The bulldozing forces in Kaduna politics
The battle between the governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and some Abuja politicians is like the saying the more you see the less you understand. Specifically, the battle between Governor el-Rufai and Senator Shehu Sani representing Kaduna Central senatorial district is not about the governor and the Senator, but about the 2019 elections.
A source, who pleaded for anonymity, remarked that conflict was sparked by the governor’s preference for Uba Sani, a friend of Senator Sani, to succeed the latter.
It is said that even though the governor has not come out openly to support Uba Sani, his body language seems to be throwing his weight behind Uba Sani, his political adviser. And Senator Sani is aware of that. That’s why, critics say, he has been ardent critic of the governor.
A source revealed that because of the development, Senator Sani is looking at an alternative platform since he knows that a state governor has enormous power to put whoever he wants in position.
The intrigues became worrisome when it is clear now the national headquarters seems to have aligned themselves with the governor. It was reported that during the just concluded National Executive Committee (NEC) of the APC, the governor’s party men were recognized as the representatives from state.
On the fire-spitting bout between el-Rufai and Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi, the demolition of factional party office was said to have further driven a wedge between the dueling duo. But a source said the fight might be imaginary. This is so because the demolished factional office is said to belong to Hunkuyis elder brother, Idris Hunkuyi who is the governor’s bosom friend.
More so, the source believes the main fight is between the governor and Isa Ashiru, a stalwart of the party who is believed to be enjoying tremendous goodwill apart from the governor. It is said Ashiru is rich and generous so if the party is allowed to remain without rancour , the former member of the House of Representatives(Ashiru) might clinch the party’s gubernatorial ticket in case the governor is no longer interested in second term.
Aside that, political pundits believe that with the present scenario, Ashiru might not be comfortable to vie for the office under the party. He might decide to decamp to PDP at the appropriate time. And going by the antecedents of Senator Hunkuyi, who is representing the Northern Senatorial district, observers believe he is someone who will at the end of the day back out and align himself with the governor.
According to the source, he took a similar decision in 2003 against the then governor Ahmed Makarfi and again in 2007 against Namadi Sambo, former vice president, as well as in 2011 against late Patrick Yakowa when he had to back out at the last minute .
The battle for Bayelsa
Though the Abuja politicians versus home-based politicians situation is not too pronounced in Bayelsa State, where the sitting of governor, Honourable Seriake Dickson, is in the opposition party to the ruling party at the centre, the declaration of the governor that he would support a governorship candidate that would sustain the legacy of his Restoration Government has been widely condemned by politicians at the federal level.
Leading those averse to Dickson’s succession plan is the Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri of the All Progressive Congress (APC), who has accused Dickson of running the government as his personal estate.
Senator Lokpobiri and other opposition political gladiators at the federal level see the governor’s act of planting a successor as trying to cover his atrocities in government and pushing to further condition the state in poverty and hunger by his unfashionable and punitive leadership hegemony in the state. The APC leader in the state and a former governor, Mr Timipre Sylva, share a similar notion about Governor Dickson, a development that is said to be as a result of his interest in returning to office as governor after the expiration of Dickson’s tenure,
Others of the APC family who have continued to engage the governor in a battle are former Senator Clever Ikisikpo, Meibi Bribina and Tiwei Orunimighe, among others.
On the contrary, Governor Dickson ordinarily should not have a feud with politicians he gave nod to secure appointment in Abuja and those in the upper and lower chambers of the National Assembly, but his inability to stand firm on touted names to succeed him, according to those close to the his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The information making the rounds is that some of the PDP appointees and members of the National Assembly who are no longer in the good books of the governor, have been replaced with fresh candidates that are loyal, a situation that has made some of the senators and House of Representatives members to call the bluff of corridors of power has engendered a frosty relationship him and the concerned political gladiators of the governor, threatening to work against his interest.
