chekwas Okorie, visited, and endorsed Buhari for President. Yusuf Dantalle, Chairman of Akinlade’s APM, also went to Aso Rock to endorse Buhari for re-election as President.
The same size fits Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party. As Vice President to the PDP’s President Olusegun Obasanjo, he contested the Presidency under the Action Congress of Nigeria. A collective of 46 political parties known as the Coalition of United Political Parties have adopted him again.
The practice of active members of one political party endorsing the candidates of other political parties started from the inception of the Fourth Republic in 1999: The All People’s Party fielded governors at the state level, but joined the Alliance for Democracy to present Olu Falae as presidential candidate.
In 2003, the AD adopted former President Olusegun Obasanjo, of the PDP, as presidential candidate, but presented its candidates for governor in the South-West states. The AD lost nearly all the governorship seats, except for Lagos State, whose governor, Jagaban Borgu, Bola Tinubu, retained his seat.
The argument that if the Independent National Electoral Commission registered the APM and AA, they are legitimate platforms for use to contest any elective seat that their members may choose is valid. Even if you are displeased with Governors Amosun and Okorocha for crossing party lines, you cannot deny governorship candidates Akinlade and Nwosu from pursuing their legitimate ambitions.
President Buhari, who received Akinlade with seeming conviviality, didn’t seem to have any problems with his politics, though some revisionist posts on social media claim he disapproved of the moves of governors who impose candidates. His emergence as the APC presidential candidate didn’t appear terribly democratic though.
What needs to be stressed here is that Akinlade is within his rights to seek and actualise his ambition via any political platform that he can find. The same applies to his supporters who, rightly or wrongly, feel aggrieved by the APC.
Section 40 of Nigeria’s constitution guarantees every citizen freedom of association, just as Sections 65(2)(b) and 131(c) require a candidate for an elective office to be a member, and be presented by a political party.
However, Akinlade’s ambition should not stop those of Dapo Abiodun of the APC, Gbenga Isiaka of Africa Democratic Congress, and Buruji Kashamu, whose nomination was rejected by the PDP’s NWC. He may have got a reprieve with recent court dismissal of Ladi Adebutu’s suit.
The APC and other political parties are welcome to do the needful, but legitimate, political skirmishes to secure votes for their candidates. Indeed, all political parties should be free to merchandise their candidates in the open market.
The concern of Ogun State citizens should be to find a governor with the right fit. It is immaterial who endorses a candidate. Governor Amosun will be the first to insist that his successor must be competent, and have the capability to take Ogun State higher: ante up the game.
Some of those who vigorously defend Amosun’s right to prefer one candidate over another, now also speculate that Akinlade may revert to the APC if he wins the governorship election. It’s a long, but plausible, shot.
–Twitter @lekansote1
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