By Bolanle Oke

A certain Femi Oyeweso, probably writing under a pseudonym, in the Leadership newspaper a week ago, went on a mission to justify the injustice done to the governorship ambition of Akinlade in Ogun State. Rather than concentrate on the issues of the election and the electoral process, he went on a tangent.

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He unfortunately deserves a response even on that tangential course that he undertook. Governor Amosun is a politician, who is therefore expected to be partisan. And by preferring a candidate over another, he is merely acting as expected. But his action is more altruistic, and in the interest of a neglected swath of people of Ogun State, and all well meaning patriots should have been celebrating him as a just and even handed leader.

Oyeweso must understand that it is not so much that Governor Ibikunle Amosun failed in his justifiable bid to ensure equity for the people of Yewa to have Akinlade, one of their own as Governor, but that the entire citizens of Ogun State lost the opportunity of having a credible, competent and honest Governor.

How do you explain a governorship candidate who was unable to tell his electorate if he indeed has a university degree, or if he avoided going through the mandatory National Youth Service Corps which all Nigerian graduates under 30 years of age are expected to undergo? Some things have been deliberately left in the realm of speculation so that the will of some political interest groups can supersede that of the people.

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It is needless to add that the purpose of equity, fairness, and equality, which the Nigerian Constitution seeks to promote among Nigerians, has been defeated, if not outrightly compromised.

For the records, the count of Ogun State indigenes who have served as Governors, are Segun Osoba and Ibikunle Amosun of Egba Division, Gbenga Daniel and Governor-Elect Dapo Abiodun, of Remo Division, and Bisi Onabanjo, and Military Governor Oladipo Diya of Ijebu Division. Only Yewa Division has been consistently denied of this opportunity of providing a Governor for the Gateway State that military Head of State Murtala Muhammed decreed into being in 1976.

It is interesting to find out that most of the people who actively promote this iniquity and inequity in Ogun State are the vanguard of interest groups that shout themselves hoarse and to the high heavens that Northern Nigeria unfairly dominates the political space of Nigeria. In their books, it looks like a case of what is good for the goose is not fit for the gander.

Oyeweso must be educated that it is very possible for an incumbent Governor Amosun to fail to impose his preferred governorship candidate on the people, especially if he wants to play by the fair rules of the game, and he is also confronted by a formidable political machine that controls the ruling government, that in turn, controls the personnel and government agency that operates the electoral process.

Enough said in that direction. It is not too necessary to elaborate too much on that one. A late Nigerian political sage once put it in scriptural perspective when he told a former military Head of State that only the deep can call on the deep.

As to Governor Amosun being demystified in Ogun State politics, the joke is actually on his detractors, and a political party leadership that insists on inflicting the injury of misery on the hapless citizens of Ogun State who have been short changed in the quality of their Governor. Governor Amosun has been vindicated by winning the senatorial seat that he contested for.

So the loss is not so much to him, but to the good people of Ogun State, who are stuck with a Governor who is neither able to confirm if he indeed has a university degree, or if he served, or should have served the mandatory National Youth Service Corps that all Nigerians that got their first degree while they were below the age of 30 must undergo.

Oyeweso has to explain the abode of the baales, community leaders, civil servants, labour leaders, and market chiefs who voted to prevent the intention of Governor Amosun to install his successor in office.

Oyeweso must remember that hoodlums, sponsored by you know who, snatched result sheets, and went ahead to falsify figures in Abeokuta South, Abeokuta North, Odeda, Obafemi-Owode, and the entire Ogun East Senatorial District, which is made up of about 12, of the 20 local governments in Ogun State.

He must also remember that just four days to the governorship election, the Nigeria Labour Congress, led by its President Aliyu Wabba embarked on a protest against Governor Amosun. The intent of that is obvious to even the blind.

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Yet despite the brigandage, and indirect demarketing of Akinlade for his association with Governor Amosun, Prof Idowu Olayinka, as Returning Officer of Ogun State governorship election, was only able to declare that Governor-elect Dapo Abiodun defeated Akinlade by only a margin of 19,527 votes. Even if you add the 7,100 votes that were voided to that of Abiodun, the resulting 26,617 votes cannot be said to be a convincing victory.

At best, you could say it was a forced or contrived victory, obtained through shadowy means. But the Election Tribunal that Akinlade has approached is in the best position to determine what went wrong. But the Abiodun victory cannot, and should not, be celebrated— just yet.

It is interesting that Oyeweso whose sympathies obviously lie with the All Progressives Congress is celebrating the declaration of support for Dapo Abiodun by largely expired politicians of the hue of the People’s Democratic Party, which includes former Governor Gbenga Daniel, former Ogun State House of Assembly Speaker Titi Oseni-Gomez, and Jelili Amusan.

Oyeweso is however correct in his assessment and submission that too many candidates from Yewa Division worked against the ambition of Akinlade. Oyeweso will also be the first to admit that the circus that took over the politics of Yewa Division was fostered by individuals known to him. But he need not openly admit it, neither does he have to point fingers in their direction. Suffice that they know themselves, and they also know those who know them. Again, only the deep can call on the deep.

Oyeweso finally unveiled the underlying “stomach infrastructure” concerns of his paymasters, when he enumerated the source of the angst of the compromised political mercenaries of Ogun State. He revealed the self-serving complaints of an interest group that styles itself as “Mat’agba Mole,” that is obviously fighting Governor Amosun because they perceived that he did not allocate sinecure jobs for their boys.

They allege that he failed to give them offices as State commissioners, special assistants, special advisers, and board members. So finally, the cat has leapt out of the bag. Akinlade is unelected as Governor, and the people of Ogun State are denied the opportunity of having the best man for the job simply because his predecessor did not share political patronage well enough, and to their satisfaction. Well, so much for that.

Now, if Governor Amosun indeed discouraged a traditional ruler from descending into the arena of partisan politics to openly promote a governorship candidate, one would have thought that Oyeweso would have commended Amosun for saving the traditional ruler of possible future embarrassment or even calls for his dethronment. Oyeweso must be reminded that the Yoruba of Southwest Nigeria do not want their traditional rulers to be involved in partisan politics.

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One can only hope that come 2023, the long suffering people of Ogun State will be allowed the opportunity to choose Governor that will be able to return them to the era of rebuilding Ogun State, a mission that will certainly be truncated by the misadventure of those who chose to trample upon the will of the people, and impose impunity in Ogun State.

The point to stress here is that those APC party leaders who chose to accept an APC primary that was not supervised by the national team, as provided in the APC Constitution did injustice to the people of Ogun State. Enough said at this time.

Hopefully Oyeweso now knows how not to defend a mandate brazenly stolen by the very people who should protect and preserve its sanctity. Oyeweso must avoid being counted among the band of men that brazenly compromised the integrity of the APC, an otherwise great political party.

Oke is a political commentator based in Lagos.