Crisis hits party as Tinubu 'imposes' candidate for governorship election

The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is in some disarray ahead of the September 22, 2018 governorship election in the Southwest State--and some are blaming APC godfather Bola Tinubu for it all.

The APC in Osun is holding its primary election today--July 20, 2018--to settle for a candidate who will take on the PDP in September.

17 aspirants are vying for the governorship ticket in Osun and 332 wards are participating in the primary.

Among the major contenders for the ticket are Deputy Speaker of the House of Reps Hon Yusuf Lasun, Chief of Staff to the governor Gboyega Oyetola, Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly Najeem Saleem and Engr Adelere Adeyemi Oriolowo, who is coordinator, Osun Rural Access and Mobility Project (O'RAMP).

Pulse understands that the decision of State Governor Rauf Aregbesola not to be outrightly involved in choosing his successor, is threatening to split the APC in Osun right down the middle.

Aregbesola completes his second term as Osun governor in November.

Tinubu's cousin?

A source in Osun told Pulse that the primary election has been a confused mess as well.

“The national delegates didn’t arrive till today. Zamfara State Governor resigned as chairman of the primary election and electoral officers arrived today. Senator is now the new chairman. The meeting with stakeholders was hot and Lasun went on a rant”, the source disclosed.

Another source added that an aspirant has doled out as much as N322million to delegates to aid his cause—which translates to N1million per ward.

Unconfirmed reports say even though Aregbesola doesn’t want to choose a successor, his candidate for the APC governorship ticket is Oyetola, his Chief of Staff.

Aregbesola is leaning toward Oyetola for the simple reason that Oyetola is Tinubu’s cousin, Pulse was told.

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“Aregbesola doesn’t want to confront Tinubu and that’s a problem”, adds our source.

Aregbesola who was appointed Works Commissioner in Lagos during Tinubu’s reign as governor, still swears by Tinubu.

“He often does what Tinubu wants. And Tinubu wants Oyetola”, the source disclosed to Pulse.

Secretary to the Osun State Governor, Moshood Adeoti, who was among the aspirants for the APC governorship ticket, stepped down from the race on the eve of the primary, citing Tinubu's imposition.

“The primary was arranged, skewed and designed to favour Alhaji Isiaka Gboyega Oyetola, the cousin of the National Leader of our party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu”, Adeoti’s campaign organisation alleged in an emailed statement.

Adeoti also alleged that “a cooked up register comprising handpicked persons loyal to the emergence of Oyetola was computed and printed in a firm owned by Oyetola in Lagos”.

Pulse has been unable to independently verify Adeoti’s claims. Tinubu's media office wasn't immediately available for comments.

Osun West agenda

There are also calls from voters from Osun West senatorial district that they should be allowed to produce the governor this time.

Departing Governor Rauf Aregbesola hails from Osun East senatorial district.

Should the PDP hand its ticket to Senator Ademola Adeleke who hails from Osun West, pundits say the party could tip hordes of APC voters its way.

“Since Osun State was created in 1991, Osun East and Osun Central have been providing our governors. The only governor from Osun West since that period is the late Senator Isiaka Adeleke whose administration was punctuated after just 22 months by the military. That’s really unfair”, said one aide of a contestant who isn’t a favorite to emerge governorship flagbearer of the APC in Osun.