How Oyetola threw away his reelection chances, killed APC in Osun — Aregbesola ex-aide – Newstrends
Connect with us

Politics

How Oyetola threw away his reelection chances, killed APC in Osun — Aregbesola ex-aide

Published

3 years ago

on

Former Special Adviser, Information and Strategy to ex-Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, Semiu Okanlawon

A former Special Adviser, Information and Strategy to ex-Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, Semiu Okanlawon, has stated that Governor Gboyega Oyetola may have inadvertently thrown away his chances of getting reelected as Osun State Governor by demonising the administration of his predecessor, where he played a major role as Chief of Staff.

He said Oyetola, by his action, has not only thrown away his reelection through the window, but has also “killed” the All Progressives Congress in the state.

Okanlawon stated this in an opinion piece he penned on Tuesday, which he titled: “Oyetola and the ‘a o m’erin j’oba’ choristers,” published elsewhere on this news website.

He said he confronted Oyetola when he began to exhibit “his operation tear down Aregbesola” tendencies in his early days as the newly-elected governor of the state and warned him how such could cost him dearly.

READ ALSO:

He wrote: “As a functionary in that administration, I knew ab initio that any attempt to present Aregbesola as evil was going to hurt Oyetola and his administration more than it would Aregbesola.

“This was the crux of my discussions with him in December 2019 during which I asked whether he thought it possible to extricate himself from whatever happened under the Rauf Aregbesola Administration by virtue of his position at the time.

“Assuming, without conceding, that Aregbesola’s administration was spendthrift or took certain decisions bordering on the finances of the state, including loans, salary issues, infrastructure financing and virtually every general matters, is it possible for Oyetola to be seen as an outsider to what transpired?”

Okanlawon said that with Oyetola’s emergence as Osun State Governor, “no one expected any lull in the advancement of the ‘State of the Virtuous’ in education, job creation, infrastructure rebirth, security, and above all, value re-orientation that hallmarked the administration where he served as the Chief of Staff and as a matter of fact, a major policy egghead.

“But rather than busy himself with these lofty objectives for which continuity would be a preference for public good, a vein, inglorious and totally unnecessary attempt at ‘removing the hands of Aregbesola’ from the politics of Osun was elevated to the level of state objective. If you cannot key into that objective, you certainly cannot matter either in government or the party.

“I have asked myself what were these objectives meant to achieve.”

Okanlawon revealed that it took a lot of effort for leaders of the APC to convince members of the party who totally rejected his candidature as governorship aspirant in the state in 2018.

He wrote: “Knowing the shreds to which his forced candidature turned the party ahead of the 2018 election, we would have been saved the troubles if we had not followed this ignoble path. I recall vividly that the entire executive committee of the APC in Governor Oyetola’s Ward in Iragbiji all resigned from the party to join the African Democratic Party in 2018. I remember calling on the Aragbiji, Oba Abdulrasheed Olabomi, at the time to intervene and not allow APC stalwarts in Oyetola’s homestead bring us all to shame.

“Of course, given the roles I had played previously in the election of the Governor, especially in the face of the total rejection of his candidature, people from my ward and local government were becoming apprehensive. Simply put, the grassroots ‘soldiers’ of the All Progressives Congress were already suspicious something capable of destroying the fabric of the party was going on at the ward levels across the state. They needed information, assurances that the party was not coming in the hands of those who would destroy it. They needed to bring their anxieties to me.

“They kept bombarding me with messages that our party was witnessing something very sinister, the type that could ignite an implosion if nothing was done.”

READ ALSO:

Okanlawon said he confronted Oyetola to confirm from him whether he was the one behind the underhand motives to cut Aregbesola into pieces by those he described as Ileri Oluwa leaders.

He said the governor denied knowledge of such moves, adding in the column: “Not convinced that he was unaware of the discriminatory moves and ill-feelings already being created, I went ahead to tell him that any attempt to cast Aregbesola in the image of someone to be discarded was predictably going to blow in the face of everyone.”

He described the present promoters of the governor’s reelection as the ‘a o merin joba crowd who don’t mean well for the elephant.

He said those of them goading Oyetola to go ahead with his reelection are only deceiving him because of their ultimate goal to disgrace him in the end.

