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

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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.

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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.”

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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.”

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6 Labour Party lawmakers defect to PDP

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6 Labour Party lawmakers defect to PDP

Six Labour Party (LP) members of the Enugu State House of Assembly have officially defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

They made their defection known on Thursday in Enugu in a letter read by the Speaker, Chief Uche Ugwu, during plenary.

The defectors include the Majority Leader, Mr Johnson Ani (Enugu North); the Chief Whip, Mr Ejike Eze, (Igbo-Eze North 1); and the Deputy Chief Whip, Ms Princess Ugwu (Enugu South Rural).

Others are Mr Pius Ezugwu (Nsukka East); Mr Williams Amuka (Igbo-Etiti West); and Mr Osita Eze (Oji River).

The defectors, in the letters, said their defection was as a result of the existence of irreconcilable division, incessant crisis within the labour party at the national level and across all the state chapters.

They regretted that the party had evolved into perpetual discord with various factions embroiled in legal battles, which undermine its ability to effectively serve the interest of the people.

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According to them, the Labour Party, once considered a beacon of hope for progressive ideas, have regrettably become synonymous with internal squabbles, thereby reducing its capacity to fulfil the aspirations of electorates.

They cited the cases of Mr Julius Abure and Mr Limido Apapa factions as well as the national treasurer as some of the divisions within the party.

They expressed the hope that the PDP would give them the platform to continue to serve the interests of their people and thanked the leaderships of Labour Party for their supports.

The defectors also acknowledge that the letters were sent to the office of the Speaker by themselves, adding that they would work wholeheartedly for the progress of their new party in Enugu State.

In his remark, the Speaker welcomed the defectors into the PDP and promised that they would be carried along in the legislative activities of the House.

With the defection, the PDP now had the majority in the House with 17 members while LP had only six members.

6 Labour Party lawmakers defect to PDP

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More drama at LP as BoT announces takeover

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More drama at LP as BoT announces takeover

  • NLC rejects Abure re-election
  • INEC disowns national convention

The Board of Trustees at the Labour Party says it has taken over the administration of the party, indicating a fresh trouble in the LP’s internal crisis.

This was announced on Thursday in a statement issued in Abuja by the party’s BoT Chairman, Sylvester Ejiofor.

He said the takeover of the party came after the expiration of Julius Abure’s tenure as LP’s national chairman

Abure was re-elected as chairman t the party’s national convention held in Nnewi, Anambra State, on Wednesday, amid leadership crisis.

All members of the National Working Committee were returned at the convention.

But the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has described Abure’s re-election as “an illegality”.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) also disowned the exercise on the grounds that it did not monitor the national convention.

INEC spoke through Rotimi Oyekanmi, media aide to INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The BoT’s statement read in part, “Following the expiration of the tenure in office of the immediate past National Working Committee of the LP headed by Mr. Julius Abure, the BoT, in line with the party’s constitution, has stepped in to steer the affairs of the LP.

“This step is to avoid any leadership vacuum in the LP.

“Furthermore, the BoT of the LP, in consultation with major stakeholders in the party, will soon communicate the processes for the conduct of an all-inclusive and expansive national convention of the LP.

“This is in line with the March 20, 2018 Federal High Court consent judgment delivered by Justice Gabriel Kolawole which recognised the Nigeria Labour Congress as the owners of the LP and mandated that an all-inclusive and expansive national convention of the LP be held.

“The decision of the BoT is also in furtherance of the agreement signed between the former national chairman of the LP, Mr. Julius Abure, and the NLC and the Trade Union Congress on June 27, 2022, which was mediated by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

“Unlike the charade that took place today in Nnewi and in tandem with the principles of popular democracy, the all-inclusive national convention will start with grassroots congresses at ward, local government, state and ultimately at the national level.

“This process will not leave any genuine member of LP out and will be held in the full view of the Independent National Electoral Commission, media, civil society, security agents, and the general public.”

The Abure-led executive of the party had not responded to the new development as noon on Thursday.

 

A chieftain of the party was quoted in a report by The PUNCH as saying it was a hatchet job.

“Since many of you journalists have been covering this party, have you heard anything about LP Board of Trustees before? It is non-existent.

“How can one Sylvester Ejiofor wake up one day, tag himself as BoT chairman, and issue a statement that he has taken over the affairs of the party? Let him come over to the secretariat and take over then.

“Too many people and mercenaries are just bent on causing conflict in the party,” he said.

 

 

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BREAKING: LP Re-elects Julius Abure As National Chairman

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Julius Abure, the national chairman of the Labour Party

BREAKING: LP Re-elects Julius Abure As National Chairman

The Labour Party (LP) has re-elected Julius Abure as its National Chairman for a second term in office.

Abure was re-elected by a unanimous affirmation of delegates at the party’s National Convention in Nnewi, Anambra State.

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The Chairman of the National Convention and Deputy Governor of Abia State, Ikechukwu Emetu declared him the winner during the event attended by party leaders and members.

More to come…

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