Osoba Not Back in APC, Declares Ogun Chapter

• Party may issue a disclaimer soon

Shola Oyeyipo
Last Sunday’s reunion and reconciliation meeting between former Ogun State governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba and his estranged former party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), may end up an effort in futility as the state chapter of the party has denied any knowledge of his return to the fold and might issue a disclaimer soon.

A top party member in the state, who spoke with THISDAY on condition of anonymity, said it was laughable to read about Osoba’s alleged return to the APC, when a single member of the party from the state was not present at such a party.

He said the idea of determining the fate of a people at the local level by those at the top would not work in this case because as far as the Ogun state APC is concerned, Osoba openly denounced and renounced the party in Abeokuta, the state capital with his supporters and that the only sensible thing to do in a case of returning to the fold is to follow the same process.

“And then, you have such a meeting in Lagos, at his residence and people tagged it as returning to the APC. He probably reunited with his friend, which is understandable. But he did not return to the APC because no executive member of the party was present, much less the governor of Ogun State and you called that as returning to the APC? Impossible,” the source said.

The party source, who claimed that the state executive members had been meeting since development however warned that any further push about Osoba returning to the APC could force the party to issue a disclaimer, the consequence of which he claimed could be embarrassing to the former governor.

Confirming that the gathering was a clear gang-up against the Ibikunle Amosun administration and person, the source said contrary to the impression given by the APC leaders, the governor was neither informed nor invited to the meeting, a clear indication that they had something mischievous up their sleeves.

According to him, the process of the reunion had been on for about three months, with meetings held in different places, including Ibadan, the Oyo State capital during the coronation of the new Olubadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji, before it was consummated last week during Senator Bola Tinubu’s 64th birthday colloquium in Abuja.

He contended that in all the meetings, Amosun was not invited even when he was said to have been privy to the one held in Ibadan, shortly after leaving the coronation venue. He noted that the leadership which brokered the reunion was obviously not keen about reconciliation hence it was comfortable for them to damn the Ogun governor.

He hinted also that there had been many dirty sides to the reunion with predetermined sinister plans to undermine Amosun. For instance, he said one of the South-west governors was allegedly handed the assignment of poaching the governor’s camp in readiness to infiltrate his support base and whittle it down.

Although the supporters were said to have kept it away from the governor because they were worried he (Amosun) would react immediately, the consequence of which might not be palatable, they had however informed persons close to the governor to warn him to be wary of the plans and be circumspect.

The source listed as some of the governor’s sins against the other APC leaders, his closeness to President Muhammadu Buhari and the issue of the list of ministerial nominees, which was said not to have reflected the wishes of some of the APC leaders. They believed, according to the source, that Amosun influenced the eventual list that the president submitted to the Senate for approval.

In also fighting the governor, the source said the APC leaders enlisted the offices of one of the president’s key appointees, believed to have been influenced by one of the APC leaders to help push some agenda that are yet to be fully mapped out.

It is against this backdrop that the executive and members of the Ogun APC are said to have resolved to go for the broke as far as the pending battle is concerned. Although it is not their intention to let the crisis drag, the source argued that the leaders had shown through different indicators that they wanted to take their pound of flesh from Amosun at all cost and the only to do this is to work ahead of 2019.