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Stop being bad losers, group flays Oyo APC, ALGON over attacks on Makinde
An Oyo State-based Socio-political Organisation, the Oyo Kajola Group (OKG) has advised the Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and some purported members of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in the state to stop its relentless and meaningless attacks on Governor Seyi Makinde.
OKG, in a statement by its Media Coordinator, Mr. Adebayo Ayandele, which was made public in Ibadan on Tuesday, said that recent outbursts by the APC and ALGON on the management of local government matters by Governor Makinde can only be termed as the compulsive attitude of bad losers whose negative tendencies are completely unproductive.
According to OKG, the criticisms against Makinde by the APC and ALGON are not only baseless but a clear demonstration of undemocratic tendencies by political actors who have unfortunately benefitted from the nation’s democracy.
“We can only urge them to stop being bad losers and stop the incessant display of undemocratic conducts, including their call for unconstitutional intervention in Oyo State,” the OKG said.
The group stated that APC’s statement calling on President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly to adopt undemocratic measures by illegally intervening in the issue of local government in Oyo State was not only a shameful faux pas, but a portrayal of the members of the APC and ALGON in Oyo State as namby-pamby democrats.
The group further described Oyo APC’s call to President Buhari and the leadership of the National Assembly to prevail on Makinde on local government administration in Oyo State as a disgrace, noting that APC members in the State would have to avail themselves the opportunity of the free education policy of the Makinde administration and free distribution of textbooks to return to secondary school classrooms to learn Government and Civics Education, especially topics on federalism, democracy and government system.
According to the group, the claim made by the APC that Makinde’s plans to appoint caretaker committees was an affront to the judiciary and a decision to position his lackeys in office was not only strange but totally baseless, especially coming from a party that administered local governments in Oyo State with caretaker committees for seven of its eight years in office.
The group added that the claim that Makinde tried to ‘bribe’ known APC members appointed into the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) by the immediate past government was a wicked lie from the rotten pit that APC is, noting that Makinde’s offer to pay the OYSIEC members off the appointment was lawful and well-intended.
The Oyo Kajola Group (OKG) advised Makinde to go ahead if he so wishes to appoint caretaker chairmen for the local councils, as according to it, the move will enable the grassroots in Oyo State to feel the impact of government more than before.
It noted that if the Governor decides to do so, he would not be committing any infraction on the laws of the land, pending the election into the councils.
The Oyo Kajola Group also warned the Oyo State APC and its appendage, to perish the thought of its evil intention of planning to snatch the people’s mandate freely given to Governor Makinde through the Court, noting that the APC’s false hope would end up being deflated.
The group said: “On Monday, the Oyo State chapter of the APC, for the umpteenth time and in its characteristic frustrated manner, treated Nigerians to another round of its garrulous but baseless attacks on the Oyo State Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde. Silence would have been the best answer for the ninnies that Oyo APC leaders and members have become ever since they lost the March 9, 2019 governorship election.
“However, the namby-pamby democrats and bogus progressives known as Oyo APC had gone too far this time, as they called on President Buhari and the National Assembly to “prevail” on Makinde on how to administer a federating unit, Oyo State. This call, to say the least, is disgraceful, uncanny and not well-thought-out and we can only ask whether the writer and sponsors of the APC statement actually went through school or learnt anything about the federal system of Government.
“They cited some cases to buttress their disgraceful claim but they were only clever by half, as they hid a substantial part of the matters from the public with an intent to deceive and mislead the public. The truth is that Governor Makinde would not be disobeying any order by appointing an interim management for the local governments. By doing so, he would only be contributing to making the impact of governance felt more at the grassroots.
“The Oyo State APC, which has become devitalized and enfeebled by its loss in the State, instead of calling on President Buhari and the national leadership of the party to help rebuild its broken house, has been going about attacking Governor Makinde and seeking ungodly shortcuts on how to reclaim the governorship seat it lost in a free, fair and credible election. We can only wish them the best in their voyage of shame as they go ahead groping in self-inflicted darkness until they fall into their own traps.
“We, however, will not sit and watch as the Oyo State APC, which is renowned for its mendacity and barefaced dishonesty, attempt to deceive the public over what is going on in Oyo State regarding the leadership of the local government system.
“The APC, in its statement, tried to extrapolate on the Supreme Court judgment over local councils to justify its attacks on Makinde. The truth is that the cases in point are different. As the Latin maxim goes, Nemo dat quod non habet; you cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand. The election that brought in the sacked local government chairmen of the APC was illegal ab initio in that it flouted the Constitution. The election was conducted in defiance of court injunctions that restricted the government of Senator Abiola Ajimobi, a clear violation of the Constitution, which President Buhari and the National Assembly are now being asked to protect.
