August 9 election: Osun spoils for epic political battle
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and its arch rival, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have August 9 to test their electoral strength in Osun State. IDOWU SAMUEL and SAHEED SALAWU write on issues that may determine the party that will carry the day.
In the beginning
In the South-West, Osun State is noted as the very hotbed of politics. Given its boisterous nature, politics in the state is unpredictable. It is full of theatrics and entertaining spectacles. Unlike other states in the zone where political godfathers give directions on where to follow, every political player in Osun State is a godfather of sort.
From the days of yore, Osun State has been a major player in efforts to edify the South-West as a place for progressive politics. The older generation of political players were patriots, very much loyal to the cause of the zone. That was when Chief Obafemi Awolowo was in the saddle as the Asiwaju of Yoruba land, as well as the overall political leader of the Western Region. Osun State had joined in fighting the cause of the defunct Action Group (AG) in the First Republic. It did same, though more emotively, in the Second Republic on the platform of Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).
Changing face of politics
With the return of democracy to the country in 1999, Osun State fully identified with the Alliance for Democracy (AD), described as the off-shoot of the AG and the old UPN. AD reigned for four years before the political machine of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) capitalised on general discontent with the AD administration in the state and dislodged it from power. In November 2010, the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), by means of a court judgment, took over the government of the state from the PDP.
By its disposition and style, the PDP, many political pundits believe, represents the conservative brand of politics, while the APC, in their judgment stands for the progressive ideology. There have been arguments among the electorate in Osun State as regards which of the two political parties has the firmer grip of the grassroots, just as leaders of the two parties had had cause to throw brick-bats several times at one another in efforts to convince the world that their respective parties had the grassroots. In the past three years, watchers of politics in the state have had the basis to scale the performances of PDP and APC on government matters, just as each observer reserves his judgment. The next governorship election in the state, scheduled to hold on August 9, will afford the electorate the opportunity to decide which of the two parties deserves to be in power.
PDP
Since the advent of APC in the state, the PDP appears to be in a quandary on the path to take in regaining the political power of the state. The PDP has since not been able to forge a common front to this effect as the major stakeholders preferred to operate independently. PDP leaders, from indications, only make efforts to work in harmony each time patronages are thrown from Abjua. For instance, all the juggernauts in PDP scamper each time for ministerial slots meant for Osun State, and in the process, end up bickering with bitter protests from disaffected candidates.
Hope blossomed for PDP in the state in 2012 when a former governor of the state, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, got elected as the National Secretary of the party. But much as the party would have savoured every opportunity arising from that post, the former governor was removed from office through a court process. Even
when the Court of Appeal declared his removal illegal, the situation has remained the same since then.
Of late, there have been reports on the preparedness of the PDP not to take things lying low with the APC on the coming election. Members of the party have started re-grouping according to their senatorial zones. In Osun Central, for instance, leaders like Prince Oyinlola, Alhaji Shuaibu Oyedokun, Dr Olu Alabi, Senator Kolawole Ogunwale, Chief Dosu Ladipo, Pastor Tunde Kajogbola, Mr. Jide Adeniji, Rev. Bunmi Jenyo and others have been on the ground coordinating the grassroots for the party. All the same, the Osun West is depending on leaders like Senator Isiaka Adeleke, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, Abdul Jelili Adesiyan, Senator Yinka Omilani, Honourable Patricia Olubunmi Etteh, Chief Lere Oyewumi, Senator Olasunkanmi Akinlabi, Chief Abiola Ogundokun and Barrister Funmi Lamuye to make the difference for the party in the coming election. The same goes for Osun East, where Chief Ebenezer Babatope, Hon. Wole Oke, Chief (Mrs) Olusola Obada, Senator Iyiola Omisore, Chief Francis Fadahunsi, Professor Wale Oladipo, Chief Dosu Fatokun and others have been standing sentinel for PDP in respect of the coming governorship election.
PDP aspirants
For now, the race for the governorship election in the state appears moderate unlike before. The last governorship election, which held in the state in 2003, witnessed the participation of a horde of contestants. As of now, only three aspirants have made open, their interests to run in the governorship race. Senator Iyiola Omisore, Senator Olasunkanmi Akinlabi, who is also a former minister and a one-time member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Woke Oke, are all eying the governorship seat. They have all long deployed their arsenals to gain a firm grip on the grassroots. With the new leadership at the national headquarters, the contestants will depend on hard work to get the governorship ticket of the party. Indications to this effect emerged when the national chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, declared lately that the era of imposition of candidates was gone in PDP.
