From Oluseye Ojo Ibadan
Amid controversy, Isaac Omodewu, the former Oyo Commissioner for Land and Housing in the Abiola Ajimobi administration has emerged as the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
Omodewu emerged as the chairman through a consensus arrangement, which was affirmed at the state congress held at Obafemi Awolowo Stadium (Liberty Stadium) on Saturday. The exercise was witnessed by representatives of the Independent National Electoral Committee (INEC).
The congress was presided over by the secretary of the state congress committee, Abdullahi Bello, in the absence of the committee chairman, Gambo Lawan. The congress had been postponed four times over sharing formula for the state executive council and delegates’ list.
But the congress, which was supposed to commence by 10 am, did not start until about 4:30 pm., because aggrieved members of the party stormed the hotel, where Chairman of the State Congress Committee, Gambo Lawan, was lodged at Jericho, Ibadan and effectively prevented him from leaving the hotel for the venue of the congress.
When the congress committee did not show up at the venue of the exercise on time, more than 70 per cent of the delegates that came from the 33 local government areas of the state had left the venue. But some of them came back when they heard Lawan, as well as the Chairman of the Elders’ Advisory Committee (EAC), Adebayo Alao-Akala, and Senator Teslim Folarin, showed up at the stadium. But Lawan was not at the stadium.
But leaders and stakeholders within the party had on Saturday morning addressed a press conference at the Syndicate Room of Premier Hotel, Ibadan, where they told journalists that the state congress would not hold based on alleged falsified delegates’ list. They alleged that a serving senator and a former governor were responsible for the purported fake delegates’ list, insisting that if anything happened at the stadium, it must be a birthday party. They vowed that the state congress would not hold until an authentic and verifiable delegates’ list is provided.
The APC leaders at the press conference include Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare; Senator Ayoade Adeseun from Oyo Central; the party’s 2019 governorship candidate, Adebayo Adelabu; former Secretary to Oyo State Government, Sarafadeen Alli; three governorship aspirants of the party in 2019, Mogaji Joseph Tegbe, Dr Azeez Adeduntan, and Prof Adeolu Akande.
The list also comprises a former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Gunju Ojo; members of House of Representatives, Tolu Akande-Sadipe(Oluyole federal constituency) and Akeem Adeyemi (Oyo federal constituency); for chairman, Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Ayodeji Abass-Aleshinloye; as well as a former federal lawmaker, Folake Olunloyo-Oshinowo. A legal luminary, Chief Adeniyi Akintola, SAN, also sent a representative.
Although the leaders did not specifically mention any name other than a serving senator and a former governor, investigation, however, revealed that the only former governor in the party is Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, while a serving senator, who clocked another year on Saturday on the state is Teslim Folarin, currently representing Oyo Central in the Senate, and chairman, Senate Committee on Local Content.
Senator Adeseun, who addressed journalists at the Premier Hotel on behalf of the APC leaders, stated: ‘Some dubious people have inserted fake delegates into the list brought from Abuja. Normally, when you have written an examination, you need to get results to know if you pass or fail. We did the first congress, we did not get its result. We held the second one, no result. They kept them all. They brought them all together to us yesterday (Friday) for us to hold the state congress.
‘There is no way we will use falsified delegates’ list for the state congress. If they use the falsified delegates list to hijack party structure, can they use the same approach to win in the general elections?
‘Two people are behind this falsified, adulterated and fake delegates’ list. One serving senator and one former governor of the state. We think those who have attained such high positions should be trustworthy and reliable. But they are not. Party members and leaders in Oyo State are vehemently kicking against using such delegates’ list to conduct the state congress.
‘We are using this medium to appeal to the national leadership of our party, the suffering in Oyo State is too much. We don’t want to suffer again. The only way the suffering will not continue is to allow our party to conduct elections and win. Our party was in government for eight years and brought unprecedented development to the state. But with this step they are taking, they are working towards the defeat of the party.
The new state chairman of APC in the state, Isaac Omodewu, in his acceptance speech, said: ‘Today’s state congress of our great party signals the beginning of another chapter. I belong to no one, I belong to all members of our great party. My main tasks are to unite all tendencies within the party and to lead APC to victories in 2023 general elections and beyond.’