The choice of Adekunle Akinlade as the gubernatorial consensus candidate of Ogun State All Progressives Congress (APC) for 2019 general elections has sparked fresh crisis within the ruling party in the state. Akinlade, who is a serving House of Representatives member, was formally unveiled and presented at the APC state secretariat in Abeokuta by the Ogun West Elders Council. The lawmaker, who was formerly Amosun’s Senior Special Assistant on Taxation and Revenue, is believed to be the preferred candidate of the governor for the governorship.
But stakeholders from Ogun East Senatorial District in APC have kicked against the consensus arrangement and resolved to present a common front to counter Akinlade at the primaries. Under the aegis of Ijebu/Remo Agenda, the stakeholders held a meeting in Sagamu on Thursday night and dissociated themselves from the candidate produced from the Yewa- Awori extraction. Some of those in attendance included Rafiu Sangonuga, Bisi Adesanya, Bisi Rodipe, Olusoga Adebusuwa and Tayo Mabeweje as well as some governorship aspirants from Ogun East zone of the state.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, one of the governorship aspirants, Prince Dapo Abiodun, said the purported consensus arrangement was not only undemocratic but also contravened the directive of the party’s national leadership. Abiodun, who is the chairman, Corporate Affairs Commission, declared that the group was determined to have the governorship return to Ogun East after Amosun’s eight-year tenure. He said the candidate to be presented by Ijebu/ Remo bloc would defeat any candidate at the APC gubernatorial primaries scheduled for September 25. He said: “We dissociate ourselves from the purported consensus arrangement that was reached in which it was claimed that someone from the West, namely Akinlade, was appointed through some undemocratic process.”