Okanlawon said even a cabinet member of the governor had told him that Oyetola had become a hard sell but that no one was ready to tell him the truth just to remain in his good book.

The former Aregbesola aide said the ‘a o merin joba’ crowd will gladly turn back when Oyetola, the elephant, must have ended in the “decorative grave dug for him by those hailing him.”

He wrote: “A o m’erin j’oba (We’ll Make the Elephant King), which, in history, has no parallel in apt dramatisation of deceit, wickedness and fraud usually woven around fame and positions of influence and affluence. In the A o m’erin j’oba tragi-comedy, the elephant, in its obvious majestic size and shape, was led on by a band of deceivers, manipulators all garbed in praise-singers’ attires. Sadly, they had a sinister motive. Those who chorused its praises and assured the elephant of its impending ‘coronation’ had dug his grave where they planned to ditch it once they succeeded in cajoling it to follow them to the venue of ‘coronation’ ceremony.

“The grave was decorated with very attractive, velvets. And so they went for the elephant with singing and dancing.

“Our friend, totally oblivious of the evil plots by its praise-singers, danced on its way to the venue thinking it was its day of honour.

“Alas! On getting to the ‘coronation’ venue, where a beautifully decorated royal chair had been placed, the elephant sank with all its weight into the grave, while the praise-singers went their different paths; some of them jubilating.”

The Eagle

Related Topics:
Advertisement

Politics

PDP crisis: Two ex-Senate presidents lead fresh plot to oust Damagum

Published

1 day ago

on

December 21, 2024

By

Umar Iliya Damagum, Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

PDP crisis: Two ex-Senate presidents lead fresh plot to oust Damagum

Two former Presidents of the Senate, Chief David Mark and Dr Bukola Saraki are leading a fresh charge aimed at removing Amb. Umar Damagum as the Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The push by Mark and Saraki has received the backing of prominent stakeholders, including the Plateau State Governor, Caleb Muftwang and other political office holders elected on the platform of the PDP.

Similarly, former governors from the Northcentral zone who served on the party’s platform have also aligned forces with the group.

Rising from a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja on Thursday night, the party chieftains resolved to produce a candidate from the zone early 2025 to replace Damagum.

According to them, the move to replace Damagum with a substantive chairman from the Northcentral, has received the endorsement of key party stakeholders from the Northwest and the Northeast zones.

Among those being projected as potential candidates to take Damagum’s seat include Mark; a former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam; and a former House of Representatives member from Nasarawa State, David
David Ombugadu.

A communique issued after the meeting, said the stakeholders
reviewed the festering crisis in the party following the exit of the erstwhile National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu.

Ayu lost his seat to the crisis triggered by disagreements over the emergency of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 general election.

READ ALSO:

The crisis has continued to deepen with the apparent overbearing influence of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike on the Damagum-led national leadership.

The Northcentral stakeholders argued that Damagum’s continued occupation of the office breached provisions of the PDP constitution.

The communique states in part, “The PDP’s constitution clearly states that succession of offices in the party at all levels is largely to the extent that any vacant position can be replaced by appointment from the zone, as per Section 47 (6) of the party.

“The party is guided by its constitution at all times. Therefore, the leadership of the party needs to rise up to the occasion to restore goodwill and cohesion in the party by making necessary sacrifices and compromises to restore confidence and cohesion in the party.

“It is in the light of this that the stakeholders of the Northcentral Zone appeal to the conscience and goodwill of our compatriots in other zones of the Northern region to restore the seat of the chairmanship of the party back to the Northcentral Zone to serve out its tenure.

“That the stakeholders must strive to build consensus to get the buy-in to the position of Northcentral zone.

“The Northcentral is united and will strive to preserve the PDP as a veritable platform for good governance in Nigeria.”

The meeting, which was attended by Governor Muftwang, also had former Governors Jonah Jang (Plateau), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Idris Wada (Kogi) in attendance.

Others at the meeting included the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro; incumbent PDP National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN); and a former Information Minister, Prof Jerry Gana.

Also at the meeting were former senators Tunde Ogbeha, Philip Aduda, Suleiman Adokwe, Dino Melaye, Mohammed Onawo and Peter Jiya.