Emmanuel and the Abuja front
Perhaps, the major face leading the pack of opposition against incumbent Governor Udom Emmanuel’s regime, from those tagged as ‘Abuja front’ is Senator Ita Enang, the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly Matters (Senate). Under former Governor Godswill Akpabio’s era, it was Senator John James Akpanudoedehe, a former Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Currently, Enang has taken the slot and has been in the business of putting the Emmanuel government on its toes.
But a fresh twist has, of recent, been introduced to the development, with cracks reportedly emerging between the governor and his predecessor, who is the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Akpabio. With the former governor openly criticising the governor for abandoning projects in Ikpot Ekpene axis of the state and insinuations that he might not support the governor for another term and the presence of other Abuja strongmen such as the senator representing Uyo District, Senator Bassey Albert, among others, it is gradually becoming clear that the home-based versus Abuja politicians struggle might soon take a new dimension in the state.
Repeatedly, Enang had been the most vociferous of those opposing the governor, having at various times, reminded the government to live up to the expectations of the people in the distribution of the resources accruing to Akwa Ibom from the Federation Account.
Apart from Enang, however, the governor has been facing opposition from other former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members at the National Assembly, who had also cross-carpeted to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). They include Hon. Emmanuel Ukoette, member of the House of Representatives for Ukanafun/Oruk Anam and Senator Nelson Effiong, the senator representing the Eket Senatorial District at the Red Chamber.
Together, these have become a thorn in the flesh of the PDP administration of Emmanuel, always in the habits of drawing people’s attention to what they described as “a government bereft of financial transparency and due process in distribution of common wealth of Akwa Ibom people.
Apparently disturbed by these frequent antagonism from the Abuja front, Udom had at a religious meeting held at Ibom Hall last year, retorted by calling federal appointees “idiot,” warning that he would stop at nothing to rouse the youths against them if they fail to turn a new leaf.
As things fall apart in the confluence state
Where the discourse is about governors and Abuja politicians’ face-off, Kogi State will lead the pack, with the state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello having running battles with more than one politicians of the state extraction in Abuja.
Prominent among the governor’s major antagonists are the senator representing Kogi West senatorial district, Senator Dino Melaye; the deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last governorship election in the state and member of the House of Representatives, Honourable James Faleke and some members of the state executive of the APC by the state chairman, Alhaji Hadi Ametuo, who are on “self-exile” in the nation’s capital.
The crisis between Bello and Faleke started as a fallout of the election where he (Faleke) was deputy to the party’s candidate, Alhaji Abubakar Audu, who died during the collation of election result. Faleke had argued that since voting had been completed and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was on the verge of announcing a winner when Audu died, he, as his running mate should step in as the main candidate. But the APC thought in a different direction and made the first runner-up in the party’s governorship primary election its candidate to complete the election that was later declared inconclusive by the electoral body.
Faleke later approached an Abuja Federal High Court and the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to seek redress, with the cases pursued to the Supreme Court, where Bello was eventually confirmed as the governor of the confluence state. Since then, there has been no love lost between the two gladiators as the camp of the Audu/Faleke saw Bello as an usurper that benefited from where he didn’t labour.
In the case of Melaye, the popular “if you Tarka me, I Daboh you politics” of the Second Republic, has been playing out between him and the governor, as they find every opportunity to go for each other’s political jugulars. Melaye, who was one of the strongest supporters of Bello when the party announced him as the person to inherit the votes cast for Audu/Faleke on November 25, 2015, the face-off, is now the governor’s public enemy number one, with their struggle taking the semblance of a huge theatrical masterpiece in the home-based versus Abuja politicians struggle. The fight was said to have begun only a few months after the inauguration of the governor.
The first pointer to the turn of event was the vote of no confidence passed on Bello by the APC executive in the state, which was said to be with the knowledge of the other Abuja-based antagonists of the governor like Melaye. On the day the governor was celebrating his first anniversary, the Abuja-based politicians, mainly members of the APC held a press conference where they gave a damning verdict on the administration of Bello, describing it as a total failure.
