In polity, internal democracy plays dominant roles in the survival of any political party. Thus, it lays a solid foundation for a level-playing ground upon which the players test their popularity and acceptability. But nowadays, the reverse is the case. Actors no longer play the game according to the ideologies of their respective parties. What is currently playing out is mudslinging, and character assassination in the face of perceived threats to one’s ambition.
An aspiration bereft of issue-based other than war of attrition is counterproductive and it does no one any good.
For quite a while, tongues have been wagging over the propriety or otherwise of the recent declaration of intent by Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, fondly referred to as YAYI, to contest the Ogun West Senatorial election in 2023 on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He made the declaration last week Wednesday, April 6, 2022 at Ilaro (the administrative headquarters of Ogun West) amidst the excitement: pomps and pageantry of the party enthusiasts in and out of the state.
In his declaration address, Senator Olamilekann Adeola said his decision to pick the Ogun West Senatorial ticket of the APC was in response to the clarion call of his people to return home and contest for the post, adding that he had transferred his voter’s card from Lagos to Ogun State. In flesh and blood, YAYI is a bonafide indigene of Ogun State from Yewa. And to that extent, he is now a registered member of the Ogun APC.
With this new political adventurism, Adeola has wittingly pitched himself against a particular interest group in the state who sees his home-coming as a threat to their political ambitions, fearing the possibility of his clout in Yewa-Aworiland on one part and Ogun state, at large. Consequently, both conventional and social media platforms have been awashed with criticisms, condemnation and outright verbal attacks. In an unrestraint outpouring of emotions, many have questioned the morality of the sudden change-over, while others describe the move as sheer greed and an indecent power politics. Some even alleged that he was being sponsored or imposed on Ogun West by the national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to do his biddings. It is all speculation.
However, in a quick rebuttal, a statement signed by Dr. Iziaq Kunle Salako, Central Chairman, W2W4DA Convergence, dismissed the report, saying that the purveyor of such news was “doing a hatchet job for a political camp who is obviously threatened by the huge acceptance that Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola is enjoying among Ogun West people – politicians and non-politicians alike.”
Dissociating OWESF from the media report which quoted one Chief Sikiru Adegbite as saying that “nobody is imposing Yayi on Ogun West, Salako declared: “As a foundation member of OWESF who was for about two years the Coordinator of the organisation and who has remained very active in every respect, “I am not aware of a caucus meeting of OWESF held in Ilaro where the said decision emanated from. The name Chief Sikiru Adegbite is also not known to me as a member of OWESF. I have never seen such a person participate in any of our meetings nor contribute a dime to any of our programmes. I have also made enquiry from the Chairman of OWESF Dr. Yemisi Bamgbose and the Secretary, Prof. Jendele Hungbo. Both of them denied knowledge of any such meeting referenced by the reporter and the personality purportedly speaking on behalf of OWESF.
“It is obvious that the political camp that Chief Adegbite is working for is in serious anguish and cannot come to terms with the fact that their principal is not the centre of political attention of Ogun West this time around hence the resort to blackmail, threat and propaganda.”
“As the Central Chairman of the W2W4DA Convergence which has so far held in four local governments of Ogun West where the mass of Ogun West people called on Senator Adeola popularly known as YAYI to enter the Ogun West senatorial contest for the 2023 election, I make bold to say that the pretentious Chief Adegbite must be suffering from some form of illusion to allege that Senator Adeola is being imposed on Ogun West by Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the national leader of the APC.”
Ogun West comprises five local governments namely Yewa South, Yewa Norh, Imeko-Afon, Ipokia, and Ado-Odo/Ota. From all available reports, Adeola’s popularity traverses the entire senatorial district. His home-coming is enjoying widespread acceptability.
Whether or not the acceptance is politically and morally right is a different ball game. At any rate, the constitution permits an aspirant to contest an election anywhere he pleases. And this case, Adeola is not going to reinvent the wheel by coming home to seek re-election.
In 2015, when Hon James Faleke opted to be the running mate to the late Abubakar Audu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in governorship election, he was and still is a member of the House of Representatives, representing Ikeja Federal Constituency of Lagos State. By birth, Faleke is from Ekinrin Adde, Ijumu Local Government of Kogi State. Yet, nobody cried blue murder or raised eyebrow either in his Kogi home state or Lagos. In fact, APC was already coasting home to victory when the sudden demise of his principal occurred. He subsequently fought in court with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be declared the winner of the election, insisting that under Section 187 of the 1999 Constitution, he was duly elected as deputy governor of Kogi State.
“In law and logic, no new candidate can inherit or be a beneficiary of the votes already cast, counted, and declared by INEC before that candidate was nominated and purportedly sponsored,” Mr. Faleke wrote through his counsel, Wole Olanipekun. The rest is history.
Back then in 1951, the late Nnamdi Azikiwe was the leader of the opposition NCNC in the western region controlled by the Action Group founded by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the then Premier of the region. But for the stronghold of the AG, Azikiwe would have represented the western region in the central legislature in Lagos. The ensuing political intrigues between him and his Yoruba supporters compelled him to abandon the western to become the Premier of the eastern region. The Macpherson constitution permitted all aspiring candidates for elections to ventilate their political ideas and belief where they preferred without fear of molestation. So also the 1999 constitution imposed on us by the military.
Beyond all this, critics of Adeola also need to be reminded that even civil service rule allows a civil servant working in another state to transfer his or her service to his or her state of origin with strict obedience to the laid down procedures.
To this extent, the question of whether it is morally right or wrong for Adeola to contest Ogun West is neither here nor there. It is entirely the decision of the electorate to decide who represents them at any level of government.
What is importance is for the leadership of the party to ensure a level playing field for all aspirants without bias or favour. For now, that is the challenge before the ruling APC in Ogun state.
The ruling party in Ogun state under the leadership of the Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, remains committed to the enthronement of quality governance. Therefore, heating up the polity when the leadership of the party is currently building and maintaining its stronghold, inspite of the various dirty tricks the traducers have been deploying to cause disaffection besmears the good image of the party.
The silence of the governor ought not to be misconstrued for personal gains but it is an infantile mind that plays against the rule of the game. What would be would be. It is the prerogative of the governor to pick a popular aspirant that is sellable, competent and capable of rallying round support for the party and also winning an election among the contenders at the primary election.
Since his inception of office almost three years ago, the governor has not shirked his responsibilities, but rather, has been demonstrating his administration’s spirit of inclusiveness, justice and fair-play with the five developmental pillars of ISEYA, while impacting positively in the lives of the people of the state.
At this critical time of politicking, it behoves on all feuding parties raising unnecessary dust to maintain a decorum and avoid making themselves a ribaldry butt of jokes before the outside world.
