WALE AKINSELURE traces the genesis of rumbling in the Oyo State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and efforts to resolve the inherent issues.
Though some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo state and appointees of the Governor Seyi Makinde administration kept on singing the “All is well” song, the evidences of cracks in the coalition that aided Makinde’s emergence as governor, as well as voices of displeased members of the Oyo PDP were clear not long after Makinde was sworn in as governor on May 29, 2019. Two years of becoming governor, the mutual suspicion necessitated last week’s visit to the state by the Senator Bukola Saraki led PDP National Reconciliation and Strategy Committee to Ibadan to meet with aggrieved members of the party in the state. But the visit of Saraki led committee was the third in a series of committees that have intervened to resolve the issues. The intervention of the national reconciliation committee was like help coming from the highest quarters after local and zonal interventions had not succeeded in smoothening all the rough edges.
The coalition pact
With the support of a coalition of political parties and people with varied interests, eyes were keen on how Makinde will manage the interests and effectively combine politics and governance. Many observers were curious on how the governor would ‘reward’ members of the coalition who joined forces with members of the PDP who all worked to ensure victory of the PDP at the poll. The absence of a former Secretary to the Oyo State Government, Mr Sarafadeen Alli, whose party then, Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) was part of the coalition, at the inauguration of the Hosea Agboola led state advisory council, was a first pointer that there was a problem with the coalition agreement. Alli had on June 2020 stressed that the coalition agreement was failing, by stating that Makinde needed to fulfill his promise of two commissioner and two special advisers slots to ZLP and one slot to former Governor Rashidi Ladoja. Similarly, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin had opted out of the coalition, citing noncompliance with the terms of the coalition. Lanlehin’s exiting the coalition came at about the time some forces stifled him out of the African Democratic Congress (ADC). Amid the troubles of the Lanlehin with the ADC, Special adviser to Governor Makinde on Strategy and Political Matters, Babatunde Oduyoye, warned Lanlehin against dragging Makinde into “his frustrations with the ADC.” Oduyoye, especially, chided Lanlehin for accusing Makinde of noncompliance with the terms of the coalition, arguing that Makinde had “lived up to his promise to all parties in the coalition and, in some cases, bent backwards to accommodate all interests.” The Oyo State chapter of the PDP also argued that Makinde had fulfilled his commitment to the coalition pact by appointing no fewer than seven members of the ADC into his government. Notwithstanding the various positions and arguments for Makinde living up to the coalition pact, both Sarafadeen Alli and Olufemi Lanlehin later joined the All Progressives Congress (APC). But Makinde also has to deal with displeasure of some members of his party, the PDP.
The Saraki, Oyinlola, Balogun interventions
The visit of the Saraki committee members came about a month after the Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola-led reconciliation committee also submitted its report to Makinde on ways to reconcile aggrieved PDP members across the South-West. Oyinlola, while submitting his committee report, on July 8, prayed that Makinde looked at the solutions identified to the problems facing the party in Oyo and the South-West at large. The man, on whose shoulders the responsibility of substantially satisfying the demands of the coalition and “taking care” of PDP members rested upon, actually recognised the existence of a crisis, one year into his tenure, when he set up the Dr Saka Balogun led Elders Steering Committee of the PDP in Oyo. While inaugurating the committee on June 15, 2020, Makinde had said: “The task before this committee is to assist us to get to the roots of all the challenges with our party, the PDP in Oyo state. A failure is hard to take, but success is harder to manage because expectations were quite high. It has been one year and about two weeks in office in this administration and the expectations of some of our party members have not been met either rightly or wrongly. Some have legitimate requests and expectations, but some are just being used by some forces outside of our party against the party. So, we need to sieve the chaff from the wheat, and where our members have legitimate expectations and legitimate entitlements, I want all that to be brought out so that we can address the issue.”
Have the grievances been addressed?