The governor was to later come out to accuse Melaye of attempting to hijack his government and dictating who should be in the government. Apart from this, he also alleged that those against his government wanted him to share the resources of the state with them at the expense of the masses of the state. He said after nominating the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mrs Folashade Ayoade, the senator also wanted to nominate the local government administrators from the Western senatorial district, where he (Melaye) hails from.
Since the crisis became public knowledge, the two camps have not hidden their resolve to work against each other. Since then, Melaye had raised the alarm of an alleged assassination attempt, claiming to have been attacked in his Ayetoro-Gbede country home house, accusing the governor’s camp as the mastermind of the attack. An attempt has also been made to recall him from the National Assembly, a move that is said to enjoy the support of the governor while the senator has also never stopped at anything to stoke the fires in the allegation of double voter registration by the governor.
The latest in the saga between Bello and Melaye appeared on last week, following the arraignment of the latter by the police for giving false information on an alleged attempt to assassinate him, with the senator accusing the governor of being behind his predicament and even making other grievous allegation.
As parts of the arsenal being employed by the Abuja-based politicians, they recently set up a body known as “Save Kogi Project.” The group, which cuts across party line, has Melaye as chairman and a member of the state house of assembly representing Igbalamela/Odolu state constituency, Friday Sani, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as director-general. Addressing newsmen in Abuja, the group decried the level of governance in the state and particularly warned the governor against selling some assets of the state to fund the 2018 budget.
The group also has as members a former senator representing Kogi central, Mohammed Ohiate and the incumbent Kogi East senator, Atai Aidoko.
Unfortunately for the ruling APC in Kogi State, however, almost all political crises in the state are within its rank, with the main opposition, PDP appearing to be at peace and strategising on how to regain power that it lost to the APC in 2015. The opposition party had since the completion of its congresses and national convention, recognised a former governor of the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris as its leader.
Love gone sour: Tale of two captains in Kano’s ship
The lingering internal crisis affecting the ruling party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Kano State, which resulted into political bickering between the governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje and his predecessor and senator representing Kano Central, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwanso, is another major highlight of the governors versus Abuja politicians struggle in the polity.
Though the governor served twice as deputy governor to Kwankwanso and was even appointed as his Special Adviser as Minister of Defence, the bickering between the duo has reached a fever pitch height, becoming a topical national issue that has shaped and might further shape happenings in the body-politics of the country
Having made history as the longest-serving pair in political offices and appointments in Nigeria since the beginning of the 4th Republic, no one would have expected the kind of crisis between them but no sooner had the governor taken the mantle of office as governor than the face-off started.
As of now, the two individuals have formed their respective political movements, with senator leading what is popularly known as the “Kwankwasiyya Movement,” while the governor has also created another group known as the “Gandujiyya Movement.”
Both two groups have their respective foot soldiers and have clashed on a number of occasions, with all attempts to reconcile the two warring camps and even both former friends always meeting brick walls.
In a move that would further deepen the existing crisis, the governor had, at a recent function held by the APC, tactically given out the ticket of Kano Central constituency being used by Kwankwanso to a former PDP member and senator who represented the district between 2011 to go all lengths to work against any attempt by the incumbent governor to seek reelection. It was gathered that the former governor had allegedly been grooming one of his former aides to take over control of governance as governor in 2019.
Though Governor Ganduje had once stated that he was ready for reconciliation, recent unfolding political scenario has compounded the whole attempt at mending fences between the two powerful forces, with many people looking up to the Senator Bola Tinubu-led reconciliation committee of the ruling APC to perform wonders in Kano State. With the present political situation in the state, political observers have maintained that the infighting had begun to adversely affect the fortune of the APC in the state.
