The fact that the national leadership of the party did not allow the result of the primary to be announced for a couple of weeks proved that there was a lot of issues that needed to be addressed, to avoid re-occurrence of their 2011 experience.
Now that GNI, as fondly called, has become the flag bearer of the party, the next challenge is how to face the incumbent governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, and defeat him. This is a great challenge, looking at some of the advantages the governor has and the ongoing internal crisis rocking the party that prides itself as the biggest in Africa.
It would be recalled that eight of the eleven PDP governorship aspirants boycotted the primary based on the alleged initial directive by the national leadership that the election should not be held until they got directive to do so.
Among the top contenders for the party ticket, who did not participate in the primary included former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, former Minister of Power and Steel, Alhaji Sarafa Tunji Ishola and the erstwhile Chief of Staff to ex-Governor Gbenga Daniel, Chief Yomi Majekodunmi.
The issue of who the party’s candidate for the next election between Bankole and Isiaka has been put to rest by the state Chairman of the party, Adebayo Adedayo. Speaking in an interview with Daily Sun shortly after the party’s meeting on Sunday, the PDP boss said since the national leadership of the party has approved the election of Isiaka as the party flag bearer; that has put an end to all the controversies over the possibility of Hon. Dimeji Bankole getting the party’s ticket.
According to him, all these controversies have been ended, adding that since Isiaka’s candidacy has been finally approved, the party is looking forward to defeating the incumbent Governor Amosu in 2015.
Indications are emerging that these aggrieved PDP stalwarts who are mostly of Egba extraction from Ogun Central Senatorial District may defect to another party or stay inside the PDP and work against it in the next election because of alleged hijacking of the party machinery by the Kashamu Buruji faction of the party. Buruji is said to be having all his men in control of the leadership of the party in the state and all the elected candidates are mostly Buruji and Daniel’s supporters. These two leaders of the party are from Ogun East Senatorial District.
Amosun is an Egba man, as former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Obasanjo with his supporters in the PDP might have pledged their support for the governor. Consequently, political observers are saying that the PDP governorship aspirants and their supporters may move out of the party since they are already losing out. Isiaka is a Yewa man from Ogun West Senatorial District. And this tribal factor has brought strong opposition against Daniel from party leaders who are of Egba extraction when it was obvious to them that he was working towards actualising Yewa agenda. The mantra now is either, “Yewa Lokan (it is Yawa’s turn) to produce governor or “Yewa Lokan Sugbon Egba L’oma se”, meaning it is Yewa’s turn but it is the Egba that will do it.
While Daniel was trying to prove that he was still the governor with all the power of incumbency, the Egba are more at an advantage politically in the state with long history of political influence. This, they proved as the crisis continued and became complex, so much that it affected Daniel’s administration badly in the past. This tribal factor that got to the level in which Obasanjo allegedly divided the Yewa people by endorsing Gen. Tunji Olurin, knowing very well that the man did not have sufficient acceptability at home unlike Isiaka who they preferred. Eventually, this tore PDP apart that the Daniel faction of the party had to opt out of PDP to form another party. Obasanjo was suspected to be supporting Olurin openly but supporting Amosun of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN), secretly. It was after the PDP lost and Amosun who is Obasanjo kinsman from Owu, won that some political observers began to see the game, especially when he had to gate-crash to attend Amosun’s thanksgiving service. That game has started again.
Apart from these hurdles, the PDP and its flag bearer will still have to face the serious challenge how to sell their party’s programme and candidate to the people of Ogun Central who strongly believe that Amosun has tried a lot in the areas of urban renewal and infrastructural development.
The party will also have to work seriously in allaying the fear of Ogun people on the ability of its government to provide adequate security and reduce crisis which they believe marred the past administration compared with the present.
However, the inability of the incumbent governor to resolve the crisis that rocked his party for three years until the likes of Chief Segun Osoba, Amosun’s deputy, Prince Segun Adesegun and other party stalwarts, senators and House of Representatives members had to opt out to form another party-Social Democratic Party (SDP). This development is making many observers to express fear that what happened to Daniel in his second term may reoccur and affect the state badly.
While they are saying Daniel has learnt from his mistakes and now trying to put things right, his old friend, Amosun, is said to be making the similar mistake which they said may affect his second term chance. The PDP is said to be capitalizing on this to ensure Amosun does not get the second term mandate.
However, it needs to be added that Amosun was once a PDP man and in same camp with all the people who matter in the party before things fell apart. He knew the PDP game and their winning strategies. And this is a reality that the party and its candidate will have to face, thereby change its tactics and strategies if they do not want what happened to them in 2011 to repeat itself.
(The Sun)
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