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The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State is currently enmeshed in crisis over the content of a letter that the Ogun Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun allegedly wrote to Aremo Olusegun Osoba, the godfather of the APC in the State in which he complained about many of the key officers of the party at the National Assembly. The letter which was purportedly written in 2011, has revealed the genesis of the intractable conflict, which created a big crisis between the 2 leaders and members of the party. Consequent upon the disagreement, The Osoba group, comprising 3 senators and 9 members of the House of Representatives, had concluded plans to defect to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) after the Osun State governorship election.
Members of the Osoba group are alleging that going by the content of the letter dated January 23, 2011, the incumbent governor had long been plotting to undermine Osoba’s influence in the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) before the party finally fused into the APC. The letter, titled: ‘Ogun State ACN Candidates and Electoral Fortunes in April 2011 general election,’ expressed Amosun’s disapproval of the candidates that contested various legislative positions. Last week, Thisday newspaper published details of the letter.
An insider revealed that the candidates who contested the legislative elections were said to have emerged and their names already sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before Amosun formally defected to the defunct ACN late 2010. In the 9-page letter, Amosun disagreed with the process of picking the party’s candidates, claiming that he should be given opportunity to make some input being the party’s governorship candidate. He argued that the process of picking candidates “should be based more on electoral values and acceptability of aspirants as it is only through such process that can lead to emergence of candidates that enjoy the confidence and support of the broad segment of party members.”
Amosun further expressed concerns that the process of selecting candidates for 3 senatorial and 9 House of Representatives slots were shrouded in so much secrecy that he had to depend on information picked in bits and pieces from different sources within and outside the party. He noted: “Unlike the House of Assembly candidates, whose election held the same day with his election, we cannot afford to be indifferent to the National Assembly candidates, who are the lighthouse to the general elections.”
A source in the Osoba group said the party leaders did not approve Amosun’s suggestion to reverse the candidacy of Senator Gbenga Obadara (Ogun Central), Sen. Gbenga Kaka (Ogun East) and Senator Akin Odunsi among others because the candidates had emerged before Amosun’s formal defection. City People gathered that Amosun only agreed to the candidacy of Hon. Olumide Osoba, who is the biological son of the former governor, among the candidates that emerged for the House of Representatives. We further gathered that Amosun started to consolidate his hold on the party machinery shortly after he defected to the defunct ACN.
But a source in the Amosun group explained that the Governor had no reason to fight Osoba because his position as the state governor was not threatened. However, members of the Osoba group don’t see it that way; they feel he came from the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), used the ACN structure and party platforms to achieve his personel ambition to be Governor. What has created a big crisis in Ogun APC right now is Amosun’s alleged plans to replace Obadara with Mr. Lanre Tejuosho who came with him from the ANPP, Senator Gbenga Kaka with the Managing Director of Independent Communications Network Limited (Publishers of The News Magazine and P.M. News), Mr. Bayo Onanuga and Senator Akin Odunsi with Senator Iyabo Anisulowo.
In 2011, Amosun promoted Mr. Lekan Abiola, a son of the winner of June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, on the platform of the ANPP against Osoba’s son. Members of the Osoba group now blamed APC National Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu, for the crisis between Osoba and Amosun, noting that Tinubu had been supporting him (Amosun) against the popular interests in the state. Osoba boys argue that out of the 9 House of Assembly slots ceded to him in 2011, the source said Amosun won 4 while those in the camp of Osoba won all their slots, thereby wondering why Amosun should complain about electoral values of the candidates that emerged from the group of the former governor. The source debunked Amosun’s claims that he spent N7 billion on his election, noting that the governor only contributed N70 million to the then ACN out of the N350 million he promised to contribute.
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