Fayose and the Abuja gang
Ekiti State has a unique battle in its hand when the issues are between the representatives of the state in Abuja and the state governor, Ayodele Fayose. It is trite to state that there’s no love lost between Governor Fayose and his predecessor and Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi. Fayose is also not in good terms with the Special Adviser (Politics) in the Presidency, Senator Babafemi Ojudu.
The duo of Fayemi and Ojudu, who are currently representing Ekiti State in different capacities in Abuja, are in the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) and observers of the ‘triangular feud’ among them say it is understandable because they don’t belong to the same political family.
Thus, according to the observers, their no love lost relationship is understandable because, among other things, Fayose has remained the singular most vocal opposition to their principal, President Muhammadu Buhari.
Apart from Fayose becoming the major thorn in the flesh of President Buhari in national politics, Fayose also remains the man to beat by them if they are to achieve their touted aims of governing Ekiti State by October 2018. And they know that Fayose has not done their party APC any good with his unrelenting criticism.
However, Fayose is also not on the same political page with a personality like Prince Adedayo Adeyeye, who served as the immediate past National Publicity Secretary of his People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which is in power in Ekiti State. While some say Adeyeye “cannot be referred to as ‘Abuja-based’ politician because he has successfully completed his national assignment,” others believe that Adeyeye is in the same mould as Senator Fatimat Raji Rasaki and Senator Abiodun Olujimi, who are both also not currently in speaking terms with Fayose.
Senator Raji Rasaki, many people in the state claim, was one of the people who had stoutly stood behind Fayose in support of his governorship ambition in 2014. The claims are also that she had supported the ambition of Fayose with resources. But the falling apart of the duo was among the earliest in the state. Their feud was most pronounced when Fayose was battling with Ali Modu Sheriff, with Senator Raji Rasaki publicly declaring that he was not with Fayose in the party. They are still not in speaking terms, many observers say, with one of them saying “I don’t think they are settling their feud soon.”
Senator Olujimi and Governor Fayose have sparred enough publicly to give the impression that their dispute is stronger than with any of the other personalities. Only recently, she joined other governorship aspirants in the party to denounce Fayose for his adoption of his deputy, Professor Kolapo Olubunmi Olusola as his choice successor. And that singular issue has remained the major cause of dispute among the political gladiators in Ekiti State chapter of the PDP.
To many watchers of the goings-on in the state, the immediately-noticeable bone of contention is the governorship of the state. To a personality like Senator Olujimi and Prince Adeyeye, Fayose cannot be their friend because he is currently standing in the way of achieving their aim of being elected as the governor of the state.
For Senator Raji Rasaki, representing Ekiti Central, and many of the other politicians, including those not in Abuja but in Lagos and elsewhere, Fayose is not just amenable. It is even the contention in some quarters that the only Senator currently dining and wining with Governor Fayose in the person of Senator Duro Faseyi of Ekiti North, “is so doing because he wants his support to get a ticket to return to the Senate in 2019.”
Also in Ekiti, some are of the opinion that the six House of Representatives members from the state are not “truly, madly deeply” in love with Fayose.
However, Fayose’s team believes at these personalities have also refused to give Fayose his due respect in what he had done for them to attain the various political heights they are at the moment.
The PDP political leaders in the state, as well as the governorship aspirants, have been slated to meet with a view to resolving the issues among them. Hopefully, a way might be charted for the PDP in the state through the meeting.
For the people of the state, the belief is that by the end of July, when the governorship election might have been done with, the Ekiti political landscape would take another shape, which would be of interest to Nigerians in Ekiti and beyond.
Osun: Will Aregbesola vs Lasun Yussuff face-off unsettle the living spring?
In Osun State, there is no visible political rivalry or misgiving between Governor Rauf Aregbesola and most of the Abuja-based legislators, except for the seeming cold war, precipitated by the governorship ambition of the incumbent Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Lasun Yussuff.
