IMPOSITION IN APC: IT DIDN’T START WITH IBADAN NORTH BYE-ELECTION & MAY NOT…

The statement reproduced here (below) was issued by this writer some six years ago (July 2019) when the circumstance that led to the recent trouncing of All Progressives Congress Party (APC) in the Ibadan North Federal constituency bye-election brazenly reared its ugly head, with the writer himself as a victim.

Six full years have rolled by, with two major critical electoral losses, another one approaching in 2027, (emphasis on the state level), can anyone confidently say that the APC as a political party in Oyo State today, has become a caring, kind-hearted father who listens and placates a crying child with sweets and snacks; and not with dismissive, arrogant nonchalance?

Shouldn’t we as a chapter take a cue from the National Leadership that subjected even the sitting President Bola Tinubu to a rigorous and transparent primaries; and witnessed by all other candidates, Nigerians and the entire democratic world.

Kindly reflect further on the statement below, issued on behalf of Aspirants Forum then, and widely published by major online news channels way back since 2019, and guess if anything has really changed? Or is Oyo APC jinxed? Or is it the opposition’s spell, or the self-inflicted? Why the seeming indifference from the National leadership?

OYO APC AND THE LEADERSHIP QUESTION.

1. We are affiliated to over 9000 body of Aspirants on the platform of All Progressives Congress, APC, in all the states of the federation, who paid for, and collected forms – Expression of interest & Nomination forms- for all elective posts -Gubernatorial, Senatorial, House of Representatives and State houses of Assembly, but denied the opportunity of “primaries”, a vital ingredient of party- (internal) democracy.
2. Yet, we (the Oyo State chapter), remain loyal and demonstrated our committment to the success of the party in the last (lost) elections by erecting billboards and saturating the airwaves with jingles marketing our candidates across levels; for which we received no commendation nor ordinary acknowledgement from both the candidates nor the leadership!
3. Whereas the very essence of the Forum is to engage our members in group-mentoring and experience -sharing sessions, so as to prevent further decimation in our party membership due to anger and frustration resulting from the arrogance and impunity that characterised the whole pre-election process.
4. They (the leadership ) assembled us on a pitch, like a scheduled football match, with all the players, officials and the spectators- (our supporters across the 33 LGAS) gathered, only for the CENTRE REFEREE to declare one side as the winner without a single kick of the ball! Protestations were threatened with anti-party “red cards”, and there was a loud silence from the aggrieved side- the aspirants with their numerous fans!!
5. Thus the party went into the last (lost) 2019 elections without the leadership of the party deeming it fit to douse the deep-seated anger and frustration in the air then, as no genuine reconciliation effort was initiated by the leadership between the candidates and the aspirants; from gubernatorial to state assembly. The candidates themselves, having been infested with same arrogance that led to their emergence put on a garb of can-do-it-alone, thereby ignoring the needed support of the aspirants! The Leadership too was largely indifferent, pretending that all was well?
6. The bye-products of the foregoing therefore are; disenchanted voter mobilisers, demobilised vote canvassers; reinforced with the absence of a discernible campaign organisation nor office to design and implement campaign plans, goals, strategy and tactics, clear and compelling message, as well as deep contact with the electorates.
7. Thus the opposition latched on to these lapses, rooted in anger from within and without, such that during the two weeks interval between the lost elections quickly sized the grassroots from the party while still gloating over its “success” in the senatorial and house of Representatives elections, without being able to deliver the state to PMB.
8. Yet, and now, they have abandoned the state and moved to ABUJA scavenging for ministerial largesse from the table of PMB, whom they have equally deceived that all was well? They are doing this still for THEMSELVES! Everything is about THEM!
9. In view of the foregoing, can the party pull itself out of the crocordile-infested political swamp its (faulty) chinko compass has misdirected it? A high-tech, unusual approach may be necessary to pull the party out and fortify it to be strong enough to wrest power back, come 2023.
10. But who will perform this task? Is it the same leadership that doesn’t have self-examination as attribute, an unremorseful leadership that led the party to a woeful defeat and arrogantly rushing to award itself “vote of confidence” over the party’s loss at the polls?
11. Same leadership that is so unfeeling and without a reward system for loyalty and commitment to the party, keeping majority of members in limbo for years, while outsiders, non-party men without electoral value, freely harvest products of members’ sweat and blood!
12. Same leadership that plotted the scamming of the party members through collection of expression of interest and Nomination forms fees for primaries that never took place, so as to have money to run the party?
13. Decietful Leadership that lured key members of the cabinet and other eminently qualified professionals outside the cabinet to the field of gubernatorial contest, only to ditch them after they must have expended several millions on mobilisation and logistics. Should they be happy in their heart of hearts?
14. Leadership that ensured there was no collapsing of campaign structures of those pushed aside into that of the party’s gubernatorial candidate? No communication allowed amongst them, not even between the candidate and his deputy!
15. Leadership that offended virtually all sectors of the populace – the media, civil servants, students, their lecturers /teachers, labour, pensioners, traditional institutions , including many cabinet members without Empowerments to meet the needs of their constituencies?
16. Leadership that effectively alienated the party from the electorates by refusing to constitute board members for many parastatals /agencies, secretaries /supervisory councillors for LGAs, thereby denying the party that necessary link with the people at that critical level of governance- the grassroots!
17. Leadership that is all -knowing, about self, self, and self alone; never looking in the direction of, or cared about the wellbeing of members – indifferent to mass-defections from the party, without accommodating nor reconcilliatory spirit?
18. The forum’s ASSEMBLY sat and pondered over all of the above, and many more not for print, and resolved as follows : a. that the current party leadership structure in Oyo state be worked upon by the National leadership, even it demands applying the principle of “doctrine of necessity”. b. that this same leadership should not be “compensated” for failure at the Federal level, as they have secretly lined up themselves to grab all appointments coming from the federal – ministerial, ambassadorial etc. to the exclusion of the majority kept outside the fence since the past eight years! c. this is because the existing set-up largely lacks compassion & openness; it is scornful, arrogant, inaccessible, dormant, aged, and without modern knowledge of human resource management and should therefore not be part of the process of re-building, re-branding and re-energising of the party towards dislodging a sitting government come 2023.
19. In conclusion therefore, what Oyo state needs at this critical period is a listening, compassionate, humble, Omoluabi, servant-leader brand of DRIVER, capable of ensuring an all-inclusive, participatory, bottom-up , consensus -building approach to party administration.

Signed : Dejo Adebisi Aspirant, Iseyin /Itesiwaju State constituecy (2019) & Former Senior Special Assistant, SSA, Media to the Late Gov Ajimobi.