Ogun State Politics: Beyond the Imaginary

Peter Salako

Another season of politics is here again in Nigeria with all its excitement. As usual, gladiators of all hues are already up in arms, jostling for elective positions. In Ogun State, the public discourse is on the outcome of the trouble-shooting efforts of the All Progressives Congress’s National Reconciliation Committee, headed by a former governor of Nassarawa State, Abdullahi Adamu. For those who are still gloating over the prolonged crisis bedeviling the party in the state in the belief that it would stop Governor Dapo Abiodun from actualising his re-election for a second term, the time is now for them to bury the thought.

By now, they must realise that dissipating energies on such idle talk will do no good, because the schism orchestrated by those who wanted to be in control of the levers of power perpetually has finally run its complete circle. The inauguration of Yemi Sanusi as the Chairman of the APC in the state, as against Derin Adebiyi, who is a rival contender, has done the magic. Happily enough, the schism within the party is gradually fading out with a new sense of direction being provided by the authentic Exco in the state. Of course, there is no denying the fact that there had been arguments and disagreements over certain issues in the recent past.

That is part of the dynamics of politics, change, and continuity. It is a process of strengthening genuine democratic ethos. Indeed, to conceive a situation where there would be absolute peace and tranquility in a party as large as APC is like nursing a utopian dream. There would always be disagreement and agreement as a normal process of interaction between the thesis and antithesis leading to the ultimate result of synthesis. As the tempo of political activities increases, preparatory to the primaries of the various political parties, it is gratifying to note that a new dynamic process of leadership selection is already underway.

Thanks to the National Assembly for the insertion of a reformed consensus arrangement in the Electoral Amendment Bill which seeks to curtail the overbearing of godfathers and the impunity of candidates’ imposition which brought the state chapter of the ruling APC to where it is today. Though some cynics have suspected the lawmakers of ulterior motives for the inclusion of the clause in the amendment Bill, it will limit the frequency of undue frictions and ultimately create a new vista of opportunity for people to have a say in the choice of who governs them.

By so doing, it would forestall the kind of harrowing experience the APC had had to go through under the leadership of the immediate past administration of Governor Ibikunle Amosun who literally brought down the roof because of people’s opposition to his preferred choice of successor. To be sure, no one has said that expression of preference for a particular aspirant in an electoral contest is a crime or abnormality. No one has said that grooming for succession is anti-democratic. Contrarily, it is a standard practice in all democracies for leaders to show interest in who takes over from them for the sake of continuity and unhindered progress. For instance, when the leadership of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom (UK) showed a preference for Tony Blair over Gordon Brown, they did so without threatening the overall cohesion and coherence of the party.

That was not the case in Ogun State in the run-up to the last governorship election when the former governor insisted on controlling the levers of power at all cost. And he did so with such arrogance and impunity that he eventually plunged the party into a needless crisis. For the benefit of hindsight, Amosun had unilaterally propped up Abdulkabir Akinlade as his preferred candidate for the 2019 governorship election. But his choice held little appeal for increasingly discerning party supporters who saw Abiodun as a better successor. In the final analysis, the wish of the people ultimately prevailed and Abiodun won with a landslide. They will do it again because they have had a taste of good governance in the last two and a half years of the administration.

For those who may not know, Amosun and Abiodun had been age-long friends and strong political allies before the latter threw his hat into the ring. As a matter of fact, when his re-election bid for a second term ran into turbulence as a result of the opposition of the state establishment, some of whom had dissolved into the Social Democratic Party (SDP), it was the Iperu-Remo Prince who came to the rescue by initiating the necessary trouble-shooting efforts, and thereafter topped it up with money donation, as well as procurement of Toyota Hummer buses, motorcycles, and other logistics means to ensure seamless campaign.

To the glory of God and the support of other critical stakeholders, the intervention paid off as the embattled governor won the 2015 governorship election with a wide margin. But as no one could read the depth of the human heart, hardly had Abiodun declared his intention to pick the ticket of the APC to run for the governorship race in the 2019 General Elections that Amosun spat onto the sky and received it with his eyes, threatening to deploy all powers within his reach to stop Abiodun’s lofty ambition. All appeals made by the national hierarchy of the party and other political bigwigs in the South-west, including Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who had intervened to ensure continued peace and internal cohesion within the fold fell on deaf ears. At the height of the onslaught against his succession game plan, Amosun directed Akinlade and his supporters to move over to the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), while he stayed back in the APC to actualise his senatorial ambition.

The anti-climax of all these intrigues was the dark episode of February 11, 2019, when some suspected thugs believed to be loyal supporters of APM engaged the APC in a bloody clash during the presidential campaign held at the Moshood Abiola International Stadium in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. Though both parties supported President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election, the sad incident left a sour taste in the mouths of the peace-loving people of Ogun State. As they say, the rest is history.

The last straw that broke the camel’s back was the refusal to recognise Amosun’s candidate, Chief Derin Adebiyi. On Thursday, February 3, 2022, the Governor Bala Mai Buni-led APC Caretaker Committee had inaugurated Abiodun’s candidate, Chief Yemi Sanusi, as the authentic state chairman of the party, along others, a development which has taken away the narrative from the former Governor, and also put paid to the almost four years of dirty tricks and other shenanigans in a subtle contrivance bid to make the Abiodun-led administration ungovernable. Shortly after the inauguration, in a terse statement via twitter, though it bears a semblance tone of a “no retreat, no surrender tone” warlord, Amosun capitulated, but still unrepentant, sent a word of encouragement to his loyalists and supporters, thus: “To all our party faithfuls, thank you for your steadfastness.

“We are APC…APC…is ours. The journey continues. Victory is certain by God’s grace. On APC we stand…Thank you and well done to you all.” Now, another opportunity has come again for concerned stakeholders to take a deep introspection into the past and forge a new way forward. For anyone to rebuff the effort of the APC reconciliation committee at this time would be tantamount to political suicide because the change being championed by Governor Abiodun has reached a flood tide and anything that stands in its way can only come down before its overwhelming powers. And history, in all its alienating necessities, will not treat such recalcitrant individuals kindly.

• Salako wrote from Okeagbede, Imeko-Afon LGA of Ogun State