It would be recalled that the emergence of Yussuff, who represents Ifon/Orolu/Ilobu Federal Constituency as the deputy Speaker of the lower chamber in 2015 had pitched him against the national leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Senator Ahmed Tinubu, who is the benefactor and political godfather of Aregbesola. During the build-up to the election of principal officers of the National Assembly, Tinubu and few other stakeholders in the South-West APC had rooted for Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila to emerge as one of the principal officers of the House of Representatives , but with scheming, massive support base among the federal lawmakers, and other subterranean moves, Yussuff was elected as the Deputy Speaker, a development, which somehow created a frosty relationship between Tinubu political dynasty, of which Aregbesola is key member and Lasun Yussuff.
However, the ambition of the Deputy Speaker to govern Osun had further widened the gulf between him and Aregbesola, with words that the governor is not favourably disposed to the interest of the Ilobu-born politician in contesting the September 22, 2018 governorship poll in the state.
Nonetheless, two out of the three senators from Osun State on the platform of the APC, namely Senator Sola Adeyeye (Osun Central), Senator Babajide Omoworare (Osun East) are in the political camp of Aregbesola, with the only Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator, representing Osun West Senatorial District, Senator Ademola Adeleke only being the one outside the camp of the governor.
Rivers of crisis: Will Wike, Amaechi’s face-off end soon?
In Rivers State, the conflict between state governors and Abuja-based politicians had not been that fierce until sometime in April 2013 when an Abuja High Court sacked the then state chairman of the People’s Democratic Party PDP Godspower Ake and his secretary and replaced him with the current chairman, Felix Obuah.
That singular judgment blew open the simmering political feud between the then state Governor, Chibuike Amaechi and the incumbent Governor Nyesom Wike, then an Abuja-based politician and Minister of State for Education.
While the Amaechi government was heavily behind the Ake, Wike was dubbed the unseen hand behind the Abuja High Court judgment. Thus began the subsisting political conflict between sitting state governors and Abuja politicians which since then has polarised the once one-party Rivers State into two parties drawn into an unending war without any known rules of engagement.
And because the political landscape is yet largely dominated by the same set of political gladiators, still nursing the same interests, the war pattern has also remained largely the same only that there is a slight turning of the table as it were.
Though there has been some movement of some of the fighting troops from one side to other in the intervening period of the conflict, for example the decamping of Tele Ikuru, deputy governor to Amaechi to the Wike camp, such movements have not made any significant impact on the conflict.
And what is the bone of contention, the control of the political machinery of the state. So, with the atmosphere already charged for the elections 2019 the battle ground is drawn along the pre-2015 established lines with the slight modification of Wike now being the governor fighting from home while Amaechi and his group are now the Abuja-based politicians.
But a new dimension is being introduced to the battle by the Amaechi Abuja team and that may eventually turn out to be the third leg of the conflict. There is currently a clear division that has gradually led to parting of ways between Amaechi and Abe who had always fought from the same trenches since the years dating back to 2007.
Abe has never hidden his ambition to be governor of Rivers State, the first from Ogoni who have also been crying marginalisation in the state along that line. But in the 2015 governorship primaries he, in display of party loyalty he yielded to the APC’s decision, though heavily influenced by Amaechi to allow Dakuku Peterside to fly the party’s flag in the governorship election.
But with the failure of Dakuku and APC in that election, Abe is now renewing that ambition which Amaechi does not seem to align with as he has been reported as saying his support would be for a candidate from the riverine part of the state.
This has pitched the two and their supporters against one another causing serious divisions in the APC even as Wike, unarguably the lone star in the PDP, is working to coast home with a second term with a campaign of projects scattered across the various parts of the state.
But this notwithstanding, the APC has continued to promise to boot him out of the office but from all indications, it would have to take more than federal might which the party would most likely rely on to defeat Wike at the polls come 2019.
