The bid by Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo State, to be returned for a second term looks shaky as Kola Balogun, senator representing Oyo South, has sealed a deal to join the All Progressives Congress, APC.
This was just as indication emerged that the ticket of the APC has been conceded to Balogun, younger brother of Oba Lekan Balogun, Olubadan of Ibadanland.
Balogun had defeated late former governor Abiola Ajimobi and others in the 2019 election, paving way for the defeat of the APC in the governorship election.
Only last week, Muraina Ajibola, a third-term reps member and one of PDP’s four lawmakers in the green chambers, defected to the APC. With the latest development, APC now has all 3 senators and 11 out of 14 reps.
Credible sources told OYOINSIGHT.COM that a former governor and some influential Ibadan compound heads are behind his move. They are not happy with the way Balogun was treated.
This was just as this newspaper learnt that the national chairman of the APC, Abdullah Adamu was also instrumental to Balogun’s defection.
Balogun, a two-term former commissioner, had resigned his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, over Makinde’s refusal to return him. Joseph Tegbe, who recently joined PDP from APC, had been handed the ticket.
In an interview published by Nigerian Tribune yesterday, Balogun had said that his return to the senate was still active.
“Of course. My people of Oyo South are fully behind me. This crisis is no longer my problem. They have taken it up themselves. They have taken it up as their fight because they see it as injustice. Some have taken their argument further that assuming Kola Balogun has done something wrong, what about consideration for Kabiyesi? I am not even saying that is the way to go, I am saying merit should be considered and in this case, merit is not being considered,” he had said, explaining that “I will reveal my party in the coming days.”
Asked if it would be APC, he had noted “When we get to the bridge, we will cross it, saying “Yes, we will announce where we are going this week, by God’s grace.”
Balogun’s media aide, Dapo Falade, said he was not aware of his boss’ next move.
But in the interview, Balogun explained that the very reason he dumped the PDP “is the fact that PDP as a party, and especially the Oyo State chapter, is not being run the way a truly democratic party should be run. The PDP Oyo State chapter has more or less become an individual’s personal property. PDP, as a party in Oyo State, has become a platform which people are expected to run on, yet is being controlled from the bedroom or residential guest quarters of an individual, in this case, the governor of Oyo State. I feel that you get to a point in life where there are some things you should not tolerate. If as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I have to go through the informal leaders who reside in the leader’s residential quarters even to be able to have relationship with the leader, something must be wrong with the system. This is why most politicians end up being nomadic politicians. There is the reign of impunity everywhere; people’s opinions, positions are not respected by the party leadership. Basically, this is the reason most Nigerian politicians switch parties as often as you can get. So, I decided to dump the PDP, at this point, when it becomes clear that I should no longer tolerate the reign of impunity, lack of tolerance for democratic norms in PDP, Oyo State chapter.”
At what point did you begin to observe this impunity in the Oyo PDP? Was it when it became obvious that you won’t get a return ticket?
The reign of impunity has been on but the ticket thing is the final straw. Ordinarily, the Electoral Act requires that any political party that wants to field candidates for election should go for primaries. It is expected that a level-playing field be provided for direct, indirect primary or the so-called consensus. But, a situation where the most influential, powerful person in the party, in this case the leader of the party, will call the local government party chairmen to come and endorse aspirants nomination forms in this house yet promise is being made that you are providing a level-playing field, you could see that something is wrong with that system. A lot of people are stomaching these things because they don’t have a choice or they feel they should continue to tag along. Why did we have the kind of mass exodus of members that we had some days ago, a House of Representatives’ member is gone and I know a lot of other members are planning to leave the party. There are a lot of people that are yet to quit the party. Look at the list of those who defected the other day and I am aware that there are more to leave. There is lack of democratic ideals on the part of the leadership. It is not just the formal leadership but the governor and the informal leadership. We have a situation where even the governor’s janitorial staff members have become leaders of the party and they dictate the tune to the detriment of majority of members of the party.
But, there are those who argue that your candidature is not a strong one and that handing you a return ticket will not give PDP the desired victory in Oyo South senatorial district in the 2023 election.
I will leave you to do your own investigation. If the accusation is about non-performance, it would have been understandable. What else would have been the criteria to pick a candidate to run for election, especially those who are returning? What you will look at is their record of performance. My record of performance is there. You go to all the major markets in Ibadan land; go to Bodija market, Aleshinloye market, my footprints are all over markets and various communities in the district. Why do you think there is this groundswell of goodwill for me from the beginning of this crisis? There is no way anybody can convince anybody that the reason Kola Balogun should not be given the ticket is because he cannot win. What will make you win an election apart from your performance especially if you are a returning candidate? If it is not about non-performance, what else could it have been? I put out a statement about a week ago in which I reeled out my record of performance including my record of achievements and I also told the whole world what has been the real reason for the governor’s decision. The governor was put under pressure, although he was unyielding initially because he didn’t think it made sense. But, some individuals, especially the so-called informal leaders went to him and said, ‘how do you feel about giving the ticket to brother of Olubadan of Ibadan land?’ They said, the Olubadan is a powerful monarch and you want to give return ticket to his brother which will make them to be stronger and more powerful to contain. They asked, ‘do you know the implications?’ I have challenged the governor to contradict that statement. And if possible, to swear by the Holy bible. I don’t think he will do that because it is true. They kept putting pressure until he gave in.
You were an insider in your former party; you and some other members of the party have left. To what extent do you think the success of the party in 2023 election is threatened by exit of the likes of you?
When you have a party that has four members of the House of Representatives losing one and the one that is gone has two local government areas and Honourable Muraina Ajibola is a veteran in the business of election, you can comfortably assume that out of the nine local government areas in that district, you have already lost two before you start elections. Then, you have some respected party leaders like Yemi Aderibigbe, Demola Omotoso and the rest of them, then, you have the only Senator from the State leaving. If you recall when PDP lost the last time, some governors were going, you said no problem; senators were leaving, no problem. In this case, serving member of House of Representatives, serving Senator is leaving, you say no problem; some dignitaries are leaving, no problem; very soon, you will find out that there is a big problem that you may not be able to solve. The PDP, as it is now, may not be able to withstand the consequences of its action. I sympathise with a lot of leaders, members that are not happy, especially with regards to my situation. I know what they say; they are not happy because they saw it as an unnecessary twist. In politics, one false step can ruin your entire career. I wish them all the best.
