Razaq Bamidele
Although the election year 2023 is a bit far away, politicians are not relenting in their efforts at placing themselves at vantage positions for the coming contest. Some of them who have ambitions to occupy various political offices are already strategising to register their love in the heart of the people.
In Osun State, our correspondent learnt from good authorities that the former Military Governor of Lagos State and later civilian governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola is putting things together towards the 2023 senatorial contest.
Recall that the retired Military General, Oyinlola’s first ambition after in 2003 after leaving Lagos as governor was to become a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to represent Osun Central Senatorial District on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
But that ambition was, however later upgraded to the gubernatorial level through the influence of some notable PDP chieftains like the late former Deputy Governor of Oyo State and later Minister of the Interior, Chief Sunday M. Afolabi.
Oyinlola won that 2003 election when he sent packing the sitting governor, Chief Abdul-Kareem Adebisi Akande of the then ruling party, Alliance for Democracy (AD). In 2007, Oyinlola was also declared the winner of the year’s governorship poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He was about three and a half years in office when an Appeal Court sitting in Ibadan upturned the result in favour of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) on November 27, 2010.
Later, intra party crisis forced Oyinlola out of the PDP, teamed with the newly formed All Progressives Congress (APC), before he decamped to pith his tent with the Action Congress Party (ADP).
However, last Wednesday, March 18, 2020, Oyinlola retraced his step to his former party, PDP, when he, along with others re-joined the party in Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State at a rally where they stressed the need to restrict the party with a view to regaining their lost glory in the political sphere of the country.
In his remarks, former Governor Oyinlola chided the ruling APC saying its leadership was not doing the right thing for the country, describing them as, “Square pegs in round holes.”
He did not put anybody in doubt of his ambition to stage a comeback to power when he hinted about the PDP’s determination to wrestle power from the APC.
And since the retired Military Top Brass cannot come back as governor, political observers are of the belief that he is likely to be warming up to go to the Senate where some of his former colleagues are making laws for the country.
Bashiru, Yusuf connection
So, if Oyinlola eventually wins his party’s ticket to contest for the Senate, he would have the former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the State, Senator Bashiru Ajibola (SOJ), a lawyer to contend with.
And his chance of making an impact would be on the notion that, conservatives always win elections along his axis from Ila-Orangun, Oke-Ila, Ikirun and so on while Ossogbo, with his thick population would be handy to decide who gets what.
Ajibola is the sitting Senator representing Osun Central District at the Senate on the ticket of the APC. This submission however is subject to his winning his party’s primary ticket to go back. A stake holder in the party, who does not want his name in the media said, the fate of every elected political office holder is in the hand of his/her party.
According to him, if the party decides to replace anybody, the worse such a person can do is to relocate to another party to search for his fortune there, disclosing that, “right now, the party is studying, examining and monitoring the performances of all our elected members with a view to ascertaining who would come back and who would not.”
Speaking further, our source boasted that, “APC has countless materials who are eminently qualified to occupy any office from the presidency down to the councillorship position,” asserting that, “replacing anybody with more competent hands can never be our problem.”
On that note, political observers and public analysts are of the view that, if a powerful, brilliant and learned person like Ajibola is to be replaced, only an equally powerful or more powerful personality than him would be the replacement.
It was at that juncture that the name of the immediate past Deputy Speaker of the House of Representative, Rt.Hon. Sulaeman Lasun Yusuf came up. Although, Yusuf has never made it public that he would want to go to the senate in 2023, some of his followers are said to be nudging him towards that direction of which he was said to have still kept mum.
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Some stakeholders in the state however expressed doubt over the possibility of removing an Osogbo indigene for a candidate from the suburb, (Yusuf hails from Ifon/Erin/Ilobu axis) saying it would appear as a slight on the people of the city who lost the governorship slot to Iragbiji in 2018.
According to them, the only consolation the Osogbo people have is in Ajibola their son. This however, the stakeholders said, means a very strong Osogbo person must be brought out should Ajibola be replaced in the state. With this angle to the issue of 2023, Ajibola appears favourable for an encore.
Adeoti, Oriolowo connection
It is no more news that APC has started making overtures to the former State Chairman of the party and one time Secretary to the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, who moved out of the party to contest on the platform of the ADP in the last governorship election.
Indications that Adeoti is being wooed back to the fold manifested last October, 2019, when the state governor, Isiaka Gboyega Oyetola had a heart to heart discussion with astute politician popularly called ‘Sheu’ by his admirers.
The brief encounter was in Iwo during the turbanning of the veteran journalist, Alhaji Liad Tella as the first Asiwaju Musulumi of Iwo land and its environ. A source, who was privy to the meeting confided in our correspondent that, “it was fruitful, heart-warming and encouraging.”
According to him, Adeoti is as good as already back in the fold suspecting however that a senatorial carrot was likely to have been dangled before Adeoti, who is nick named 24/7 because of his commitment to politics.
However, if truly a senatorial carrot was dangled before him, the sitting senator, Adelere Oriolowo, who also hails from Iwo as Adeoti would need to put extra efforts at representing his people well in the Senate to convince his party’s leadership that any move to replace him just after a term would not be popular with the people.
The Nigerian Xpress can assure you of updates as they come.
