There was a mild drama on Monday as a faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State adopted Governor Ibikunle Amosun for a second term.
At a stakeholders meeting held at the Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, the adoption was, however, boycotted by former Governor Olusegun Osoba and the party’s National Assembly members.
Those absent included Senator Adegbenga Kaka (Ogun East), Senator Gbenga Obadara (Ogun Central) and Senator Akin Odunsi (Ogun West) as well as seven House of Representatives members elected on the platform of APC.
The meeting started with goodwill messages from party leaders, including Senator Iyabo Anisulowo, Chief Olu Adebanjo, Chief Samuel Durojaye, Chief Dayo Abatan and Mr. Kunle Elegbede, who declared their loyalty and solicited the people’s support for the governor.
They contended that Amosun deserved re-election due to his outstanding performance in the last two and a half years.
Thereafter, the governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Alhaji Salisu Shuaib, who moderated the meeting, invited a member of the House of Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo, to move a motion for Amosun’s adoption for a second term in office.
After Oluomo moved the motion, which was seconded by Mr. Elias Babatunde Isola from Ogun East Senatorial District, an APC chieftain, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye was invited to seal the motion.
Durojaiye, however, shocked the audience when he declared that time was not yet ripe for the process of adoption, adding that such action could be pre-emptive of the APC constitution.
“I wonder if this body is constitutionally empowered to adopt the governor when there is an ongoing transition process,” he stated.
Though he expressed his personal commitment to Amosun’s second term ambition based on the governor’s sterling performance, he cautioned the party against hasty decisions.
Durojaiye therefore declined to seal the motion as requested by Shuaib.
Following a seeming stalemate, a former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Tunji Egbetokun, came to the rescue by calling for a voice vote which eventually went in favour of the governor.
In his remarks, Amosun, who acknowledged Osoba as the leader of the state APC, sued for peace among party members.
He called on APC faithful to get prepared for the party’s registration exercise and resist any action that could undermine the party’s electoral fortunes.
His words: “I don’t want our gathering here to be a matter of Amosun for second term endorsement. Ultimately, it is the people that will decide. We are here to tell our people that this party should be one and we are one. I don’t want you to join issues with anybody. You don’t beat a man that is down. He that is down fears no fall.
“I will be the last person that will want us to have disunity and disharmony in the party. Politics is a game of number. Everybody will have their say but the majority will have their way.”
But in a swift reaction, the APC National Assembly members said they were unaware of the stakeholders meeting, adding that they were not formally invited.
In a telephone interview, Kaka, who spoke on behalf of the federal lawmakers, said the adoption of the governor for second term was not in line with the party constitution.
He urged Amosun to address all the issues already raised by notable APC stakeholders in the state, who claimed that the party had been hijacked for selfish goals.
