Amosun is Reaping His Bargains

Femi Ogbonnikan

At a point in life, when somebody is superior to you in all ramifications, but you are insisting it is just a little in inches, then, something is wrong that requires urgent interventions in order to come to the reality on ground.

Without mincing words, the event in the last couple of weeks within the family circle of the Ogun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the supremacy battle for the control of the structure and soul of the party wasn’t palatable, but calls for concerns by major stakeholders. It is unheard of, if not an aberration, for an erstwhile helmsman, who had expended his two terms (eight years) in office, to still be locking horns with his successor on many fronts. After all, the 1999 Constitution provides only for a single Governor in a state to exercise power on governance, but not for an interloper to usurp the responsibilities of the incumbent helmsman and embark on an inciting and provocative inspection of the state-government projects, which he abandoned and failed to complete while in office.

Besides, taking it from the cursory look of the party structure, the governor wields perceptible influence and powers, and he decides who takes and gets what. As number one citizen, he is constitutionally the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of the state and every other person is subject to him, regardless of the political party, riches, creed, religion, colour, ethnic group and race.

Also, the Holy Scripture in Romans 13:1-2 admonishes the subjects to respect higher authorities. “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation”.

However, the last straw that broke the camel’s back was the parallel state congress at Ake Palace, Abeokuta. The only approved Ogun State Congress by the APC national headquarters, Abuja, was the one held at MKO Abiola Stadium, Kuto, Abeokuta, on Saturday, October 16, 2021.
Nonetheless, the authentic executives (ward, local and state levels) were those conducted by the seven-man Congress Committee sent from the APC national headquarters, Abuja, and monitored by the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), led by the Ogun State Resident Electoral Commissioner.

In reality, the political structure in the state provides for congresses in the 236 wards. At these wards, five delegates were elected per wards and which by implications, five delegates elected at the ward level were the main body that were expected to vote at the State Congress of the party.

Amosun and his co-travellers ought to have realised that they were embarking on a journey of self-deceit and mirage. You can plant vegetable and harvest onions.

There is a limit to human endurance and Amosun, with his co-travellers – the likes of the Minister for Mines and Steel, Olamilekan Adegbite, Senators representing Ogun West and Ogun East, Tolu Odebiyi and Lekan Mustapha, and others, with the display of affront and arrogance, have pushed the Governor to the wall.

Sounding a note of warning to those attempting to foment trouble in order create anarchy by heating up the polity, following the violent clash at the Ake Palace Parallel State Congress, the Governor averred: “By the Grace of God, I am the only Governor of Ogun State today and no other person.

“All those who continue to live in an illusion of grandeur; all those that continue to be deluded; I hope the message is heard and clear. I am the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of this state. I will not allow a breakdown of law and order”.

The Governor’s civility shouldn’t be misconstrued to mean a sign of weakness. He is not a toothless bulldog that can only bark, but he is ready to bite. Closeness to the Presidency shouldn’t be a licence to cause mayhem in the state. Whatever he is reaping today is fallout of his bargains from the various dirty tricks. After all, his predecessor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, dared not attempt to do a quarter of raising unnecessary dust without paying dearly for it, while the former was in office. Trust him, evidences abound that, the Ogun Central Senator was ready to extract every pound of flesh on any of his arch-rivals or political foes.

Suffice to say, the emergence Abiodun, as the fifth democratically elected governor of Ogun state in the March 19, 2019, was pre-destined. As a child of circumstance, when governance was at its lowest ebb, Abiodun assumed office and rekindled hope of a brighter future for the people of the Gateway state. He allayed the fear that not all politicians are of the same feather and redefined governance as all-inclusive and participatory.

Abiodun departed radically from the inherited practice of converting the entire state into a personal family estate. Abiodun inherited a near empty treasury and it doesn’t worry him in boosting the morale of the workforce, with the regular payment of their salaries, with or without the federal allocation.

The mindset of every Nigerian politician is rooted in the use of the electorates whenever they are needed and soon afterwards, dump them, having realised their dream. And this is just a betrayal of the trust reposed in them, as a result of their failed leadership by example.
The values of abandoned projects Abiodun inherited from his predecessor, Amosun, were like booby traps laid for his failure, but with divine intervention and the former’s penchant for touching the lives of the citizenry, a handful of the projects have been completed.
It took the courage, listening ears and kindness of the governor to take up the responsibility for the completion of all the abandoned road projects.
Obviously, overwhelmed by the deplorable condition of the road projects, but unperturbed nonetheless, Governor Abiodun pledged his administration’s best efforts to complete all the abandoned road projects inherited from his predecessor, despite the financial strain. The decision was informed by the fact that leaving the abandoned roads would not only amount to a waste of the tax payers’ money, but would also be detrimental to the economic growth and development of the state.

From the outcome of the “Report of the Contract Review Committee” chaired by Mr Adekunle Mokuolu which submitted its findings on Tuesday, September 8, 2020, a sum total of N218 billion, a huge chunk of the debt which the immediate past administration of Amosun incurred between 2011 and 2019, was needed by the current administration in the state to complete all the abandoned road projects that were spread across the three senatorial districts in the state.

As a promise-keeping administration that has lived up to its billings in the last seven months (January 2021 to June 2021) under review, with the execution of 54 road projects across the state, with Ogun Central taking the lion share of 29, Ogun West 10 and Ogun East 15, it clearly shows the commitment of the government to ensure that no section or part of the state is developed at the expense of others. Also, in a clear demonstration of prudent management of resources, transparency and accountability, the 42-kilometre Sagamu-Abeokuta road projects reconstruction which the immediate past administration awarded at N60 billion was reconstructed by the current administration of Prince Dapo Abiodun of N20 billion. Several other abandoned road projects that were fully paid up by the immediate past administration dotted every part of the state capital – 105-kilometre Oja-Odan/Ilara (Imeko-Afon LGA), Ilaro/Owode road, Ilaro, Ijebu-Igbo and NNPC/Kuto, Abeokuta flyovers, Ijoko/Sango-Otta road, Mowe/Ofada road, amongst others and they are currently receiving the attention of the current administration for reconstruction.

Licking the wounds of defeat in every elective office is expected, but it doesn’t require making it a ‘do-or-die’ contest, having challenged the governorship electoral victory, starting from the State Election Petitions Tribunal through the Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division (Oyo state capital) and to the Supreme Court, Abuja, without success. Refusal to eschew acrimonious rivalry and display the spirit of sportsmanship, despite the loss at the Apex Court and join forces with the victor, Abiodun, to move the state forward, has left a sour taste in the mouth of political pundits, chieftains and supporters of the ruling APC party and other critical stakeholders.

The Governor, imbued with a big heart, in the quest to broker peace with the aggrieved chieftains who dissolved into the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM) at the wake of the intra-party crisis in mid-2018 and returned to their former party, APC, has put the past behind him, extended an olive branch and also provided a soft landing for the loyalists and supporters of Amosun. Despite overtures to embrace dialogue, Amosun and his godson on the platform of the APM in the March 19, 2019 governorship election, Abdulkabir Akinlade, have rebuffed every entreaty to throw their weight behind the Abiodun-led administration in the state.

“Pride comes before a fall”, says the Holy Scripture. If care is not taken, they are gradually treading the path of dishonour which might spell doom for their political career.

• Ogbonnikan wrote from Abeokuta, Ogun State