Bauchi’s battling brothers: A governor and his nemesis
The Bauchi State governor, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, is not having it rosy with politicians representing the state in the National Assembly led by Speaker Yakubu Dogara. A close source opined that among the 12 members of the House of Representatives from the state, 10 are with Dogara while two are on the fence.
Also, all the three Senators from the state: Suleiman Nazif Gamawa, (APC, Bauchi North), Isa Hamma Misau (APC, Bauchi Central) and Ali Wakili (APC, Bauchi South) are not with the governor, that is if their utterances and actions are anything to go by.
Dogara and his supporters claimed that their grouse with the governor was his poor handling of civil servants’ salaries in the state and the misuse of the N8.6 billion bailout funds.
Available records, however, show that all the interventions from the Federal Government, in form of bail out and Paris Refunds to the state, were all used to pay workers’ salaries and other entitlements of civil servants in the state particularly those who have served the state and retire from active service.
Senator Ali Wakili while further stressing said the governor’s problem was that he turned his back on the APC and the politicians that worked for his emergence shortly after he won.
Ali Wakili further said that the crisis started because the governor refused to operate in accordance with most of the things they agreed upon during the campaigns, citing his failure to conduct local government council polls and control of the resources of the third tier of government as a betrayal on the part of the governor.
However, a close confidant of the governor declared that the National Assembly members were being unreasonable saying, “Look, we were all elected on the platform of the APC. And after the elections the federal legislators have refused to come back to the state but remained in Abuja.”
If the crisis between the governor and Dogara is not settled, watchers of the politics of the state have submitted that most voters from Bogoro, Dass and Tafawa Balewa, where Dogara represents will most likely not vote for the governor in 2019. This will also be the case with his colleagues in the House of Representatives like Ahmed Yerima and others who are solidly behind Dogara, including the Senators.
In fact, Ahmed Yerima’s supporters have been calling on him to run and if he decides to, he might become Abdullahi Abubakar’s nemesis even if the federal lawmaker from Misau fails to go far with his aspiration.
Already, with the internal crisis rocking the APC in the state, most of the supporters of the National Assembly members are considering leaving the party and this may seriously deplete the fortunes of the APC in the state and negatively impact on its chances at the polls in 2019.
But Aminu Tukur, a member representing Lere/Bula constituency in the state Assembly has vowed that they would not leave the party.
Aminu Tukur, who was a former Campaign Director of the governor, and an avowed supporter of the Dogara/Wakili faction of the APC, said the governor has already shot himself in the foot and to leave the party because of him will be a wrong step for Dogara and his supporters.
He said those of them who worked tirelessly for the APC in the state and who are die-hard President Muhammadu Buhari supporters would only leave APC if the president decides to leave for another party.
Interestingly, Tukur and Wakili were reportedly suspended by APC in their wards a development the lawmakers said was only a ruse and orchestrated by the supporters of the governor.
The national leadership of the APC has since waded into the crisis, but there seems to be no breakthrough yet with the Senator Chris Ngige-led fact finding committee which recently visited the state.
If the crisis is not resolved, it could dent Abubakar’s chances if he decides to run again, since most of the federal legislators have huge support base at the grassroots.
Only recently, stakeholders from Dass, Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro Local Government Areas of Bauchi state endorsed Dogara, as well as President Muhammadu Buhari for re-election, come 2019 without a mention of the fate of the governor.
Tug of war: Oyo and gathering storm
As far as the tag of Abuja versus home-based politicians is concerned in Oyo State politics, it is within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that the syndrome is pronounced. This is ostensibly because it is the governing party with a huge capacity to dispense patronage. The governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, is firmly in charge as the leader of the party, even though there are threats to peace from groupings within the party.
Those who can be referred to as Abuja politicians in the party, as it is the practice in most states, are National Assembly members representing the party and the state in Abuja. While the relationship between Governor Ajimobi and some members of the House of Representatives can be said to be cordial, the same cannot be said of the three APC Senators. At the heart of the cold war between them and the governor are permutations for 2019 elections.
