Ladoja as leader of the PDP had nine substantive executive positions including the chairmanship slot, while the Senator Ayo Adeseun and Makinde’s groups shared three apiece.
Dotun Oyelade
Not since the fawning, cajoling, flattery and groping of General Ibrahim Babangida by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) that preceded the eventual presidential ticket and victory for Chief Moshood Abiola in 1993 has there been such deference and dissipation on a particular individual as accorded to Senator Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, by the National Executive of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and stalwarts at the state level.
By the close of July, I counted eight visitations to the Ondo Street, Ibadan, home of the former leader of the PDP in Oyo State by men from Wadata Plaza who came cap-in-hand and against all sense of fairness to appease him to accept the harmonisation formula and later to beg him not to leave the party.
It goes without saying that if visits from abroad were pervasive, local pilgrimages to appeal to his patriotic sense were uncountable. The good news is that Ladoja finally left for African Democratic Congress (ADC), leaving the door ajar for those who swore that they would never have anything to do with the PDP as long as he remains there.
The myth surrounding Ladoja has confirmed the fear that in politics, reality is often a victim of perception.
Ever since he won the gubernatorial election 15 years ago in 2003, Ladoja has gone ahead to lose two similar elections back to back in 2011 and 2015. If you add 2007 where he backed the incumbent gubernatorial election, then he has lost thrice in a row. In truth his party rallied some seats at the legislature and his departure is not needed at this point but the PDP can win without him.
With good reason, it has been pretty hard for outsiders to forget the famous impeachment saga, which catapulted him into a national hero of sort. Unlike Asiwaju Tinubu for instance, Ladoja failed to latch on to that momentous political event by building a wider, all-inclusive network. Rather, he found his space shrinking inexorably because he deliberately failed to develop a realistic succession plan.
That prolific and seminal writer, Festus Adedayo, in obvious bewilderment asked in his damning column last week aptly titled Why is Ladoja running from pillar to post?
“I have had to ask myself repeatedly why Ladoja would leave his PDP domain if indeed wrestling power from the ruling party in Oyo State is his ultimate ambition. That young man, Seyi Makinde, to my mind has given Ladoja all appurtenances (made himself less important and subdued before him) of party leadership except agree that he nominates the governorship candidate – using all manners of political wiles including tar-brushing Makinde…Ladoja, in spite of his spirited denials will run for Oyo governorship race by next year when he will be 76 years old.”
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Adedayo is proffering a popular suspicion among many including those milling around him who have the forlorn hope of climbing to the top through his back.
Indeed, Seyi Makinde’s almost slavish deference to Ladoja was embarrassing.
A solid and tough man to boot, Makinde explained away his seeming timidity of the old man: ‘’My father said don’t engage in a shouting match with an old man but stand on your conviction and say ‘no’ gently.’’
One day as the crisis over the harmonisation was flip-flopping crazily, Makinde asked without directing the question to anyone in particular: “What really is Daddy looking for?” Daddy? I asked and he responded: “Yes, Daddy Ladoja.” Then, I understood. Ladoja is 25 years his senior and his father’s age mate.
It was a germane question because if there was nothing else amiss, the harmonisation formula was the most realistic under the circumstance. For the benefit of those who were not too conversant with what led to the induced crises, this is a summary of what happened.
Ladoja as leader of the PDP had nine substantive executive positions including the chairmanship slot, while the Senator Ayo Adeseun and Makinde’s groups shared three apiece. All the parties including the National Working Committee agreed that this compromise was necessary and in the best interest of the party in the state.
It was after the inauguration of the state executive in Abuja and certificates of return issued to members and INEC duly informed about the authenticity of the state Exco members by the National Secretary of the party that Ladoja insisted that unless the state secretary was added to his list to make it 10, he would leave the party.
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Earlier, he had actively encouraged the man who was state secretary to go to court to challenge the harmonisation formula. The case was adjourned till September, which will be too late for the state congresses, their target for fighting to retain the position. In any case they shot themselves in the foot because with a litigation hanging, the NWC was further hamstrung to alter the harmonisation list.
To some of us who know him fairly well, Senator Ladoja’s subterfuge is not unexpected. It was autumn in England and I took liberty of the clement weather to look him up at his Madeville Court home in North West London in 2014.
Tayyip Erdogan was just sworn in as the Turkish President a month before. Over lunch I learnt that he was a big fan of Turkish politics as he spoke animatedly about the Kremlin-like politics of Turkey and why only the ruling party will continue to win any election in that country.
What he would do differently, he told me as I sipped my drink was to allow locals to freely elect their candidates in the coming Accord Party primaries. He did the very opposite. By December 30,2014, the last day for the submission of candidates’ list to INEC, he single-handedly picked his preferred ones and Accord submitted names of candidates many of them either unknown or unpopular. Protests erupted across the state and for the first time in his political career, Ladoja was demystified as he was publicly assaulted by his erstwhile admirers with the mob throwing stones at his home.
That political indiscretion of December 2014 cost Accord the gubernatorial election. Aspirants who were initially egged on by the five-man Ladoja political dynasty and have run into financial debts have not forgiven him till this day.
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*Oyelade is Director of Communication and Strategy, Seyi Makinde Organization
