Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Three of the leading opposition political parties in Oyo State on Saturday evening adopted the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Oluseyi Makinde, as the consensus candidate to stand against the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Adebayo Adelabu.
The parties that were said to have adopted Makinde are the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Alliance for Democracy (AD) and PDP. The meeting was held at the residence of a former governor of the state, Senator Rashidi Ladoja in Bodija, Ibadan, on Saturday evening.
A meeting was earlier held in the afternoon but it was adjourned till evening to allow further consultation. Another meeting was said to have been fixed for Monday.
Briefing journalists at the end of the meeting at about 7:20p.m, the governorship candidate of SDP, Mr. Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN) said: “The state is moving forward. We are very happy with the development. Oluseyi Makinde is here and he’s smiling. I am here, I am smiling. Some of our other colleagues are possibly still with their caucus, and I believe they are also smiling.
“The outcome of our meeting is that we are moving forward. We in the Social Democratic Party, have resolved to work with the People’s Democratic Party in Oyo State, and we shall be supporting Seyi Makinde.”
Fielding questions on whether the parties in the coalition would collapse their structure into the PDP, Ayorinde answered: “The parties remain the same. They remain the parties that they are. But for the governorship election on March 9, we have all resolved to work with the candidate of the PDP.”
On the numbers of opposition parties that have adopted Makinde Ayorinde stated: “Do you know how many political parties are operating in Oyo State? There are so many of them. So, we have an open book and we are expecting more people to join. For now, if I say five, by the time we finish, we may be seven, we may be eight by the time I finish talking to you.”
Makinde told journalists at the end of the meeting that the proposed coalition “is an open book. People are free to plug in. SDP has declared before now and Alliance for Democracy (AD) has declared before now, and they have been working with us.”
He explained that other opposition parties that have not adopted any consensus candidate must have been consulting with their people, saying: “We understand that they are still meeting with their caucuses. It is an open book; maybe tomorrow, maybe a day before the election, they will also come out. We believe everything is open.”
Asked if he was perturbed that the initiator of the proposed coalition to form a government of unity, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, a former governor of Oyo State and the governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), had dumped them, and decided to work with the governorship candidate of the APC, Makinde responded: “It is a free world and I believe this election is between the godfathers and the masses. I can tell you clearly that the masses will prevail.”
But the Chairman of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), in the state, Mr. Wole Abisoye, told journalists that his party was part of the proposed coalition, but ZLP had not adopted any candidate, saying: “The meeting was inconclusive and we have adjourned till Monday. When we meet, we will decide.
“The coalition meeting for this evening was inconclusive. My party, the ZLP has not endorsed any governorship candidate. Bolaji Ayorinde, who spoke, to the press, spoke on behalf of his party, the SDP.”
The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, who was at the proposed coalition meeting on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon refused to grant an interview. But he did not come to the meeting held on Saturday evening.
A former governor of the state, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, spoke on his assessment on the level of progress in the coalition saying: “I am not a key stakeholder. I am just a father to all of them.”