However, to an average Osun person, the party is yet to show much seriousness in its quest to retake power in the state given the deep divisions it is afflicted with. The party is divided between loyalists of former governor Oyinlola and those of his former friend, Omisore. How the two gladiators settle their differences will largely determine the direction of things in the August election. This is especially so given Oyinlola’s tight grip of loyalty from civil servants, teachers and the traditional rulers in the state. These are critical sectors that always determine who rules and who does not reign in the state.
APC
It is obvious that APC Osun state has only one aspirant and that is the incumbent governor, Rauf Aregbesola. Since he came on board in the state, the governor has operated with the mindset that every day is an election day. Every step taken by the governor has been with high drama and trailed by controversies linked to his overt ambition to ‘rebuild’ the state. When he came up with an urban renewal plan for the state capital, the idea attracted criticisms on the basis that adequate compensations were not being paid to citizens whose structures were being demolished. Critics have also taken up the government of Aregbeshola on religious issues. There has been furore on the state policy on education which touched on religion, causing Christians in the state to protest several times on what they termed the anti-Christian initiatives of the government.
Projects of the state government have also come under criticism. The critics allege that the projects have left the state in huge, indefensible debt. The personality of Aregbesola too has been questioned by critics who felt that the governor was fond of making controversial remarks on politics.The Aregbesola government has diligently denied all the allegations describing them as antics of the opposition.
Nevertheless, members of APC in the state see the government as focused and determined in its efforts to modernise and change the face of the state. Attesting to this, the governor’s media aide, Mr Semiu Okanlawon, said the performances of Aregbesola in the state had been visible to every citizen of the state and the electorate would need no strong persuasion to vote massively for the governor’s return to power in August.
Okanlawon listed provision of sound education, health services, agricultural revolution, youths empowerment, urban renewal initiatives, rural development, laying of solid infrastructure across the state and general re-branding of Osun as an omoluabi state as parts of the government’s achievements to convince voters that Aregbesola had been a man of vision. He spoke of the intangible achievements by the government too. On that basis, he said the Aregbesola administration had brought a new consciousness to the youth in the state through human capital development linked generally to empowerment. All the initiatives by the governor, according to the media aide, had earned him robust local and international recognitions.
However, the state PDP is angry with Aregbesola’s government and has expressed conviction that it would ride on the crest of the alleged excesses of the government to win the coming election. The state chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Ganiyu Olaoluwa, berated the achievements ascribed to the state government.
According to him, “the APC government cannot claim to have instituted a sound educational policy when secondary school students are getting more engaged in cult activities and other acts of hooliganism.
“The APC government thrives in propaganda and has never convinced anyone about its seriousness to re-invent the state. Today, the state is indebted to the tune of N470 billion, whereas the government collects more than N3 billion allocation monthly from the Federation Account without being accountable. We are prepared to dislodge Aregbesola from power. Very soon, we will take his government to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for intervention on his vaunted claims.”
But an Ilesa-based clergyman, Pastor Olubisi Adefila, in an interview with Saturday Tribune, said the government of Aregbeshola could not be appreciated from a distance; critics must visit the state before making comments. He described the governor as a blessing to the state.
There are, at least, two other parties that have shown some measure of seriousness in dislodging both the PDP and the APC. These are the yet-to-be-registered Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), being promoted by the founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Dr Frederick Fasehun. The party has a former head of service to both Oyinlola and Aregbesola, Mr Segun Akinwusi, as its Osun State leader and governorship candidate. The party is very visible on the social media but needs much more than that to be seen as a real threat to the two giants – APC and PDP.
The Labour Party started with so much noise and promise about two years ago. However, apart from the declaration of intention to use its platform to be governor by a former Attorney-General under the Oyinlola administration and works/health commissioner in the Bisi Akande government, Mr Niyi Owolade, there has not been much effort at mobilising the electorate for the party in the state. There are also reports that the Labour Party could be having an understanding with one of the PDP aspirants.
Indications are very clear that Osun State will present an epic political battle for political watchers come August 9, according to the timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). While analysts contend that Aregbesola will be too hot for PDP to handle at the poll, the general impression in the PDP camp, as of today, is that his exit from power is already a done deal.
Whatever will happen, August 9 is just around the corner.
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