June 27, (THEWILL) – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced Saturday, July 16, 2022 as the date for the forthcoming governorship election in Osun State. The tenure of the current Governor of the State, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, will end on November 26, 2022.
According to the election time-table, which is available on INEC’s website, the conduct of party primaries, including the resolution of disputes arising from the primaries, is scheduled to take place between February 16 and March 12, 2022, while the last day for withdrawal by candidates and replacement of withdrawn candidates by political parties will end by April 8, 2022.
Election campaigns by political parties and their candidates will begin on April 17, 2022 and end on July 14, 2022.
The announcement of the date of the governorship poll has spurred the hitherto sleeping state into action. Politicians across the nooks and crannies of the state appear to have been awakened from slumber by the worsening insecurity across the country. Caucus meetings across party divides are already taking place and governorship aspirants, most of who have not made their intentions known to the public, are already set for a race that will determine who succeeds the incumbent governor.
There is no denying the fact that Governor Oyetola is constitutionally entitled to a second term of four years after his first tenure. Political analysts and watchers of political developments in the State of Living Springs, as Osun is called, believe the election will be a two-horse race between the candidates of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The question then is what is the state of the APC and that of the PDP in Osun? Considering that the election is still a full year away, what obtains now may still look like an early preparation, which may be upturned by events, intricacies and the manoeuvring which will take place between now and the election date.
All Progressive Congress
Governor Oyetola is from the APC. He defeated the PDP candidate in the last election, Senator Ademola Adeleke, by a narrow margin. Ordinarily, with the benefit of incumbency, the governor should emerge as the APC candidate and possibly win the election, but the APC in Osun is currently polarised due to an internal crisis. If not quickly resolved, the crisis may make the road to victory very rough for Oyetola and the party.
The division within the APC in the state is the fallout of a cold war between a former governor of the state and Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola and Oyetola .
This came into the open recently as the loyalists of Aregbesola formed a new group within the party. Tagged The Osun Progressives (TOP), the group is trying to position the Aregbesola camp for the forthcoming state congress of the party and the party’s primaries for the governorship election.
THEWILL gathered that mobilisation for the TOP across the state has been tremendous. Members of the group were seen in all the 30 local government areas of the state as it embarked on a mission to sensitise the people to its goals and agenda for Osun.
The leaders of the group have already accused the Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee in the state, Prince Gboyega Famodun, an ally of Governor Oyetola, of running the party unilaterally.
The group also expressed the opinion that Famodun’s tenure at the helm of the committee had seriously affected the unity of the party, noting that he displayed a similar attitude in 2018, which almost cost the party victory in the last governorship election.
The Chairman of TOP, Adelowo Adebiyi, said the group was formed to ensure that the APC does not suffer electoral loss in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
It was gathered that notable politicians who formed TOP include the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti; a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Lasun Yusuf; a former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Najeem Salam and Comrade Gbenga Awosode.
Speaking with THEWILL, Adebiyi also said TOP was formed to ensure that nobody would be imposed on the party both in the forthcoming congress of the party and the governorship primaries.
“What we stand for is that whoever will emerge as the leader of the party in the state and governorship candidate must be elected by members of the party, not imposed on us.
“We are not saying that Famodun should not contest for the Chairmanship of our party, we are saying that he must not be imposed.
“As we speak, Famodun is at war with his two predecessors, the current deputy and secretary, the minister and other notables in the party. He cannot tell the difference between monarchical inheritance and a democratic organisation, where multiple interests are aggregated to ensure the good of all, which is the essence of a political party”, Adebiyi further said.
A political commentator, Samuel Odewoye, told THEWILL that the crack within the APC might manifest and show the way the party would go after its congress.
He said, “The earlier the party closes rank, the best for it. Most of the people in TOP are grassroots politicians in the state and they were Aregbesola’s foot soldiers when he was governor.
“Sidelining such a group of individuals may cost the incumbent a second term in office. Oyetola needs to close ranks with Aregbesola and give political appointments to his group for him to have an easy ride to a second term”.
But speaking with THEWILL, the Director of Publicity in Osun APC, Kunle Oyatomi, said, “APC is one of the political parties that will participate in the governorship election next year. We are overwhelmed by the support we are getting from all the corners of this state. This shows that the APC is cruising to victory, even before the election.
“What can the PDP in particular campaign for or say against our able Governor Oyetola. The governor is not in Bola Ige’s House for nothing. He has touched the lives of many people. And it can be corroborated. It is evident that he is prepared to work. We thank God that we have him and we know we will win”.
Peoples Democratic Party
The situation in the Osun State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party is not better than what obtains in the APC.
In Osun State, two men are laying claim to the chairmanship of the party. The chairman of the party, Soji Adagunodo, was removed, following a vote of no confidence passed on him by the other executive members and their decision was ratified by the National Working Committee, (NWC) which suspended Adagunodo.
The new chairman, Sunday Bisi, is backed by the NWC. Adagunodo went to challenge Bisi’s appointment in court and he got a judgment from the Osun State High Court in Ikirun reinstating him.
It was further gathered that another court in the state affirmed Bisi as the Chairman.
So, in Osun, Adagunodo and Bisi are both laying claim to the chairmanship of the PDP. It was, however, gathered that the newly elected South-West Executive of the party is already making moves to unite its members in the state and resolve the leadership tussle.
When THEWILL contacted the South-West Zonal Secretary of the party, Rahman Owokoniran, he said that reconciliation efforts were ongoing and successful. “We don’t have any problem, reconciliation is ongoing and we don’t have any fear concerning the election”, he said.
In his reaction, a chieftain of the party, who craved anonymity, said, “Osun State is a PDP State. You know what happened in 2018. PDP won the election, but the APC manoeuvred the results through what it called supplementary elections. The PDP is going to win the forthcoming governorship election. The APC is like a leprous hand now. You can see the situation they have put us. Nobody will vote for such a party again.”
It is rumoured that the defeated candidate of the party in the 2018 governorship election, Senator Ademola Adeleke, is still nursing the ambition of ruling the state and may seek the party’s ticket in the 2022 election. Adeleke, a younger brother of billionaire Deji Adeleke, is believed to have the financial muscle to ‘fight’ whoever emerges from the APC.
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.
