The return of former Ogun State Governor Olusegun
Osoba to the All Progressives Congress (APC) has
thrown up the challenge of harmonisation in the
chapter.
Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU
examines the implications of the retracing of steps
for the divided political family.
Aremo Olusegun Osoba, veteran journalist and two-
time governor of Ogun State, was bitter. At the
meeting of his supporters held at his Abeokuta, Ogun
State home, he was fuming. Many of his supporters,
who formed the Matagbamole Group, including
Senators Olugbenga Kaka, Akin Odunsi and Gbenga
Obadara; former Deputy Governor Segun Adesegun
and Muyiwa, son of the leader and former member of
the House of Representatives, were up in arms
against Governor Ibikunle Amosun.
That was shortly before last year’s general elections.
The Ogun State All Progressives Congress (APC) had
been polarised by the rift between the former
governor and Amosun. The bone of contention was
the distribution of elective offices among the blocs in
the chapter. The Osoba camp alleged that Amosun
was waxing stronger because the national leadership
of the party sided with the governor, who it accused
of politics of marginalisation and seclusion.
Amosun’s men were combative. They fired back,
saying that the old politician was troubling the
governor without justification.
When reconciliation failed, the two camps went their
separate ways. Osoba and his supporters defected
from the APC and sojourned in the less popular Social
Democratic Party (SDP), led by former Secretary to
Federal Military Government Chief Olu Falae.
Following their exit, an embattled Amosun
consolidated his hold on the chapter, campaigned
vigorously during the polls and won. Osoba’s men,
who contested for various offices against APC
candidates lost at the election.
Earlier, Third Republic Deputy Governor Rafiu
Ogunleye had called it quits with the defunct Action
Congress of Nigeria (ACN), led by the governor. He
alleged that his group, Imole, was marginalised in
the distribution of appointments. Ogunleye is the
former Chairman of the Alliance for Democracy (AD).
He was said to have left for the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) out of frustration.
Osoba’s defection was not an isolated case. During
the merger talks, former Sokoto State Governor
Attahiru Bafarawa called it quits, saying that he could
not accept the leadership of former Governor Aliyu
Wamakko. In Borno State, the war of attrition
between former Governor Modu Sheriff, who lost out
in the national chairmanship race, and Governor
Kashim Shetima reached a climax. Sheriff defected to
the PDP.
However, keen watchers of the Ogun drama had
predicted that Osoba will return to the fold after the
poll. When the APC presidential campaign train rolled
into Abeokuta, the state capital, chieftains fired
salvos at the defectors. Supporters of the governor
were full of bravado. But, top party leaders were in
sober reflection. They acknowledged Osoba as a man
of high political stature, whose political career
spanned through the media when he was among the
“three musketeers”, the Constituent Assembly and the
State House, to which he was elected twice, and the
formative stage of the APC when he served as a
member of the party’s Constitution Committee.
Besides, two foremost monarchsin Ogun State; one
from Egba and another from Ijebu; have been on
Osoba’s neck to return to his political family.
When Aremo Osoba attended the 64th birthday of the
National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in Abuja, the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the hope of an end to
the crisis in the Ogun chapter brightened. A source
said some national leaders and Southwest chieftains
held a brief meeting with Osoba to formalise his
return to the fold. Last Sunday’s meeting at the Ikoyi,
Lagos home of the former governor, according to
sources, was the second leg of the unity meeting.
Between the last elections and the unity meeting, a
lot of water has passed under the bridge in the
Southwest. “Certain circumstances have created
friction, making re-strategising very compelling in
the Southwest,” said a source. Indeed, there have
been a slight shift in allegiance, and Southwest APC
has had to contend with rebellion, mistrust and
distrust. For example, during the Southwest leaders
meeting with Osoba, Amosun was absent. Neither did
he send any representative. “It is possible that the
governor was not aware of the meeting or there was
no basis to invite him, at least for now,” said a
source close to the meeting.
At the meeting were Asiwaju Tinubu, Osun State
Governor Rauf Aregbesola, his Oyo State counterpart,
Senator Abiola Ajimobi, Southwest APC leader Chief
Pius Akinyelure, Chief Bisi Akande, Otunba Adeniyi
Adebayo, Adesegun, Obadara, and Alhaji Bimbo
Awofeso. After the meeting, Osoba declared: “There is
no more quarrel, ther is no more war.”
To analysts, the Lagos meeting notwithstanding, the
Ogun APC crisis is not over. As a source put it, “it
was evident that the gap between Osoba and
Southwest progressive bloc has been bridged, but
there are more hurdles to cross in the Ogun chapter.
There has been no love lost between Osoba and
Amosun, who defected from the PDP to the ACN,
ahead of the 2011 elections. According to party
insiders, it has been difficult for Osoba to overlook
the role played by Amosun when his second term bid
was truncated in 2003. Amosun teamed up with
Otunba Gbenga Daniel to pull off the rug off Osoba’s
feet. Amosun defected to the ACN under that
prevailing atmosphere of suspicion. When senator
was ticked for the governorship ticket, the move was
naturally opposed by Osoba. To pacify the former
governor, he was allowed to nominate Amosun’s
running mate, Adesegun, despite the resistance of the
governorship candidate. His supporters also emerged
as senatorial, House of Representatives and House of
Assembly candidates. There was relative harmony and
the party sacked the PDP from power in the Gateway
State. During the electioneering, Amosun managed to
ride through the turbulence.
