GOVERNOR Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State may be in for the greatest political test of his life as the Action Democratic Party (ADP) has vowed to stop him from installing his ‘anointed’ successor in the state in 2019.
The mission of the party, TribuneOnline learnt, was to checkmate the incumbent governor and “his negative influences which have affected the chances of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winning the 2019 elections in the state”.
The leadership of the party was said to be bent on getting Ajimobi out of the way ahead 2019 elections as “former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, has not been able to rein in the excesses of Governor Abiola whose style of administration has reduced the popularity of APC in the state”.
Membership of the relatively new political party in the state reportedly included some governorship aspirants on the platform of APC, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Other prominent members of the party were also said to include some lawmakers presently in the state House of Assembly, former commissioners who served in the administrations of Governor Ajimobi and former Governor Rashidi Ladoja.
A top source anonymously disclosed that the party was still in its early stage to allow as many people as possible to come into its fold before any talk about sharing and allocation of elective offices.
“Our narrative is that the people of Oyo State are fed up with Governor Ajimobi. We don’t have any problem with APC, but our some desire is that we don’t want his anointed candidate as the next governor of the state.
“There are two schools of thought in the Unity Forum: Some wanted to go to ADC, while some others choose to go with ADP as we don’t see ADC and PDP as the alternative to APC in Oyo.
“While it is true that some people are joining ADC, our grouse with the party is that it is an appendage of PDP. It has signed an agreement with PDP to produce the presidential candidate in the 2019 elections.
“Therefore, if we don’t see PDP as an alternative to Oyo APC, ADC, being an appendage of PDP, can never be a credible alternative too hence, our decision to go with ADP.
“It is time to have a fresh breath in Oyo politics. As things are today, Ajimobi is holding Oyo APC by the jugular; he is in total control of the party machinery and executives from the ward, local government and state levels.
“Anybody seeking to contest for any elective post on the platform of APC in 2019 must be ready to do the biddings of the governor; he or she must stoop low to even work in the governor’s household.
“But if you are not ready for all of that, it means you are not one of his boys and you must move out of Oyo APC, as presently constituted, and seek for your political fulfillments on another political platform.
“Ajimobi has ruined the chances of Oyo APC in the 2019 elections. He is in charge of the party like the Lord of the Manor. Through his high-handedness, actions and inactions, APC will lose the state in 2019.
“However, ADP has come to the rescue; it has cone to fill a vacuum created by APC ahead the 2019 elections in Oyo. We have academics, professionals, businessmen/women and traders, among others, in the party,” the source said.
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Speculations are however rife that ADP is another political party floated and funded by some people who are very close to President Muhammadu Buhari as a means to shore up support for the president in view of the speculated waning popularity of APC in the state.
It was said that Oyo ADP came into being just like in Osun State where its candidate, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, was reportedly sponsored by the president’ men to give APC a run for its money in the governorship election coming up in the state on September 22.
The presidency was said to have been angered that Governor Rauf Aregbesola, aided by Senator Tinubu, allegedly doctored and manipulated the Osun APC primary which produced Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola as the party’s flag-bearer.
Another source within Oyo ADP and close to the presidency, however, denied the alleged involvement of the president in the plan to make ADP an alternative to APC in the state.
He, however, admitted that some people in the presidency were working towards this as he disclosed that a presidential survey had revealed that APC may not win Oyo in 2019.
“I can tell you that the scheme to make ADP the alternative to Oyo APC ahead the 2019 elections did not involve President Buhari. However, there is a recent presidential survey carried out recently to ascertain the strength and capability of APC in the South-West.
“The findings of the survey revealed that APC may lose Oyo in 2019 due to the reported attitude of Governor Ajimobi which has impacted negatively on the popularity of the party in the state.
“The survey also revealed that rather APC, PDP may win the elections in Oyo, if some measures are not urgently put in place. It was in this wise that some people in the presidency deemed it appropriate to support and fund ADP, rather than allowing PDP to take over Oyo in 2019,” he said.
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