Adebayo Abdulrahman
The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Oyo State seems to be far from over as a chieftain of the party in the state, Barr. Adebayo Shittu, has described the chairman of the party, Chief Akin Oke as a ‘yes-man,’ who he said, lacks discretion, choice, and intellectual engagement.
Shittu, who is the immediate past communications minister, made the statement in a recent letter to the national chairman of the party.
According to Shittu, who is a former attorney general, “Chief Akin Oke has always been a complete yes-man in whose dictionary there is nothing like discretion, choice or intellectual engagement with his paymasters in any political discourse.”
The letter which the minister titled “Random responses to the tantrums of ex-governor Ajimobi’s minions”, a copy of which was made available to OYOINSIGHT.COM, is a rejoinder to an advertorial in the Nation newspaper of March 2, 2020, signed by 41 members of the party.
His words: “What is more! Chief Akin Oke has never added any value to any political party he had belonged to. It is on record that Chief Akin Oke has never, in the last nine years, won any election either in his polling unit, his ward, or local government area. Consequently, he has always been a political parasite, always feasting on other peoples’ political sweat.”
Shittu stated further that, “If Baba Oke and his lackluster APC state executIve allowed Ajimobi to turn our party into an unprogressive, anti-democratic and a SENACO party solely owned and directed by Abiola Ajimobi, can we expect most of the above-mentioned, well-educated politicians to suddenly transform into political mumus and zombies just like Chief Akin Oke and his coterie of followers, all hangers-on to Abiola Ajimobi when the constituted authority had made it practically impossible for any of them to contest in both party congresses and primary elections.
The letter is one of the protests of aggrieved members of the APC in the state over the nomination and appointment of former Governor Abiola Ajimobi as the deputy national chairman of the party as a replacement for former Governor Niyi Adebayo of Ekiti State who has been appointed minister of industry, trade and investment by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.
The two-time commissioner also asked that, “What is the usefulness of a state party chairman who is serially incapable of adding any electoral value to his party? And yet, it suits Abiola Ajimobi to continue to impose such pedestrian leadership on hundreds of thousands of loyal party men and women in a pace-setter state such as Oyo.”
The crisis rocking the party had became obvious in 2018 ahead of last year’s general elections in the country when some aggrieved members created broke away to form Unity Forum – an APC faction, over alleged irregularities and favoritism in the management of the affairs of the party by former governor Abiola Ajimobi.
