Ondo APC crisis will soon be over ― Reconciliation committee secretary

Ahead of the governorship election in Ondo State, the Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) reconciliation committee, put in place to harmonise the grievances of party members in the state, Chief Bode Sunmonu, on Sunday, said the seemingly irreconcilable crisis within the party in the state will soon be over.

Sunmonu who stated this in Akure, Ondo State capital, while speaking with newsmen said some machineries had been put in place by the committee to bring all aggrieved parties together.

He urged all members of the party in the state not to be disturbed by the happenings within the party in the state, saying they will soon fizzle out within the shortest time, as the party remains a party to beat in any election.

According to him, the Committees put in place by the leadership of the party at the national and state levels would harmonise all aggrieved members to resolve the internal crisis describing it as “a game of interest and power”

Sunmonu said: “I want you to know that what we are seeing in Ondo State APC is nothing new in politics. It is a game of power, and when doing that, everybody will want to do everything humanly possible.

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“But we have our own internal mechanism that can resolve these little challenges and this is exactly what we are doing now. We all know we cannot destroy this platform if really we want to win this election, even the national leaders of the party are aware of this.

“For now, we have two committees in place-the National Reconciliation Committee headed by Chief Bisi Akande and the Advisory Council of APC in Ondo State. The Advisory Committee met of recent and we noticed that the issued surrounding the crisis in the party are resolvable.”

Speaking on the way forward, “On the issue of how to move forward, a committee of five people was put in place, and we were asked to call people to come out with their grievances and see how we can move forward and I happen to be the Secretary of that Committee.

“We put up an advertisement and contacted party members, chairmen of the party at the ward level, asking them to come forward with memoranda on what they believe caused the crisis within the party and how to resolve it to move forward.

“We have received beautiful responses and we are analysing, and maybe in the next one or two weeks, we will be able to advise the Advisory Committee on the way forward.

“At the end of the day, only one person will be chosen as the party standard-bearer or candidate and I believe, if we address all the challenges the people raised in their various papers sent to the Committee, it will be easier to call people, pacify them, beg them and plead with them that we have only one party and I am sure they all need this party.”

He maintained that the crisis in the party is about interest and said “what we found happening is that people jostling for power, which is normal, and at the end of the day, we will get a positive result to move on.

“It’s a family issue and we have nowhere to drive ourselves because we do not have any other party. And more importantly, APC is the only party in Ondo State, the most viable party.”

Condemning the rejection of the former governor of Osun State, Chief Bisi Akande, as head of the National Reconciliatory Committee of the party by the Unity Forum, a splinter group within the party, Sumonu attributed the development to anger by members of the group, saying the allegation levelled against Akande could not be substantiated.

“What I understand is that when you’re angry, don’t talk, and when you’re very happy don’t make promises. So, I am sure they (Unity Forum) talked when they are angry.

“You will notice in their communique, they passed a vote of no confidence in the National committee too, who will then reconcile them? So, I am of the opinion that the statement was made out of anger.

“But we all need to come together, there is no doubt about that. I believe the challenges in Ondo APC can be resolved but through dialogue, there’s no two way to it.

“If you ask me of any unity forum, I will refer to the Advisory Council led by Chief Akinyelure and Chief Isaacs Kekemeke as the unity forum where all aggrieved members come together to resolve issues.

“If these people have been patient enough, maybe they probably won’t say what they are saying. If you take a look at their communique, they said Chief Akande is on the payroll of Akeredolu and I don’t know how that can be substantiated anyway and I don’t know what effect that would be to anybody.

“Akande is the chairman of the reconciliation committee and it is not the governor’s committee, it’s an independent committee put together to see to the challenges of APC in Ondo State and find a way of resolving these issues and it is not as bad as people look at it, it’s a family affair like I said earlier, we will soon come together and talk this over,” Sumonu said.