There is a crack within the Oyo State chapter of the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
Only few days after Sen. Monsurat Sunmonu led some members of the ADC to pass a vote of confidence on the Seyi Makinde administration, the secretary and publicity secretary of the party in the state, Mr. Wasiu Emiola and Mr. Bimpe Adelowo, has asked the governor to be wary of them.
OYOINSIGHT.COM recalls that the ADC is made up of five entities- Unity Forum, a breakaway faction of the All Progressives Congress, APC; Rashidi Ladoja’s faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; members of the Coalition Movememt of Nigeria, CMN; members of the Labour Party, LP; and those who initially peopled ADC.
This newspaper also recalled that Sen. Olufemi Lanlehin, who was the ADC gubernatorial candidate had, together with others, stepped down for Governor Seyi Makinde of the PDP to tackle Oloye Bayo Adelabu of the APC.
There were speculations that there was a sharing formula before the agreement to step down was cemented.
Makinde, upon assumption of office, would later set up a Governor Advisory Council, made up former political office holders. While Sunmonu and others accepted offers to be members of the council, Lanlehin opted out.
Saying that the group is only out to curry favour from the governor, they described them as a “ggroup of drowning political scavengers”.
The group warned Makinde to be wary of those it called sycophants milling around in the name of ADC to get appointments to satisfy their political desire.
Emiola and Adelowo respectively said the purported communiqué of the expanded state executive meeting of the party did not emanate from the party and did not reflect the deliberations at the meeting.
The statement said “ADC’s participation in the coalition government led by Governor Makinde had not in any way rendered the party a surrogate to another party, adding contrary to the claim in the communiqué by the group, ADC had been holding its meetings with a view to repositioning it for future elections.
“There was nowhere the state executive has ever misrepresented the position of ADC by saying we are looking for alternative to Governor Makinde. Our interest as a party is primarily about the serving the people of the state for their maximum benefit.
“This is one reason ADC is participating in the coalition government and we are in full support of every good programme initiated and implemented by Governor Makinde.
“However, we want to state that participating in the coalition government has not rendered ADC a surrogate to another party. We must, therefore, organise and rebuild our party make it viable and formidable to contribute meaningfully to the coalition government for the benefit of the people.
“We are not unaware of the fact that not every member of the coalition parties will be appointed for one position or another. But instead of putting Governor Makinde under pressure to accommodate every member, we would rather structure ADC to help the coalition government succeed.
“The era of the structure and organs of the party being controlled from the room corner of elders or leaders has gone for good. Leaders and elders are members of the party and are our invaluable assets. It is therefore important for our members to imbibe the principle of party supremacy,” the statement said.
While commending Governor Makinde for the strides recorded in key sectors of the state, ADC urged him to be wary of “sycophants who are out for political appointments for their insatiable appetite.”