READ ALSO:

Similarly, former Ministers, Labaran Maku and Sarah Ochekpe also attended the meeting. Other stakeholders like Simon Mwadkwon, Mrs. Margaret Icheen, Mr. Raymond Dabo, Maika Jiba, and Isa Dobi were also present.

Damagum, who is from Yobe State in the Northeast zone, emerged Acting National Chairman in March 2023 following the exit of Ayu who is from Benue State in the Northcentral zone.

Damagum was the PDP Deputy National Chairman (North) before his appointment as Acting National Chairman.

By virtue of Section 47 (6) of the party’s constitution, he ought to have relinquished the seat for a substantive National Chairman from the Northcentral zone where Ayu hailed from.

The Section reads: “Where a vacancy occurs in any of the offices of the party, the Executive Committee at the appropriate level shall appoint another person from the area or zone where the officer originated from to serve out the tenure of the officer.”

Ayu was elected chairman in 2022 for a four-year tenure that should expire in 2026 before his tenure got truncated in 2023.

Several moves by critical organs of the party, including the PDP Governors Forum, the Board of Trustees (BoT) and the National Caucus to replace Damagum have been thwarted by the Acting National Chairman, allegedly with the backing of Wike.

Miffed by the development, the PDP Governors Forum, led by Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, had, a few weeks ago, directed the Damagum-led leadership to convene the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting latest by February 2025.

The NEC meeting has suffered four postponements between August and November 2024, as Damagum, who is supposed to convene the meeting has been evasive.

The power to ratify any candidate chosen by the Northcentral zone to replace Damagum is vested only in the NEC.

 

PDP crisis: Two ex-Senate presidents lead fresh plot to oust Damagum

Continue Reading

Politics

PDP expels South-East national vice chairperson over anti-party activities

Published

3 days ago

on

December 19, 2024

By

PDP expels South-East national vice chairperson over anti-party activities

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oguduokwor Ward, Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, has officially expelled Ali Odefa, the suspended National Vice Chairperson of the party in the South-East, following allegations of anti-party activities.

Odefa had been suspended on September 11, 2024, by the ward executives, a move that was later upheld by the Federal High Court in Abakaliki. In its ruling on November 29, 2024, under suit number FHC/AI/CS/182/2024, the court affirmed the legitimacy of his suspension.

On Wednesday, Onyeka Ovuta, the Acting Chairperson of the PDP in Oguduokwor, announced Odefa’s expulsion in a statement. Ovuta explained that the decision followed recommendations from the party’s disciplinary committee, which confirmed the allegations against Odefa.

READ ALSO:

The party announced that Mr Odefa by the virtue of his expulsion, “ceases to be a member of the party.”

Reacting, Mr Odefa laughed off the expulsion, stating that those who announced it were “frustrated charlatans”.

He said the expulsion cannot stand because “it did not take place in the ward but in Abuja”. He said those who made the announcement against him were not ward executives of the party.

“Let them come home come and announce it. Or is our ward now located in Abuja?”

 

PDP expels South-East national vice chairperson over anti-party activities

Continue Reading

Politics

INEC recognises Sylvester Ezeokenwa as APGA national chairman

Published

4 days ago

on

December 18, 2024

By

APGA National Chairman, Sylvester Ezeokenwa

INEC recognises Sylvester Ezeokenwa as APGA national chairman

Sylvester Ezeokenwa has been reinstated as the national chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).

Ezeokenwa was reinstated by the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday, December 17.

According to Sam Olumekun, the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC, the commission had been served with the judgement of the Supreme Court.

The apex court judgement with the Appeal No. SC/CV/824/2024 APGA & ANOR vs OYE & ORS was delivered on November 27, 2024.

The court ruled that Ezeokenwa should be recognised as the national chairman of the party.

READ ALSO:

“In compliance with the judgement of the apex court, the Commission has restored Barr. Ezeokenwa as the Chairman of APGA and restored his name on our website accordingly,” the INEC commissioner said.

He also stated that the reisnstatmemt of the new chairman would automatically lead to the withdrawal of the recognition of Njoku as the national chairman of the party.

The court also upheld an earlier judgement of the appeal which did not confer any enforceable rights on Njoku.

If also awarded N20 million each against the appellaants.

INEC recognises Sylvester Ezeokenwa as APGA national chairman

Continue Reading

Trending