HAKEEM GBADAMOSI writes on the various options already on the table of aspirants as political parties fine-tune arrangements for primaries to pick candidates for the governorship election coming up in Ondo State in October.
PREPARATIONS for the governorship election in Ondo State in October is gradually moving towards the most crucial phase. Movements within and outside the main political parties are redefining political allies and rivals few days to the conduct of primaries to pick candidates. For the major actors in the parties, the battle for the tickets is not a tea party. It requires all that it deserves thus the all manner of intrigues that keep manifesting almost on a daily basis. For example, the fallouts of the screening of aspirants by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) constitute a fresh round of discordant tunes.
At another level, the defection of the state deputy governor, HonourableAgoolaAjayi from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the main opposition PDP has upped the intrigues ahead the primaries of both parties. Similarly, the sudden resignation of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Ifedayo Sunday Abegunde and his decision to back Abrahm, one of the APC stalwarts challenging Governor RotimiAkeredolu in his second term bid added a new twist to the shades and shapes of the ongoing realignment of forces.
There are two schools of thought among pundits on the unfolding scenario in the APC. While some are of the opinion is that situation could impact on the bid by the governor to renew his mandate, others believe the development solely reinforces the division among those tendencies against his reelection ambition. Majority of the 15 aspirants that have drawn the battle line with the governor over the APC ticket have gone solo in their preparation for the party primaries. However, only three of them are said to possess the capacity to give the structure of the governor called, Aketi a tough fight at the primaries in the event of their scaling the hurdle of screening by the party in the coming days.
There is also the issue of mode of primaries that should be adopted by the APC in determining its candidate for the election proper. There are arguments for and against the use of indirect primaries with the preponderance of the aspirants advocating an indirect primaries to enable all stakeholders in the APC choosing their preferred candidate. While other aspirants for the APC are not resting on their oars, the camps of OlusolaOke, Ife Oyedele and Ambassador Sola Iji are said to be upbeat in their mobilization to secure the ticket of the APC.
Renewed effort on consensus arrangement
Some stakeholders in the party have been holding consultations on the possibility of producing a consensus candidate against the Ajayi. But the idea of forming a coalition was said to have hit the rock because some supporters of the various aspirants feared their principal might lose out. Thus, they are said to be working to frustrate the plan. It was learnt that a leader of the party who muted the idea of forming the coalition against Ajayi, hurriedly called off a meeting for that purpose because most of the aspirants backed out and agreed to accept the outcome of the planned party primaries.In fact, a source claimed that a number of the aspirants from the Ondo South senatorial district, are said to be on a different page on the consensus plan. According to him, the plan was informed by the feeling that the leadership of the PDP could favourAjayi, especially with the waiver the party granted him to contest after joining the party less than two weeks ago.
The party had said that there would be no automatic ticket for him when he defected to the PDP. At the moment, those already in the race for the ticket before he joined the PDP are reportedly spoiling for a war. However, some national leaders of the party are said to reaching out to the aspirants to consider conceding the ticket to Ajayi.
While some PDP leaders favour the bid by Ajayi to secure the ticket, there a few others that believe that such gift posed a threat to the unity and discipline in the party. “There should be no preferential treatment for Ajayi in the race for the governorship ticket. We have all contributed to making the PDP strong and formidable. We deserve fair treatment, justice and equity,” one of them said.
Another challenge that some of the aspirants have raised relates to money politics. In their opinion, the issue had a minimal significance until lately with a number of the aspirants battling with the problem of logistics. According to them, they had been prudent with their resources during their regular tour of the local government areas to rally party members for their individual aspirations. Now, the complaint among them is that there is an undue use of money to circumvent the rules of the game at the dawn of party primaries. One of the aspirants is being accused of
Inducing prospective delegates for the primaries with a huge amount of money. A source within the party, who hailed from the Ondo South senatorial district disclosed that the particular aspirant used a front to induce other aspirants from the zone to step down for him to no avail. According to him, hundreds of million was rejected by the aspirants who insisted that the said aspirant should be ready to test his strength and popularity at the PDP primaries.
The party source said: “What we all have in common is that we don’t want the said aspirant to be imposed on us because it will amount to an insult on all of us.If truly he has the strength and support base that he has been telling them in Abuja, let him get set for the party primaries; that has been our position.Even Abuja now knows that what he was telling them was not all true about his popularity. At least, we have seen how our national chairman asked with disappointment the whereabouts of the so-called huge number of supporters. So, after the screening exercise conducted in Abuja, the aspirant sent about four different emissaries to four of us that he was ready to offset our bills to the tune of N400 million, that is, N100 million per aspirant, and he concentrated the talks on those of us from the South. To us, that is an insult because we are notproducts to be procured in the open market as he thinks. We have jointly resolved to go to party primaries and fail instead of collecting money from anybody.”
In the meantime, there are indications that some of the aspirants are already in touch with the ‘fringe’ parties in case they do not secure the ticket of the PDP. The talks were said to be at the exploratory stage because of the intrigues playing out over the primaries of the PDP. A leader of one of the less popular political party confirmed that a leading PDP aspirant ticket and other politicians in the state had been negotiating for the ticket of the party since the electoral law created a window of opportunity for the substitution of candidates by parties.
