Crisis looms in Ondo APC as Kekemeke, Adetimehin lay claim to state chairmanship

An end appears not in sight in the crisis that has engulfed the Ondo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the party is rocked by leadership crisis over who should be the state chairman of the party. YOMI AYELESO writes.

Before the governorship election primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the run-up to the 26th November 2017 election in the state, the party was more united and formed a viable opposition to the then ruling People’s Democratic Party(PDP).

In the 3rd September 2017 governorship primaries, about 27 aspirants went into that election which was won by the incumbent governor of the state, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu. The election was alleged to have been manipulated in favour of the eventual winner (Akeredolu) which necessitated the non-acceptance of the results by some of the aspirants.
The trio of Segun Abraham, who was said to be the anointed aspirant of the National leader of the party and former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu; the Senator, representing Ondo North, Ajayi Boroffice, a professor, and a former legal adviser of the PDP, Olusola Oke, felt aggrieved and expressed their reservations against the results of the primary election.

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Trouble started in the party when Oke defected to the Alliance for Democracy (AD) with some leaders and contested the governorship election, while Abraham held to the court to challenge the primary election. The suit is still at the Federal High Court in Abuja. Abraham still believes he can reclaim his mandate from Akeredolu having come second in the contest.
The party went to the governorship election with a divided house as some of the leaders of the party and also a few notable aspirants worked and campaigned against the interest of the party. Against all odds, the party emerged victoriously and Akeredolu was sworn in as the 6th democratically elected governor of the state on 24th February 2017.

One would have thought the governor would be magnanimous in victory and embraced every member of the party after the election, but it was alleged that he was on a vendetta mission after his victory.

The state executive committee of the party (SEC) held a meeting in June 2017 and passed a vote of no confidence in the then chairman of the party, Isaac Kekemeke. He was suspended and subsequently a disciplinary committee was constituted to investigate him. The 3-man committee was headed by Abayomi Adesanya, the state publicity secretary; Saka Yusuf Ogunleye and Rasheed Badmus as secretary and member, respectively.

The committee indicted the chairman and recommended for his suspension over abuse of office and anti-party activities and installed the then deputy, Ade Adetimehin as the acting chairman of the party.
Political observers said the suspension of the chairman was allegedly masterminded by the state government over the allegations that he (Kekemeke) did not support him during the election.

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He was said to have worked for the candidate of the Alliance for Democracy in the said poll.
During the recent visit of Tinubu, the national leader of the APC to the residence of the leader of Pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Reuben Fasoranti in Akure, the Ondo State capital, a source who was at the meeting and pleaded anonymity while speaking with BD SUNDAY said Tinubu told Akeredolu he had forgiven him for all that happened during the build-up to the election and asked Akeredolu to forgive those who might have worked against his candidature within the party in the interest of the party.

The source said that the governor responded by saying the people involved in the anti-party activities would have to reapply to the party from their various wards before they could be accepted into the party.
The response, the source said, did not amuse Tinubu. However, six months after the suspension of Kekemeke, and few days after Tinubu’s visit to Akure, the suspended chairman presided over a stakeholders’ meeting that was attended by some leaders of the party across the 18 local government areas of the state.

Amongst those at the meeting were Senator Boroffice, the House of Representatives member representing Idanre/Ifedore Federal Constituency, Bamidele Baderinwa, and the Commissioner for Regional Integration in Osun State, Bola Ilori, who was the Director-General of a campaign for the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the 2016 governorship poll. At the meeting, a vote of confidence was passed on Kekemeke and declared him as the ‘Authentic’ chairman of the party. At the meeting, they equally declared that their faction is the ‘Authentic’ APC in the state.

The party leaders at the meeting unanimously agreed to grant unconditional amnesty to party members that express their grievances by contesting the 2016 governorship election on other parties’ platforms following the fallout of the party’s primary election and called for truce within all aggrieved members to forge common front at restoring the glory of the party in Ondo State in particular and Nigeria in general.
Kekemeke, while pledging their supports and loyalty to Tinubu as the leader of the party, called on all the major aspirants in the controversial primaries to close ranks in the interest of the party.