The Saka Balogun committee did come up with some revelations about the issues debarring a united Oyo PDP. Listed by the Balogun committee as causing division, uneasiness and dissatisfaction among party members were marginalisation, neglect of loyal party members, poor relations between political appointees and party leaders, favouritism and poor accessibility to Governor Makinde. Among other issues contained in the report were that the government was exalting new political upstarts and relegating longstanding members of the party. Especially, the panel linked the division in the party to the initial major political appointments to key offices where who got what depended more on your closeness to the governor. Across the 14 federal constituencies, specific mention was made of the grievances expressed by party leaders like the deputy governor, Mr Rauf Olaniyan; Alhaji Mulikat Akande-Adeola; Alhaji Azim Gbolarumi; Engineer Femi Babalola; Mogaji Nureni Akanbi; Honourable Ajibola Muraina; Elder Wole Oyelese, Alhaji Bisi Olopoeyan; Alhaji Alli Dodo. In its recommendations, the committee urged the governor to resolve his differences with Honourable Mulikat Akande-Adeola and personally meet with several other aggrieved leaders.
The committee prayed that a little twist in the style of administration of the governor will gladden the heart of many, while admonishing Makinde on the need for respect for party leaders and caution appointees of the governor against unduly arrogating themselves leadership of their various local governments.
Last week’s visit of the National Reconciliation and Strategy Committee, where it met with some aggrieved leaders of the Oyo PDP, was a pointer to the fact that some of the issues had not been fully attended to. With real politicking set to begin ahead the 2023 elections, the visit by the Saraki committee might be a critical awakening if the Oyo PDP is to go into the next election with a united front.
Pointing to the timeliness of the visit of the Saraki committee, a chieftain of the PDP in the state, Mr Femi Babalola noted that the party had been greatly divided and needed to come together fast. Babalola said: “We need to come together fast, the party has been divided down the line. If anybody says it is not true, it will be most unfortunate. Such a person should just go for our weekly meetings of any local government and compare it to attendance before the election. Attendance should be highest when we are in government but it is not, so I wish there is a sincere reconciliation and whatever has to be done is done fast.”
But the demands of aggrieved members whether in meeting with the committees of Saka Balogun, Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Bukola Saraki have been similar. Speaking after meeting some of the aggrieved party members, Saraki echoed that the party members wanted more recognition, more stake in the affairs of their government, having worked for the election of the governor. Typically, politicians don’t put in efforts not to get rewarded or recognised. Some of the aggrieved members demanded inclusiveness in the running of government. Also, some fear their influence and hold whittling down the more with them no more having a say over appointments in their domains. The choice of candidates of the party that have emerged chairmen and councillors has increased the grievances of some aggrieved members with some of them unable to have their followers and supporters in government.
Mutual suspicion
In various conversations, some of the aggrieved members say they are keen on genuine reconciliation. Speaking after meeting the Saraki committee, one of the leaders of those on the aggrieved side, Alhaji Bisi Olopoeyan alleged that Makinde had betrayed him overtime and that what he now wanted was for the party to be formidable. Olopoeyan said the aggrieved members wanted Makinde to run an all-inclusive government. He said the aggrieved members soft-pedaled and waited till end of August that the committee gave Makinde to do the needful and meet their demands.
Similarly, Babalola said, “What I wish to happen is that there should be a genuine reconciliation of all the factions, all the people so that we can all come together because our party is suffering for it. If anybody says that it is not true, I will keep quiet. If everybody comes to the table with a sincere and open mind and whoever that feels he has offended anybody is ready to apologise, either way, then we move forward.” Amid the mistrust, Makinde’s political adviser, Oduyoye urged those with misgivings on the peace process to give the governor the benefit of the doubt.
The commitment of the various stakeholders, in the coming days, will show their genuine desire for reconciliation and having a united Oyo PDP. Various PDP stakeholders have noted that the earlier the crisis is resolved the better, especially with the party’s congress knocking. With the Oyo APC also strategizing and working towards having a united front, the Oyo PDP must get its acts right or be ready for the consequences of approaching the 2023 elections with a divided house. The party may also face a situation of people remaining in the party but working against the party or suffer defection of its members to the APC, ADC or other political parties.
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