Impeachment of deputy governor
It is apparent that the battle to stop the deputy governor in his bid for the governorship seat has taken two strands. One was the first phase that led to his defection to the PDp following irreconcilable differences with Governor Akeredolu. The second phase if the emerging mutual suspicion between his camp and other aspirants of the PDP who perceived his quest to become the candidate of the party for the election coming up in October in the state. The last onslaught against HonourableAjayi is the final move to remove him from his position by the state House of Assembly. The process towards achieving the goal commenced on Tuesday, which created an ease on the floor of the Assembly. The notice signed by 14 of the 26 members of the Assembly accused him of gross misconduct, abuse of office, with action likely to bring down state government. The other allegations included financial recklessness, abandonment of office, official duties and other assignments. But Ajayi said he was not bothered by the move to remove him from office, as he is in court over the matter before now. However, the government has declared it had no hand in the impeachment saga contrary to the claim of Ajayi.
Can of worms
Hours after he resigned, the SSG literarily began to sing about his experience while in office, supposed cold war with his boss and sundry allegations. One of the most aspect of his supposed can of worms bothered on the outcome of the 2016 governorship election in the state. His claim that that Akeredolu did not win the poll led to a backlash of strident criticisms with the state government and groups calling for the investigation of the ex-SSG on the allegation. According to the state government in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. SegunAjiboye, described Abegunde’s claims as “pernicious lies and imaginary thoughts lines considered perennial and seemingly becoming boring.” It added that “a quick run of the allegations shows a semblance of sustained recycling of falsehood.as well as blackmail contents targeted at Mr. Governor and his immediate family. It is, however, imperative to draw the attention of the Nation’s Security Agencies to a particular outburst wherein the former SSG confessed to have participated in electoral fraud in 2016.” The statement alleged that “Abegunde’s outbursts are weighty confessions that must be investigated by security agencies. Anything to the contrary will not only encourage future acts as contained in the confessions. Such brazen anti-democratic acts are unambiguously, grave dangers to our fledgling electoral system.”
War of propaganda
The claims and counter-claims between the camp of the governor and that of the deputy governor before the impeachment process began on Tuesday was about plans to drag unsuspecting members of the public into the face-off. For example, the state alleged on Monday of a plan by Ajayi, disrupt the peace in the state by sponsoring protest against him and his government. It alleged that the protest was aimed to cause unrest in the statet and put pressure on the governor to transmit power to him. The state Information and Orientation Commissioner, Mr. Donald Ojogo, alleged: “The first phase of the protest will start from Wednesday, this week. The protest will be tagged ‘Occupy Alagbaka Government House’. In their thoughts, the governor is incapacitated, that he must handover to the deputy governor.” He also claimed that “What they intend to do is go create a situation of crisis a legitimate protest on the pretence that governance in the state is grounded. The second plan to embark on a similar protest in Abuja on Wednesday also. What that plot is intend to achieve is best known to them but the motive is for them to print campaign vest of APC governorship aspirants and organise some boys in Abuja to go to the party secretariat that what we want is anybody but Akeredolu. Protests are very normal under any democratic settings but our worry is: what is the business of a man who has left the party? We find it very repulsive, very illogical and we believe that the deputy governor is not just out to pursue his governorship ambition but is intension in government is to create problem and to create a situation of chaos to elicit foreign or external attention. We are weighing all the options. The security security agencies will be alerted and we are also using this opportunity to call on parents to call their wards to order because it is not every protest that is what embarking upon. e are not just aware of their plot but that we are undeterred in our desire to provide good leadership and good government to the people of the state.”
In the midst of the worsening relationship between the two main actors, who were elected through a joint ticket of the APC about four years ago is the optimism of the other aspirants of the party to ensure a change of guard in October through the ballot.
For instance, one of the leading aspirants in PDP, Jegede was quoted to have said: “When you are returning to a house you abandoned when you were needed most, whereas others waited, toiling day and night to make the place into a pleasurable home you now desire, you must come with humility, and responsible behaviour. You have to respect us and the great job we have done. We are democrats in the PDP and the sky is wide enough for all of us. No imposition and no dictatorship. A politician’s popularity must be his asset.” It was against the backdrop ogf the deputy governor to defecte to the PDP. Jegede had stated: “Tell him to come over quickly and join the PDP. We are the winning party with a winning mentality. He and others like him should abandon APC’s sinking boat”. Jegede, who spoke through the former Ondo State Commissioner for the Environment, Chief Lebi Adepiti, noted that APC members all over the state are abandoning APC’s sinking ship and moving in droves into the PDP. “The handwriting is clear on the wall. Now is the time; we are the ark of Noah and torrential rains have started beating APC. Tommorow may be too late for any decampee. It is clear to everyone that the APC is not only crisis-ridden, but is also a sinking ship with no rescue plan in sight. “Let the politicians with foresight save their political career by joining us in the PDP as we are poised to dislodge the APC from the Government House, Akure during the coming governorship election. Politics is a game of number.”
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