The second term ticket of the Senator representing Oyo South District, Senator Soji Akanbi, has been reserved for Governor Ajimobi to take upon completing his governorship in 2019. The governor, who once represented the nine local government councils in the district at the Red Chamber before he became governor in 2011, foreclosed the possibility of Senator Akanbi returning to the Senate when he hinted in an interview last year that he would consider a legislative office after serving out his eight years as governor.
Already, posters and stickers drumming support for the senatorial bid of the governor have flooded the metropolis. The Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Right Honourable Michael Adeyemo, took the matter to his domain in Ibarapa, which is part of the district, last week, galvanising support for the aspiration.
The return ticket of Oyo North Senator, Fatai Buhari, has also been sacrificed by Governor Ajimobi who has told the Senator that the ticket is for former governor Adebayo Alao-Akala. While the sitting Senator was said to have agreed to the decision, he, however, sought the commitment of the governor on the governorship ticket of the party, a commitment the governor would not give.
On account of her voting against the party’s wish on June 8, 2015, the APC Senator representing Oyo Central District, Monsurat Sunmonu, soured her relationship with the governor when she loudly threw her weight behind the current Senate President, Bukola Saraki. While she may be in the good books of Saraki, she is not in that of the governor. Her ticket has also been sacrificed and decision as to whether it should be given to a former Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin and the current Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Honourable Bimbola Kolade, who is from the same Oyo town as Senator Sunmonu.
Sunday Tribune gathered authoritatively that apart from the need to accommodate bigwigs who recently joined the party, the need to ensure the party is able to install a successor to Governor Ajimobi also informed decision taken over the three Senators in the state. But can the party manage the consequences that will attend the decision to wrench return tickets from the trio?
There is also the running battle between the governor and the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu over the latter’s aspiration to succeed the former. While Shittu is deemed to have the ears of the leaders outside the state, it appears settled in the governor’s mind that the minister cannot succeed him.
The smoldering war of brothers in Ogun
In Ogun State, all seems to be well politically, at least on the surface, between the state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and member of the National Assembly from the state.
Of the three senators from the state, two, Senators Lanre Tejuoso, Ogun Central and Gbolahan Dada, Ogun West, are from the All Progressives Congress, APC, as the governor. Only Senator Buruji Kashamu, Ogun East senatorial district is from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
For House of Representatives, APC has seven out of nine while PDP has two.
Since 2015, in spite of internal discord threatening the soul of the ruling APC, the governor has been able to manage elected members to present a common front as far as governing the staye is concerned.
But beyond the veneer, political watchers in the State are of the view that as the nation moves towards the 2019 general elections, things may soon fall apart between Amosun and Senator Lanre Tejuoso who comes from the same senatorial district with the governor.
As a matter of fact, the governor launched his political career as a Senator representing Ogun Central in 2003.
The present executives of APC in the state are the governor’s loyalists and there are already talks that if the Senator is forced to concede his Senate seat, he might seek refuge elsewhere.
Also locked in a supremacy battle with the governor is the senator representing Lagos West, Senator Solomon Adeola, who is eyeing the governship seat in Ogun State. Regarded as a ‘foreigner’ in Ogun politics by the Amosun camp, Adeola’s emergence from the political camps of Senator Bola Tinubu, who is not on the same page with Amosun in his succession calculations, is the major reason for his running battle with the governor.
From Ogun West, a district that has not produced the governor of the state before, Adeola believes he is the candidate to beat. But the governor appears determined to stop him at all costs.
Now, stories are rife in the state that the governor has his eyes set for the Red Chamber come 2019. That presents a clear danger for second term ambition of Tejuoso with sources close to his camp saying he is ready for any onslaught from anybody to retain his seat. With more than one political enemies among politicians with clout in the National Assembly, can Amosun weather the storm by having his way in installing a successor while also returning to the Senate?
and then