In what seems like a political hide and seek game which has strong colouration of desperation ahead of the February 16, 2019 presidential election, President Muhammadu Buhari of All Progressives Congress (APC) endorsed two persons – Dapo Abiodun of APC and Adekunle Akinlade of Allied People’s Movement (APM) as governorship candidates in Ogun state.
Recall that both Akinlade and Abiodun separately contested APC primaries in Ogun state during the last nationwide primaries of the party in which Akinlade emerged winner of Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s faction of APC while Abiodun was declared winner of Segun Osoba’s faction but the APC national working committee upheld the primaries that produced Dapo Abiodun as governorship candidate of the party.
The political scenario which produced Dapo Abiodun as against Adekunle Akinlade as the authentic candidate was however described by the Governor Amosun’s faction as a day light robbery and prompted them to defect to newly created political party -Allied People’s Movement (APM) where Akinlade was given mandate as governorship candidate.
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Since then the two rival political parties have been enmeshed in endless political war to outwit each other ahead of 2019 general elections as ex-governor Segun Osoba leads Dapo Abiodun governorship campaign among other party leaders just as Governor Amosun, though subtly, leads Adekunle Akinlade governorship campaign.
The political scenario now creates room for APM members to see themselves as APC or vice versa, which prompted some members of Akinlade group in APM to declare support for Governor Amosun’s bid to go to the Senate in Ogun central senatorial district on the platform of APC and President Muhammadu Buhari’s reelection.
The new twist crept into the scenario when President Muhammadu Buhari endorsed Dapo Abiodun in company of Segun Osoba at the Aso Rock Villa as APC governorship candidate in Ogun state on Friday, December 28th, 2018 for which Osoba boasted that Abiodun is the only candidate adopted as governorship candidate.
But, barely ten days to purported political endorsement of Abiodun, President Buhari also endorsed Abiodun Akinlade of APM as governorship candidate in Ogun state, bringing the number of his candidates that will jostle for the seat to two.
For Amosun’s faction in APM it was a jubilation across the state, but for the electorate, it looks like confusion as the people wait for real political direction to follow.
Meanwhile, the Dapo Biodun Campaign Organisation (DACO), has raised alarm over what it described as “planned smear campaign and violent attack against the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prince Dapo Abiodun.”
In a media release made available to journalists on Sunday, the Spokesperson to Prince Dapo Abiodun, Remmy Hazzan, alleged that there is a “planned attempt to increase smear campaign against our candidate and attack his convoy”.
The spokesman said in the release that: “As we plan to start our local government tour from Ijebu North East Local Government on Monday, January 7, 2019, it has become necessary to inform the general public that intelligence at our disposal, reveals plans from certain quarters not only to heighten smear campaign against our candidate, Prince Dapo Abiodun MFR, but to also attack his convoy as we move round the state with our teeming supporters.”
“We want to let the public know that our campaign organisation, as promised from onset, has continued to run decent and issue-based campaign with zero tolerance for violence. We therefore find it appalling and alarming that some desperate politicians with their known sponsor and collaborators, are planning devilish acts against a decent candidate who is only offering to use his wealth of experience and established connections in the service of our dear state in order to take Ogun State to greater heights”, the statement added.
“Our schedule of tour was carefully selected and copies of same were sent to the security agencies in advance. We will never take the voters for granted. We want to continue to meet, talk to, and interact with Ogun voters and sell the vision and programmes of our party and candidates to the Ogun voters without intimidation, harassment or coercion”.
“We are also aware of the plan by the State Government to dissolve some elected local government administrations across the state, whose Chairmen and Councilors have insisted that they remain in APC and have refused to work against the party on whose platform they were elected in the first place”.
“In the last few weeks our party members in various wards in Ogun State have suffered serious harassment, persecution, forceful take-over of our secretariats at wards and local government levels, and the dubious re-painting of such in the colours of the Allied People’s Movements with the backing of people in government. Party offices and assets have been destroyed and our campaign materials have been continuously destroyed all over the state, especially in Abeokuta. We have continued to document and report these provocative and violent acts to the police authorities, who seem to be helpless. The current level of intolerance and impunity has never been witnessed in the history of electioneering since the creation of Ogun State in 1976.”
“We are using this medium to call on all the security agencies not to be dissuaded from their constitutional duties for any reason whatsoever and by anybody, whosever.”