“We are specifically calling on Senator Boroffice, Segun Abraham and Olusola Oke to come out strong for APC henceforth, our disagreement is now in the past and it’s our collective duty to build a vibrant party,” the factional chairman said.
He further said: “Who is not proud to have Bola Ilori and the likes of Chief Aiyegbusi in our midst today? These are the conscience of the party the state has known for a long time; we are expecting Olusola Oke, Abraham and many other heavyweights of the party to join hands for the growth of our collective party.”

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“We are very conscious of the need to deliver more votes to President Buhari more than we did in 2015. Although we thank God that we still won the 2016 gubernatorial election, the huge reduction in the votes scored by APC in the election has taught us the need to bring everybody on board for the good of APC in Ondo State. Therefore, all members that left the party in annoyance or became less active in the party because of the fallout of the last gubernatorial election are hereby invited to return home to their party and are hereby granted unconditional amnesty with full rights and privileges as obtained before their brief departure,” Kekemeke said.

Also, Senator Boroffice said Kekemeke remained the state chairman of the party, describing as fake and fraudulent the letter said to have confirmed Ade Adetimehin from the National Secretariat of the party as the acting chairman.
The senator in a statement signed by his media aide, Kayode Fakuyi, noted that he had at no time left the APC and that the party is one in the state under the leadership of Kekemeke.

“In fact, the content of the fake letter has no constitutional backing. It reads more like an ordinary note than a party communication seeking to confer authority on anyone. It should also be noted that the National Chairman of APC has no such powers to direct any party official to author such letter. Only the National Executive Committee of the party has the powers to sack the state party chairman and appoint the acting chairman. It is on record that the NEC of our party has not considered the matter and the NEC has not taken any position on the matter. The letter is fake in its entirety,” he further said.

According to him, “Isaac Kekemeke remains the state chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Ondo State. If there is any allegation against the state chairman, the allegation should be investigated. However, nobody, no matter how highly placed, would be allowed to address such allegation with corruption and impunity. Fouling constitutional provisions of our dear party with an agenda to derive personal gains and satisfy bloated ego is corruption.”
He added: “The reported disciplinary committee-led by Omo’ba Abayomi Adesanya is unconstitutional. Aside from the fact that the committee breached the rules of fair hearing, the inauguration and composition lacked legality. The recommendations of such unconstitutional committee are null and void.”

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Meanwhile, Ade Adetimehin, the acting chairman of the party, has said the party would not allow the activities of some persons he described as disgruntled, seeking their parochial interest, to destabilise it.
Adetimehin, in a statement authored by Steve Otaloro, director of media and publicity of the party, noted that those who attended the said meeting had left the APC and that they are only bent on destabilising the party ahead of the 2019 general election.
“The party, under the leadership of Ade Adetimehin as acting chairman, is poised to consolidate on the political milestone achieved without their input. We shall not permit any distraction. The party leadership at the centre also acknowledges the stabilising role efficiently played by this loyal and dedicated leader, who has been directed to act as Acting Chairman of the party.

“Our Party, APC, has a constitution. It is also true that anyone wishing to join will be free to do so upon the fulfilment of some conditions precedent. It is disingenuous, fraudulent and disrespectful for a band of political wanderers, who hop from one platform to another to satisfy their whims and caprices, to hold themselves out as what they have ceased to be. The fact is notorious,” the statement further read.
Funso Omolere, a leader of the party, who spoke with BD SUNDAY, advised the national secretariat of the party to quickly set up a machinery towards resolving the crisis in the state chapter.

He expressed the fears that if the crisis is not properly handled; it would affect the party in future elections in the state.
“In 2003, the so-called Authentic AD members caused the late Adefarati’s second-time bid which he lost, and also in 2016 governorship election, the aggrieved PDP who formed a team and called themselves ‘Authentic’ PDP played a role that made PDP lose the election. Now, in 2017 we have another set of people calling themselves ‘Authentic’ APC and if care is not taken, the result of all these might be against the party,” Omolere said.
According to him, “This situation is sad and unfortunate that after 7 months of his suspension, Kekemeke is coming now with some people to lay claim to the leadership of the party. Where have they been all these days? I am suspecting some game plan. The leaders of the party must quickly do something before it turns out to be something else.”