Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State is yet to declare his interest to seek re-election, but Assistant Editor, ‘Dare Odufowokan, reports that groups and individuals within and outside his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) are daily endorsing him for second term even as ruling party is engulfed by an internal crisis.
Osun State governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, is yet to declare his intention to run for a second term during the next governorship election in the state, but prominent political leaders and opinion leaders across the state are already drumming support for the ambition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governor. This is just as the leadership crisis rocking the ruling party in the state refuse to abate. Just last week, the elders caucus of the ruling party in the state waded into the crisis and announced the suspension of a former acting Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Lowo Adebiyi, from its midst.
In a communique issued at the end of the monthly meeting of the caucus and signed by Sola Akinwumi, the chairman of the body, the elders accused Adebiyi of promoting division in the party. Recall that Adebiyi had issued a statement as Chairman of a group known as The Osun Progressives (TOP) appointing Aregbesola as BoT Chairman of the group, a move Osun APC Chairman, Prince Gboyega Famodun declared as illegal. Members of TOP, who are also chieftains of the ruling party, had been at loggerheads with the leadership of APC, and by extension, the Oyetola administration in the state.
In an unexpected twist, the elders’ caucus passed a vote of confidence on Governor Oyetola’s administration and formally endorsed him for another term in office. “This body passed a vote of confidence in the administration of His Excellency, Alhaji Isiaka Adegboyega Oyetola as Governor of Osun State and to the party leadership under Prince Gboyega Famodun as the State Party Chairman in Osun State. That this body re-affirmed her support for Governor Oyetola’s Second term ambition. The body enjoined every member of our party to remain committed, loyal and resolute towards strengthening of our party in Osun state,” the elders said.
The move, according to observers of the politics of the state, is a direct message to members of the party on the position of the caucus ahead of the 2022 governorship election in Osun state. “Igbimo Agba is more or less the apex leadership of the APC in Osun state. Up unitl this now, the elders have been unaligned in the struggle for the control of the party between the two groups made up of loyalists of the governor and those of his predecessor, Rauf Aregbesola.
“But with this open endorsement of Oyetola while the Aregbesola camp is still kicking against the governor’s re-election plans, chieftains and members of the APC in the state appeared to have been told in clear terms what the topmost echelon of the party would prefer in 2022. As it is, it will be difficult for any other aspirant to snatch the APC ticket from the grips of the incumbent governor. The Agba Osun’s endorsement will go a long way in ensuring his emergence as the party’s gubernatorial candidate once again,” Comrade Wande Ademiluyi, State Coordinator of the Coalition for Good Governance (CGG) said.
The APC elders are not the only one who feels it is time to take a categorical position on the most discussed issue in Osun state for now, Oyetola’s second term ambition. Barely a week after Igbimo Agba Osun’s open endorsement, Oyetola’s bid for a second term in office got another boost, this time, from outside the party. He got the endorsement of members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the state. In clear terms, the transport unionists told other politicians eyeing the seat that there is no vacancy in Osun Government House just yet. Thousands of the NURTW members thronged the Mandela Freedom Park in Osogbo to declare their support for the governor, describing him as an extraordinary leader.
