Amosun, Abiodun Battle for the Soul of Ogun

With the general election fast approaching, a former Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has vowed to unseat his successor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, in the March governorship poll, after his failed bid to stop the governor from emerging victorious in the 2019 elections, writes James  Sowole

When the immediate past governor of Ogun State and Senator representing Ogun Central, Ibikunle Amosun, last August declared that he was not backing the governorship candidate of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Governor of the state, Dapo Abiodun for his second term bid, many had thought they would resolve the issue before the 2023 elections.

But this did not happen as the former governor on Wednesday urged the people of the state to cast their votes for the governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Biyi Otegbeye, who hails from Ilaro in Ogun West Senatorial District.

Addressing thousands of ADC supporters during the flag-off of the ADC campaign rally held at Ake Palace Ground in Abeokuta, the state capital, Amosun, who raised up Otegbeye’s hand, said:  “This is my anointed candidate, I’m APC, but for the governorship election, I’m going to support, I’m going to work assiduously for the candidature of Biyi Otegbeye and his deputy, Tunde Awonuga.”

He added that for justice, equity and fairness, the next governor of the state must come from Ogun West Senatorial District, which has never produced a governor since the creation of the state. He said it was regrettable that his successor derailed from the development plan his administration started, insisting that only Otegbeye could return the state to the positive trajectory his government recorded.

“The good works we started during my tenure must continue and this is why I’m supporting Biyi Otegbeye. Everybody knows me. I don’t hide behind one finger. Evil thrives when good men refuse to talk; you know me; I’m APC, but this election that is coming, I support presidency coming to the South and that is why I’m supporting Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; that is why all the Amosun political family are supporting Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“There are two reasons why I’m doing what I’m doing. The first one is based on equity, justice, and fairness. Ogun State is almost 50 years now; since the creation of this Ogun State, nobody from Ogun West has been governor. Some characters are saying Yewa don’t have good people. I know they have. Yewa has good children I know that I can do it. He (Otegbeye) is a lawyer; he has been tested and trusted.

“The second reason and that is very important is that Ogun State must not derail. We have set the path of development for Ogun State; we must not allow it to be derailed.

“I feel sorry; I feel disheartened everyday when I see what is going on in the state. We must revert to that beautiful concept; we have prepared it, for the next 35 years so that people will come after us and will continue to do their own. If you see Lagos, you will say Lagos is doing this, Lagos is doing that, that is what they call continuity, just look at what we have designed for Ogun State.

“What we are here to do today is to take Ogun State back to that great position. I’m not the only governor; so it is not about Amosun. Amosun has done his bit, but Ogun State must go back to that positive trajectory and one person that I know can do the job very well is Biyi Otegbeye.”

Recall that speaking in Abeokuta after receiving an award from the Abeokuta Club to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the association in August 2022, Amosun had used the opportunity to break his silence, alleging that Abiodun rigged the 2019 governorship election that brought him into office.

The senator who claimed that those who were involved in the unlawful act had since apologised to him, vowed that the governor would not return to power in 2023 because he had taken the state backwards from the development path his administration laid,

The former governor, who was in charge of the gateway state between 2011 and 2019, had fought the biggest war of his political career at the end of his tenure in a bid to install Hon. Abdulkabir Akinlade as the anointed candidate for the APC.

The battle polarised the party in the state into factions after Abiodun emerged the candidate of the party for the governorship election. Dissatisfied with the outcome of the governorship primary, Amosun and his supporters moved to the Allied Progressives Movement (APM), under which Akinlade ran and still lost to Abiodun.

Abiodun defeated Akinlade with a margin of 19,517 votes, having polled 241,670 votes as against the APM candidate’s 222,153 votes

Ibikunle who was the sitting governor, was said to have fought desperately to overturn the mandate given to Abiodun. He reportedly visited President Muhammadu Buhari and top monarchs in the state, all to no avail.

Since then, there has been no love lost between the governor and his predecessor. But not many envisaged that the level of animosity between the two of them was deep-rooted until Amosun’s outburst last week

Incidentally, the same Akinlade who was Amosun’s anointed candidate in 2019 is now the running mate of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) governorship candidate, Mr. Ladi Adebutu, ahead of the March governorship election.

At the Abeokuta Club event, the former governor said though he had moved on, the governor would not have the opportunity to rig himself back to power.

“During the last election, thank God, Chief Olusegun Osoba is here, I have said it; we won convincingly. They rigged, and ended up with 19,000. Some of them came to apologise to me. I can’t mention names. We won that election. But I have moved on. We did our work; we will continue to do what we have to do. God will be with all of us,” the former governor reportedly said.

Speaking later in an interview with journalists, Amosun had declared that he was not in support of Abiodun’s administration, insisting that he must be removed. He also assured his supporters that the next line of action would soon be made public.

 “Just wait; very soon, you will hear where we are going next. You know my stand, and my stand is my stand. I am not supporting this administration that is there now. He must be removed,” he reportedly added.

But in a swift response, Abiodun had declared that he would not be distracted by any person who had a problem with self-delusion, noting that “Ogun State is not anybody’s father’s inheritance.”

The governor then called on the people of the state to ignore his predecessor, insisting that he would not join issues with him.

“I will not be distracted by any person or persons who have a problem with self-delusion. I will not be distracted by any person who does not appreciate that Ogun State is not anybody’s father’s inheritance; we are all stakeholders in this commonwealth called Ogun State.

“I am not going to join issues with anyone that wants to play God; I will leave them to God; God can deal with whoever is challenging His authority and wants to play God. All I can say is that what we stand for in Ogun State is an administration that is committed to providing purposeful leadership and purposeful infrastructural development across the length and breadth of the state,” he said.

Abiodun had, however, expressed his disappointment that a former governor who was a sitting governor in 2019 could allege that he was rigged out during the election.

“How can we on the outside take on an incumbent and then be accused of rigging out an incumbent in the same party? Anyone can explain their failure whichever way they like; anyone can also begin to pant and threaten that they will do whatever,” he added.

However, responding to Amosun’s latest outburst last Wednesday, Governor Abiodun decribed his predecessor as a serial liar who would fail again.

In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin, Abiodun said, “Little doubt he is called Irokunle by people because he is known for dishing out putrid lies all the time.

“As a governor, he promised to do everything and did virtually nothing. He abandoned most of them after claiming to have paid 100 per cent for them. We are known as a promise-keeping administration. We promised only what we could do and did all that we promised.

“It is not surprising that the former governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun has joined the African Democratic Congress (ADC). What is surprising is that he has upped his deceit and political shenanigans by feasting on falsehood started last week by Biyi Otegbeye, his new party’s candidate.

“While Otegbeye was awe-struck by the finesse of the Gateway City Centre and put a figure of N7billion on a N350million project, Amosun at the flag-off of Otegbeye campaign rally lied to have completed a Model School at Kobape and slammed a N3 billion as renovation cost on the said school.

“It is a shame that the former governor does not know the difference between converting an abandoned project to a socially desirable tech hub at this age and time.”

Many observers however believe that if Amosun could not defeat Abiodun when he had much influence as a two-term sitting governor and a close ally of President Buhari, he should not think that it would be easy for him to achieve the feat in the March poll, especially now that his camp is depleted.

“With a depleted camp, going against Abiodun with his power of incumbency as governor will be a herculean task” one observer said