With former Ogun State Governor, Olusegun Osoba, eventually dumping APC for new SDP, the final battle line for 2015 may have finally been drawn between him and Governor Ibikunle Amosun, writes Head, News Desk, VICTOR EBIMOMI.
In Ogun State, the die is finally cast, or so it seems. The former governor, Olusegun Osoba, and the incumbent, Ibikunle Amosun, seem set for an epic battle over 2015 elections. For months, the duo had been at loggerheads over the control of the machinery of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
Theirs was a political alliance that went awry along the line. The emergence of Amosun was facilitated by Osoba through the collaboration of the then Action Congress (AC) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). Osoba was an AC chieftain while Amosun came from the ANPP.
In April this year, however, the two fell apart after a parallel ward, local government and state congresses were conducted between Osoba’s loyalists and those of the governor. Before then, they had been fighting their war of attrition behind the curtain.
However, signs that their relationship must have broken down completely emerged when it was reported that Osoba was toying with the idea of registering his own party. The initial name that was bandied about was Action Group of Nigeria (AGN). At a time, there were unsubstantiated reports that the party had been launched by the former governor on August 16.
But it later turned out to be a prop for mobilisation and sensitisation of Osoba’s supporters and loyalists in preparation for the final onslaught.
When the Social Democratic Party (SDP) was, therefore, unveiled as the real platform on which Osoba and his men would engage Amosun in 2015, it did not come to many as a surprise.
Curiously, while the face-off lasted, Osoba did not openly renounce his membership of APC, but sometimes declared that he had lost the interest to work with Amosun.
But then, he was said to have waited patiently to see if the face-off between them could be resolved, believing that the APC leaders, having realised his influence in the party with his followers comprising three serving senators in the state, seven House of Representatives members and majority of the House of Assembly members, would not risk his exit from the party, especially in the build-up to the 2015 polls.
But after the Amosun faction was inaugurated by the then APC interim leadership led by Bisi Akande, Osoba felt betrayed by people who were supposed to be his allies since the battle for the actualisation of June 12, 1993 election won by MKO Abiola but annulled by the military regime led by General Ibrahim Babangida.
The formation of the SDP, it was learnt, has started sending jitters to the APC, which believes that Osoba’s action poses a potential threat to the party or at worse could give undue advantage to the opposition parties, particularly the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which is eagerly waiting in the wings to oust Amosun.
This much was subtly expressed in the statement of APC National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, on Thursday, November 6. The party had remarked that it was shocked by the defection of Osoba and his followers, urging the remaining party faithful to remain calm, all the same.
“Yes the defection of some of our members will create some challenges for our party, but we will go back to the drawing board to re-strategise and re-double our efforts to retain the state in 2015,” the statement read in part.
Those who defected with Osoba included the Deputy Governor, Segun Adesegun; three APC senators and six House of Representatives members; majority of House of Assembly members as well as thousands of his supporters. Last week, some national dailies reported that the senators had written to the Senate President, David Mark, on their planned defection from the APC to the PDP.
And to make the battle ahead thick, the SDP has thrown up Amosun’s kinsman, Senator Gbenga Obadara, as its governorship candidate.
TheNiche gathered that part of the game plan to oust Amosun is a working arrangement between Osoba’s group and that of the erstwhile governor, Gbenga Daniel, whose political associates would also be accommodated in the new party.
Our reporter learnt that Osoba’s resolve to do battle with Amosun came to the fore after a meeting with his loyalists at his Ibara GRA home in Abeokuta after the parallel congresses in April. At the forum, it was gathered, he pointedly told them that the battle line had been drawn between him and the governor, and directed them to start registering their members across the state.
“You know we have been together since 1988; sooner than later, everything will be settled. Henceforth, at every ward meeting, please be keeping register because the ones they presented are fake,” he said.
He spurned the APC Elders’ Committee set up to mediate in the face-off, alleging that the members were not sincere in their dealings with his faction.
“They are only looking for sentiments; they are looking for ways to eat you up. Let them go their way. They said they have set up Elders’ Committee. Don’t mind them; I don’t know who is older than me politically among them.
“None of them is closer to Awolowo than I was. I wined and dined with him. I do not have confidence in those people up there again. They are interested in eating you up. Don’t allow them to deceive you again. When they come, they will not meet me,” he charged.
Even with Osoba appearing to steal the show at the moment, analysts believe that Amosun might be keeping his joker close to his chest, especially as he is not known to have publicly declared that he had any feud with his predecessor.
In fact, a chieftain of the APC in the state argued that the governor is unperturbed because he controls the grassroots.
“Amosun can’t leave the party because he controls the local governments and that is where the power is. Whatever happens, it is the man who controls the grassroots that will have the upper hand at the end of the day,” the party chieftain said.
Besides, the governor is said to have the ears of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who still wields strong influence in the state. Obasanjo is also not known to be in the good books of Osoba as a result of the role he played in scuttling the latter’s second term ambition in the state.
There is also the fear that aside Osoba and, to some extent, Senator Sefiu Kaka, other members of his camp may not be able to provide the drive that can oust Amosun, especially given the so-called incumbency factor in Nigerian politics. In addition, not even the former governor had accused Amosun of not delivering on his electoral promises. The allegation against him basically centres on acceptable power-sharing formula and allocation of slots to the other camp. How these essentially elitist considerations would sway the Ogun electorate against Amosun remains to be seen.
Amosun moved from PDP to ANPP before he finally berthed in the AC with the assistance of Osoba.
Ogun state APC spokesman, Sola Lawal, could not be reached to find out whether there’s possibility of reconciliation before the 2015 governorship election.
Ogun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Yusuf Olaniyan told TheNiche that options for dialogue were still open as they do not intend to go for election united.
