February 27, (THEWILL) – The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has successfully elected Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State as its candidate for the July 16, 2022 governorship election.
However, the battle for who will emerge as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the governorship election is getting messier by the day.
The ward congresses to pick the Ad-hoc delegates to the primary already scheduled for March 7, 2022 turned bloody last Wednesday across the state.
Osun State Police Command confirmed the death of one Toheeb Mutalib of Ward 14 in Iwo Local Government Area of Osun State during the ward congresses of the PDP in the state.
Besides, another person was reportedly killed during the same exercise at Ipetumodu in Ife North Local Government Area of the state.
The two factions of the party led by Hon. Sunday Bisi and Barrister Wale Ojo had locked horns in a struggle for supremacy across all the 332 wards in the state before the congresses fixed for Wednesday.
It was gathered that loyalists of the two camps tackled themselves at the wards with the aim of having their candidates emerge as delegates for the forthcoming PDP governorship primary election in the state.
The State Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC), Emmanuel Ocheja, stated that the command in collaboration with other sister security agencies were able to put the situation under control and quickly restored normalcy in the affected areas.
All the six aspirants cleared by the National Working Committee of the party – Senator Ademola Adeleke; his nephew, Bamidele Adeleke; a former Secretary to the Osun State Government, Fatai Akinbade; Oyedotun Babayemi Akinlade Ogunbiyi; and Omirin Emmanuel Olusanya are going round the state to lobby leaders for support. Intrigues and political maneuvering are in top gear.
One of the aspirants, Ademola Adeleke who is been backed by one of the factional chairmen, Sunday Bisi is said to have discovered that the former Governor of Osun State and former National Chairmanship aspirant, Chief Olagunsoye Oyinlola, is not supporting his ambition and this has led to some skirmishes in the party in the state.
The internal crisis within the Osun State PDP took another dimension penultimate Sunday when all party members from all the 15 wards of Odò Otin Local Government Area trooped out in their hundreds to express their grievances on the recent harassment of their leader, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, by supporters of a governorship aspirant.
The party members frowned at the ugly incident which they said happened when Prince Oyinlola visited members of the committee from the national headquarters of the party in Abuja at Laim Hotel in Osogbo.
They accused a factional chairman of the party, Hon. Sunday Bisi, one of the party’s aspirants for the party, Senator Ademola Adeleke and Deji Adeleke to be the brains behind the harassment and condemned the act they described as disgusting.
“We also referenced our leaders like Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun, Senator Olu Alabi, Erelu Olusola Obada and others and we will go all out to refuse their being embarrassed by whosoever,” the protesters said.
The PDP members were armed with placards with various inscriptions, such as “We will resist all attempts by anybody to rubbish our leaders”, “They are elders of honour with impeccable character” and “We shall not take it lightly with who attacks Oyinlola.”
The protesters who converged on Okuku Palace Square beside the community town hall around 2 pm equally displayed leaves to express their displeasure with the development.
While addressing the gathering, Hon. Lekan Oyediran, a former member of the state House of Assembly said, “Our leader was attacked in Osogbo while visiting the committee sent by the national headquarters. By the time he was about to drive in there, a faction of the PDP led by Adeleke, sponsored an attack on him.
“If not for the quick intervention of security agents, only God knows what would have happened. Oyinlola is a person that has respect for elders. That is why they asked us to allow peace. Officials initially offered to help but when the number of able-bodied citizens at the centre increased, they left us unattended to.
“Nobody has a monopoly of violence. The National Working Committee must be unbiased. Our elders must be respected. Senator Ayu should not follow the step of the disgraced Secondus.”
In her own speech at the programme, a community leader, Deaconess Funmilayo Adebisi, remarked, “We are protesting because of the harassment of our leader in this local government and Osun state, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
“Some days ago, they attacked him and we are so furious about it. This man has been so good to so many people, even those that attacked him. He has been helpful to them in one way or the other.
“We want the Inspector-General of Police to look into it and make sure that the perpetrators are brought to book. We know that the attack was sponsored by Ademola Adeleke, Deji Adeleke and their cohorts.”
Also speaking, Alhaji Rasaq Oyelami said, “All traditional rulers and people of this local government condemn the attack on our leader. When they have not voted delegates that will elect the governorship candidate, there shouldn’t be an attack on anybody. They called him a thief and a betrayer what did he steal from them?”
A faction in the Osun State chapter of the PDP, supported by Senator Ademola Adeleke, has equally staged a peaceful protest in Osogbo over Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde’s alleged meddling in the affairs of the party.
The protesters bore placards with inscriptions, such as ‘Seyi Makinde please keep off affairs of Osun PDP,’ ‘Give NWC breathing space to run affairs of the party,’ among others, were led to the party-state secretariat by ex-chairman, Irewole local government, Dr. Lere Oyewumi.
Similarly, a chieftain of PDP in Osun State, David Ayodele Asalu spoke against the campaign of calumny targeted at Senator Adeleke.
He said “Those who want our Party (PDP) to fail in the upcoming election are busy spewing falsehoods against Senator Adeleke and igniting a crisis that will make it impossible for us to focus
Speaking with THEWILL, the South-West Secretary of the party, Mr Rahman Owokoniran, said the heat generated was expected.
He said, “We are doing everything to ensure peace but you will expect such complaints from the aspirants. Each of them knows they are very close to be the Osun State Governor. As a party we will ensure peace and tranquility in the state”.
The governor of Osun State is elected using a modified two round system. To be elected in the first round, a candidate must receive the plurality of the vote and over 25% of the vote in at least two-thirds of state local government areas. If no candidate passes this threshold, a second round will be held between the top candidate and the next candidate to have received a plurality of votes in the highest number of local government areas.
About the Author
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
