Chieftains of Ondo State chapter of APC join their colleagues in the scramble for juicy federal government appointments, Special Correspondent, JULIUS ALABI, writes.
It is not for nothing that informed analysts argue that the biggest enterprise in Nigeria after every election is not necessarily the work by the election petition tribunals, or an educative stock-taking of the electoral process, but the scramble for political appointments by politicians. This may take the form of lobbying for nomination or appointment into ministerial position or other agencies of the federal government.
This is the pressure many see the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, currently battling with. The trend, which replicates in the states, is also being experienced in Ondo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Deputy Governor, Alli Olanusi, who defected to the party from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) few days to the March 28 presidential election, has been appointed as a member of its Board of Trustees (BOT). But the agitation by some members for appointment is yet to die down.
TheNiche gathered, for instance, that chieftains of the party in the state have commenced scheming for juicy positions in the yet-to-be-composed Federal Executive Council (FEC) under the new leadership of General Buhari (rtd.).
In going about the agenda, the old and new members of the APC in the state are applying many strategies to ensure that their names are in the list to be announced. Among the strategies adopted are name-dropping and reaching out to established godfathers considered to be closer to the president-elect. Counted among the godfathers are those who were seen to have played various roles in the election of Buhari. Some are credited with making financial donations to his campaigns aside taking part in other logistics.
While the horse-trading lasts, three prominent names are being thrown up as likely nominees for certain positions. Among these is Oluwarotimi Akerededolu (SAN), former President of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). He is considered as a nominee of APC national leader, Ahmed Tinubu. Akeredolu was the governorship candidate of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), in October 20, 2012 governorship election in Ondo. ACN was among the legacy parties that fused into APC.
Another touted likely nominee is Ife Oyedele, widely considered to be a close ally of Buhari. Also seen as possible candidate is Femi Agagu, Chief of Staff to the late Governor Olusegun Agagu. Sources told TheNiche that Agagu is a nominee of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Agagu’s romance with APC became known in the build-up to the elections when he led 45 former political office holders, comprising old PDP members and former Labour Party (LP) chieftains, to defect to the party. Agagu, who is the leader of the defectors, hinged their action on the fact that Nigeria needed a change and Ondo State a new direction.
He described those in his group as formidable stakeholders in Ondo politics, adding that they were people who had served in various capacities in the state. He decried the level of tyranny and bad leadership in Olusegun Mimiko-led administration in the state.
To stand on a more people-oriented platform, he explained, was the attraction for him and his colleagues to embrace change which the APC represented, hence their support for Buhari and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (vice president-elect) as well as all the candidates of the party at the polls.
The former CoS said, “We took this decision after lengthy sessions of consultation with friends, political associates as well as supporters in all the 203 wards of the state. We also received the confidence of distinguished elder statesmen, non-political young and elderly citizens who were concerned about the future of our dear state and country.
‘’There were several reasons for our decision, but most important was the obvious fact that Nigeria needed change and Ondo State a new direction. We needed change which is the burden of good, honest, diligent, prepared, tested and competent leadership; change, which is a mission to a destination of greatness where our state and nation ought to be; change from broken promises, broken infrastructure, broken confidence, broken trust, broken leadership and broken future, which our people daily and consistently suffered,” he added.
Also being speculated for appointment is state party chairman, Isaac Kekemeke; Ade Adetimehin, Victor Olabimtan, Taofeek Abdulsalam, Eniolorunda Omosule, Niran Sule, Akinyemi Akinnigbagbe and Tola Wewe, among other members of the old APC. They are said to be regular visitors to Abuja these days, as the scramble for positions subsists.