On a quick one, toward the build-up to the 2019 governorship election in Oyo state, former Governor Abiola Ajimobi, now of the blessed memory, played a diplomatic game of bringing together late former governor Adebayo Alao Akala and Sen. Teslim Folarin into the fold of All Progressives Congress, APC. At as then, many political pundits and analysts predicted the failure of the alliance, even before it started. And of course, there was a big crack, especially when Alao-Akala rocked the party’s boat by dumping and flying the ticket of the African Democratic Party (ADP), before his realignment on the eve of the gubernatorial election after the very confusing results of the federal elections, but, the bird had flown away, no remedy to the boat he singlehandedly rocked.
On that, it is obvious that, then, the party was too sure of the electoral victory of Adebayo Adelabu but very unsure of the senatorial election of Sen. Teslim Folarin. In politics, and especially, humans, there is always that nature of uncertainty, the unsure Teslim Folarin became sure while the surest Adebayo Adelabu became unsure.
The election aftermath, postmortem, especially, the death of the indefatigable leader, Sen. Isiaq Abiola Ajimobi is the result of the accusations and counter-accusations within the fold of the progressive family.
Now, the journey towards the 2023 elections has commenced. Then these are the names that are flashing lights within the Oyo APC like Chief Adebayo Adelabu, Sen. Teslim Folarin, Prof. Adeolu Akande, Mogaji Joseph Tegbe, Chief ‘Niyi Akintola SAN, Abisoye Fagade, and many others. They are not only scheming to be the party flagbearer, but again, there seems to be a big message that some of the aspirants are sending, and it was just a message of changing the Adelabu and Folarin dominance of the party. How they will dislodge the duo tactically is what they might be thinking and working around.
Back to the base, the emergence of Isaac Omodewu as the party chair for the state is not what seems to have gone down well with the majority of the party stakeholders as seen and read from different tabloids. To them, those assumed to be aggrieved stakeholders, they have been caught unawares by what they consider the ‘Jagba’ antics of Teslim Folarin but truthfully, politics is about tactics and scheming. One reason why Niccolo Machiavelli’s statement that “the end justifies the means” will continue to be relevant.
The big mistake lies on the part of those assumed to be aggrieved stakeholders. They were unable to factor in a game of presenting a consensus list during the Premier Hotel Conference in opposing the ‘shenanigans’ of the other camp during the state congress, even though, the congress is a ‘wash’ on its own. And it cannot be debated in the court of law, maybe because it is purely a party affair or probably because it will harm the party’s image.
But with Omodewu as chairman, even though many of the major and critical stakeholders of the party are turning the table against him, from Ibadan to Oke-Ogun, and Ogbomosho recently, while many have as well agreed that, he who pays the piper dictates the tune, that, Omodewu is for nobody and no other assignment than the emergence of Sen. Teslim Folarin as the party’s guber candidate will be on his mind. That is a question of legitimacy and authenticity tests that he needs to face. We can only hope he passes through the stage because, one thing is for you to be the head, another thing is for your people/members to agree to your headship. And no one can convince us politically that, those aggrieved leaders are inconsequential to the continued existence of the party.
Of course, many like me may not want to disagree that in making such a decision of who the party flagbearer would be, the state chairman, not even a party in government, may not have the sole authority over getting this and that when it comes to ticket allocation. Do not get me twisted there, there will be a primary election for that purpose, and the delegates will always have the direction of where to go, that is what is practically obtainable. And again, that is if he was even given the chance to have a big play in it as expected at the sharing table of the highest rank.
With that, returning a candidate that has been on the ballot with a reasonable number of votes in hundreds of thousands will be of benefit to such a party. Satisfactorily, both Sen. Teslim Folarin and Chief Bayo Adelabu have both been on the ballot, and the question of how both fared will start factoring in.
Kindly note that the votes which both have gotten in the past were not fixed anywhere but, be informed as well that, there are records and antecedents that, such a candidate is always having a higher chance of winning in his next attempt. Thus, who is more favored in such a game?
I am Akintunde Yusuf Akinloye
yusufakinloye2204@gmail.com