However, a crisis broke out over appointments. It was
evident that the former governor and Amosun were
locked in a supremacy battle. Amosun alleged that
Osoba attempted to impose a list of commissioners
and special advisers on him, unmindful of the fact
that he, as the chief executive, is strengthened by the
constitution to form his executive council. He alleged
that he did it without consultation with him. When
some of those on Osoba’s list got wind of it, they
kicked as the governor drafted a new list which
excluded them. Not all the people nominated by
Osoba made the final list. Amosun was infuriated by
what he described as a deliberate attempt by Osoba
to run the government for him, stressing that the
former governor would not have tolerated that when
he was in the saddle.
Both camps began to work at cross purpose. The
crisis engulfed the House of Assembly, following the
split loyalty. Ahead of last year’s election, it was
evident that the APC would go into the poll as a
divided house. Complaints about marginalisation of
Osoba’s supporters in government filled the air.
Adesegun cried that his boss had sidelined him in the
running of the state. Adesegun alleged that his
allowances were withheld by the governor. He said in
spite of the efforts by the governor to reduce him to
a spare tyre, he would not abandon his leader, Osoba.
Up to the time the deputy governor defected to the
SDP, he did not resign. When Adesegun left, Amosun
picked another running mate from Ijebu, Mrs. Yetunde
Onanuga, who is now deputy governor.
The SDP picked Odunsi as its flag bearer. But, he
kissed the dust before the more formidable APC
arsenal. SDP candidates also lost in other elections.
The party lacked strong structures across the wards,
local governments, constituencies and districts. It
also lacked funds to prosecute the electoral project.
The campaigns, nevertheless, were hot. Osoba
justified his departure, saying he had not crossed the
bridge from the progressive bloc to the conservative
wing. Before he defected, he said: “I will remain a
progressive. All the training that Papa Awolowo gave
to me directly, his philosophy, his political beliefs
that I believe in, I will continue to remain in that line.
I will never go to the right wing, conservative wing of
politics. I will never go the oligarchy way.”
Amosun was widely acknowledged as a performing
governor, owing to his laudable projects. But, Osoba
described him as a sectional governor, pointing out
that he concentrated the projects in Abeokuta and its
environs to the disadvantage of other parts of the
state. He chided Amosun for abandoning the Ago-
Owoye bridge project, which his administration
initiated, while the governor was building bridges in
Sapon, Itoku and Iyana Mortuary, Abeokuta.
Apparently, Osoba was also not comfortable with the
romance between the governor and former President
Olusegun Obasanjo, who plotted his electoral defeat
in 2003.
The former governor decried what he called the
maltreatment of Adesegun by Amosun. He said: “We
gave Adesegun as Amosun’s deputy because of his
experience as Commissioner for Works. We had
expected that the governor would tap from
Adesegun’s wealth of experience in governance, but
the governor chose otherwise and started
constructing bridges where there is no water.
“Amosun really dealt with Adesegun; he maltreated
him. Ijebu people should not see the insult meted out
to Adesegun as that of Adesegun alone. They should
see it as a collective insult. Therefore, it is time for
Ijebu to fight back with their votes. I am begging you
to stop the maltreatment of the Ijebus with your
votes.”
Amosun returned the missiles. Describing Osoba’s
allegations as baseless, he said he has refused to play
a politics of facts.
He said: “I will urge our leader, Chief Osoba, to let us
play politics of facts. I have vowed not to engage in
politics of sentiments and frivolities, but that of
facts. But, because that allegation has been made, it
is important to clear the air to our people. We should
not be playing such politics. To gain what? We have
bridges in Abeokuta, Ijebu, Sagamu, Ota. Others are
also coming up at Ijebu-Igbo and Ilaro. We have our
model schools in all the sections. In fact, that of
Ogun East is more than other sections.”
With Osoba’s return, Ogun APC will brace up for the
challenges of reconciliation and harmonisation.
Unless the national leadership comes to its aid, the
Osoba camp’s integration may be hampered by its
apparent weak bargaining power. It may continue to
be the minority in the chapter.
Today, no member of
the camp is a commissioner, special adviser, minister
and member of board and parastatal. A party official,
who spoke on a condition of anonymity said while
reconciliation is relatively easier, harmonisation may
not be an easy task. He said Amosun and the party
leadership have noted Osoba’s return. But, he added
that Osoba and his supporters should come to
Abeokuta for a formal defection.
The official added: “There are challenges. The mood
of the party welcomes Chief Osoba. But, we note
that, during the last election, he and his supporters
worked against the APC. That is bygone now. But,
some people will still believe that he is returning to
reap where he did not sow. The election is over. It
has been fought and won. Chief Osoba did not return
to the party in Ogun. He returned to the party in
Lagos. When he defected, he defected in Ogun. As he
returns, he should return in Ogun.”
The Nation
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