Oyetola Asked To Sacrifice Second Term Ambition To Save Osun APC In 2022 Election

Comrade Yahaya Majeed, a chieftain of All Progressive Congress (APC) in Osun state has compared the chances of his party winning the 2022 governorship election as a wish of asking camel to pass through the hole of a needle.

Speaking with P.M. EXPRESS, the former member of the state exco of the party described the performance of incumbent Governor, Gboyega Oyetola and the internal crisis in the party as two factors that pose threats to APC’s success in the 2022 governorship election.

The former labour leader and renowned activist said the independent survey carried out shows the acceptability of the government was diminishing every day among the Osun electorate as the fortune of the party in 2022 are at risk.

Asked about a recent endorsement from different groups in the state. the social commentator described it as deceit which the governor must not rely on.

“When you are seeing endorsements from here and there in Nigeria politics, just know that the party and its candidate are suffering from acceptability syndrome from the electorate and they have to cling to any survival straw. In 2015, election, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate were jumping from one association to another, royal fathers to another, but what came out of it, Buhari and APC tsunamis were too much to be stopped.

“If Jonathan was willing to step down and allowed a strong politician from the north to face Buhari at that time, the story might be different now. So come to Osun state, the gale of endorsement will not have an impact at all particularly when it is sponsored one, even the workers, I mean the ordinary civil servants are not fascinated with full salary payment claimed by Oyetola’s government.

“In one of my interactions with some of them claimed the government is robbing Peter to pay Paul. They said their cooperatives and other deductions were not remitted to the organization and this denied them the opportunity to access some benefits in the association, “Comrade Yahaya said.

While responding to a question that the Minister of Interior and former governor, Rauf Aregbesola has divided the party and any hope for reconciliation, he said: “Well in Nigerian politics anything can happen, but something fundamental has occurred in the course of the crisis, the Oyetola’s side arrested an aide to Aregbesola and the case ended in the court, and don’t forget that a Yoruba adage says you cannot return from the court and be friends again. But as I said, anything can happen, he said.

Can this, however, jeopardise the success of APC in the next governorship election, the Account turned politician said: “Sure, it will and it will be so sad. APC needs to think very well and act well before fielding any candidate because the opposition is very strong and they are going to come out smoking with a strong candidate as they did in 2018.

“The situations in APC Osun can only be redeemed if all actors are ready to sacrifice their interests and ego to save the party from the impending calamity. For me,, that is the only way they can formidably face PDP, if not there is fire on the mountain.

“My advice is that APC should find the middle point of moving forward, all actors should be ready to make sacrifices for the success of the party in the state. My radical which many won’t like to hear is that Governor Oyetola should be courageous and be a stateman enough to sacrifice his second term ambition for the progress of the party by not contesting in 2022. The party should use direct primary to pick the governorship candidate, reconcile all the aggrieved members and groups, form a unity executive of the party from the wards to the state level that will be from different aggrieved groups. I believe with this not too palatable suggestion, the party will go to the poll and present a good challenge to the opposition.”

Can Governor Oyetola heed this radical suggestion? Comrade Yahaya said: “Well, you asked me my suggestion and I gave you. It is left for them to take it or not, but as a member of the party, and a supporter not a slave in the party, that is my candid opinion, but history will be there to remember my suggestion, it may be a piece of difficult advice, but the reality is what our politicians usually afraid to face.

“You see our leaders, they are big guns, so they take the decision as they want, but who suffered here are the ordinary party members who have invested their money and time to build the party but nothing to show for it and history will not be kind to any person that returned  APC to the opposition in Osun because from it would be a heavy political battle to take away the government from the PDP. We all knew what happened before Aregbesola’s mandate was restored to him.