Ogbomoso South APC Chairmanship: Setting the records straight | By Hon ‘Diran Alao ‘Adex’
Ogbomoso South APC Chairman: Setting the records straight
The Ward and Local Government Congresses of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), were held peacefully across the federation. Ogbomoso South Local Government Area in Oyo North Senatorial District was no exception. In the lead-up to the exercise, major stakeholders in the local government came together to form a committee tasked with producing a harmonised executive list from the ward to the local government level. This committee was carefully composed to reflect all tendencies, factions, and caucuses within the party.
Members of the committee included Hon. Ademola Olateju (SDP), former member of the Oyo State House of Assembly; Hon. Wale Adeleke (Akala Group), former Chairman of Ogbomoso South LGA; Hon. Adedeji Adeyemo (BAF Group), former Chairman of Ogbomoso South-West LCDA; Hon. Sunday Adedeji (Accord Returnee Group), former Chairman of Ogbomoso South LGA; and Mr Kehinde Olapade (Halleluyah-PDP Group).
The committee met several times and successfully produced a harmonised list for both the ward and local government congresses. All parties involved reached a consensus. But as the saying goes, you can’t have peace when the bastard within grows restless. Hon. Sunday Adedeji, in his usual cocky and incorrigible manner, rejected what was unanimously agreed upon and allotted to the group he represents, insisting he wanted the position of Local Government Secretary, which had been ceded to the Akala Group. Mind you, he was part of the committee that agreed to this sharing formula.
Below is the agreed list and the proportional distribution of positions among the groups:
Chairman – BAF
Vice Chairman – Accord
Secretary – Akala
Assistant Secretary – Halleluyah PDP
Women Leader – Accord
Assistant Women Leader – BAF
Youth Leader – Halleluyah PDP
Assistant Youth Leader – Akala
Financial Secretary – Halleluyah PDP
Assistant Financial Secretary – BAF
Auditor – SDP
Assistant Auditor – BAF
Welfare Secretary – Akala
Assistant Welfare Secretary – BAF
Organising Secretary – SDP
Assistant Organising Secretary – Accord
Treasurer – Accord
Assistant Treasurer – Halleluyah PDP
Publicity Secretary – BAF
Assistant Publicity Secretary – Akala
Legal Adviser – BAF
Assistant Legal Adviser – Akala
Person Living With Disability – Akala
Ex-Officio I – BAF
Ex-Officio II – Accord
Ex-Officio III – Halleluyah PDP
Ex-Officio IV – SDP
Percentage breakdown: BAF Group – 30%, Akala Group – 25%, Accord Returnee – 20%, SDP Group – 10%, Halleluyah (PDP) Group – 15%.
A quick glance at the above confirms the fairness and inclusivity of the arrangement. No group was sidelined; every caucus had representation in the local government executive.
On the day of the Local Government Congress at Ijeru Baptist Day School, Ijeru, nominations were about to be formalised when Hon. Sunday Adedeji excused himself on the pretence of retrieving something from his car. Instead, he eloped with the harmonised list. The remaining committee members and state party representatives, Alhaji Nageri Kamaldeen and Mr Sunday Gbadebo, immediately alerted the highest political officeholder from the local government, Senator Fatai Omotayo Buhari, who represents the Oyo North Senatorial District at the upper legislative chamber.
The senator swiftly convened an emergency stakeholders’ meeting at his Ibapon residence. Present were Chief M.A. Fashola, Dr Samson Adegoke, Mrs Deborah Oyelade, Hon. Adeoba, Hon. Sunday Adedeji, Mr Jokotoye, Hon. Abiodun Adeyemo, Hon. Wale Adeleke, Hon. Ademola Olateju, Mr Tunde Oloyede, and several other party faithful. At no point during that meeting was there any discussion about changing the chairmanship nominee. The consensus was simple: the already agreed harmonised list should be submitted to the Congress committee from Ibadan, or an Option A4 process should be adopted. Adedeji, Jokotoye, and their followers promised to send their nominees but never did. Calls were ignored. After endless waiting, the harmonised list, duly signed by all known stakeholders in Ogbomoso South, except Sunday Adedeji, was submitted. Notably, their allotted positions remained unfilled in the submission sent to the state party office at Oke-Ado. Evidence is available in this regard.
Now, banking on a back-channel relationship with someone from the Surulere Local Government Area. Names duly agreed upon were swapped with their preferred candidates. This explains why they have been strutting around with their shoulders held high even before the announcement and swearing-in of the local government party executives, declaring that one Jide Leke is the new chairman.
It is laughable that a handful of individuals, operating as nameless stakeholders, now presume to dictate the party leadership in the backyard of a sitting three-term senator.
Resorting to cheap political point-scoring and vendetta, these unknown entities have tagged themselves stakeholders without the decency to make their identities public. It is disgraceful. It is absurd. These are enemies of progress who never stand for peace within the party but thrive on fractions and confusion to undermine constituted party hierarchy.
I am challenging Adedeji and the cohort to be bold enough to mention the names of their so-called stakeholders from whom they drew the names on the congress list they are circulating around.
In light of these developments, it is imperative that the party leadership at the state level step in to redress and correct the misinformation being spread around. What started as a transparent and inclusive process won’t be allowed to be hijacked by individuals who prioritise personal ambition over party unity.
Ogbomoso South deserves better than a leadership imposed through subterfuge and backroom deals. The voices of genuine stakeholders who have laboured for the party and understand the value of fairness cannot be silenced by a few desperate men clutching at power they did not earn.
The harmonised list duly signed by all recognised stakeholders and leaders of the All Progressives Congress in the Ogbomoso South Local Government Area supersedes whatever evil manipulation by Adedeji and his shenanigans. Such things will never stand the test of time and have already failed necessary litmus tests.
The truth, as always, will prevail!
Hon. ‘Diran Alao (Adex),
Akata Ward 01,
Ayegun, Ogbomoso,
Ogbomoso South Local Government Area.
