Indication emerged on Tuesday that all is not well within the ranks and file of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) in Oyo state, the platform on which former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala is seeking a return to the Agodi government house come 2019.
After a laudable campaign flag off which held at the Jogor Centre, Ibadan, the state executive of the party denounced participating in the event on the ground of some allegations against the person of the party governorship candidate.
The state executive members told OYO INSIGHT that they decided to boycott the official presentation of candidates of the party at the event citing “highhandedness of the governorship candidate.”
Speaking with selected journalists at the party office, shortly after Akala flagged off the party campaign, the state party chairman, Mr Folaranmi Olanrewaju Owolabi accused the former governor of hijacking the party structure upon his joining the party.
He also accused the former governor of betraying the trust of the state executive members and the old members of the party in the allocation of tickets to aspirants for State House of Assembly and House of representatives.
Owolabi who was flanked by some chairmen of the party at the local government level said “We decided to boycott the programme held today (Tuesday) by the party’s flagbearer and the inauguration of campaign by our members today.
“Since his arrival, he has been operating as an independent candidate as if he does not belong to the ADP.
“With his cohorts, he has been making frantic efforts to hijack the whole structure of the party from us as if there was nobody in the party when they arrived. So, we have been nursing it for so long with maturity in order not to cause crisis in the party.
“The party was not notified of the exercise held at Jogor on Tuesday. They constituted not less than 11 different committees and the party was not informed. It was around two or three days ago that they sent an invitation to me as guest of honour at the programme. That is insulting and ridiculous. We know what is happening.
“They invited us as executive members and we decided to boycott the programme. Today we held a programme which had in attendance all members of the executive committee, 27 chairmen of local government and other senatorial leaders. It was a joint decision not to attend.
“Since Alao-Akala came, he has separated myself and my acting secretary. All our efforts to bring the Acting Secretary back proved abortive, so we suspended him not less than three weeks now. We copied the appropriate quarters informing them of the development.”
On the next line of action, Owolabi said the boycott of Tuesday’s programme is the first step, saying they have tried to save the face but has been pushed to the wall now.
He said they still have the interest of their people at heart, especially the old members who had signified their interest to contest election under the platform of the party but are now being denied by loyalists of the former governor.
He however called on well-meaning people in the society to intervene before the matter degenerates to a more irreparable level, saying they have made several efforts to salvage the situation before today but to no avail.