“It will also be recalled that the same illegal council election had marked the beginning of the end for the APC in Oyo State, as it was a festival of imposition of the cronies and flunkeys of former Governor Abiola Ajimobi. This development, indeed, led to a faction of the APC approaching the court to stop the election, using the plan of the immediate past government to conduct polls into local government councils and LCDAs as a ground for litigation.
“It is also interesting that the judgment the APC claims to have against Makinde was hurriedly procured before he took office, having been done in cahoots with the immediate past administration, which had lost grounds through Makinde’s election and was looking for a landmine to plant for the new governor.”
Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday held a high-level strategic meeting with the Oyo State chapter of the party as part of efforts to reposition the APC for victory and prevent internal crisis ahead of the polls.
The development was first scooped by OYOINSIGHT.COM which quoted multiple party sources familiar with the closed-door deliberations.
Sources disclosed that the meeting, held in Abuja, focused largely on a consensus arrangement being considered by stakeholders of the party in Oyo State, in line with political templates reportedly being adopted in Lagos and Ogun states ahead of the next electoral cycle.
Party insiders said the move was aimed at strengthening unity within the fold of the opposition party in the state, minimising rancour during the primaries and presenting a formidable front against rival parties in 2027.
It was further gathered that some members of the state executive committee may have been subtly informed about preferred consensus candidates being considered for elective positions across the state.
Though details of the deliberations were still sketchy as of press time, sources hinted that the national leadership stressed the need for cohesion, discipline and strategic alignment among stakeholders to improve the party’s electoral fortunes in Oyo.
Those at the meeting included the Oyo APC Chairman, Moses Alake Adeyemo; the state secretary, Fatai Adesina Adeniyi; the Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare; the Organising Secretary, Aderemi Adepoju; and the Legal Adviser, Sunday Aborisade.
Others were the Women Leader, Adekemi Opatunde; the Youth Leader, Olalekan Oladejo; Joshua Oyebamiji; Tunde Oloyede; Sunday Babalola; Joseph Omoniyi; and Mojeed Adebayo.
As of the time of filing this report, the party had yet to issue an official statement on the outcome of the meeting.
The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, Chief Moses Alake Adeyemo, on Monday assured aspirants and party members that the party would conduct transparent, peaceful and credible direct primaries ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Adeyemo declared that no aspirant would be victimised or denied a level playing field, stressing that the party leadership remained committed to internal democracy and progressive ideals.
The former deputy governor spoke while receiving members of the APC Screening and Appeal Committees deployed from the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja at the APC Secretariat in Oke-Ado, Ibadan.
He disclosed that although the party initially explored consensus arrangements across elective positions, prevailing realities indicated that direct primaries would be conducted in some areas, including the governorship contest.
Adeyemo said the party had already put necessary structures in place to ensure a hitch-free exercise capable of strengthening unity within the APC.
He said: “We set machineries in motion for us to achieve the aim of consensus across board but reports available to me indicate that we would have to go by the second option which is direct primary in certain cases including the governorship ticket.
“To this end, we shall work towards organising free, fair and credible exercise in all the affected areas even as we cannot rule out the possibility of some aspirants having a rethink and supporting the consensus arrangement as necessary.
“Where we have more than an aspirant, Abuja would send people to conduct primaries and we at the state level would provide the required support to make everything work out in the interest of our great party.”
The APC chairman explained that all registered party members would participate fully in the exercise at their respective wards on dates to be announced by the National Secretariat.
According to him, affirmation would be adopted in areas where consensus candidates emerge, while voting would be conducted wherever direct primaries become necessary.
“For consensus, members will lend their voices for affirmation while voting will be done in the cases of direct primary,” he added.
Speaking earlier, Chairman of the Screening Committee and former Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Taofiq AbdusSalam, assured party faithful that the committee would carry out a thorough, transparent and unbiased screening process.
He said only eligible aspirants would be cleared to participate in the primaries and eventually fly the APC flag in the forthcoming elections.
Other members of the Screening Committee are Kamal Sanusi (Secretary), Smart Oluwole, Tunde Kolade and Olabamiji Agunloye.
Members of the Screening Appeal Committee are Jibola Oduwole (Chairman), Abimbola Jack (Secretary) and Jelil Jimoh.
The Nigeria Democratic Congress on Saturday zoned its 2027 presidential ticket to Southern Nigeria, declaring that the party’s candidate would serve a single four-year term if elected.
The decision was reached during the party’s national convention held in Abuja amid growing momentum within the opposition platform following a wave of high-profile defections from other political parties.
Announcing the development on its official social media handle, the party stated, “NDC presidential ticket is zoned to the South!!”
The party also resolved that its 2031 presidential ticket would be ceded to Northern Nigeria as part of efforts to maintain regional balance and internal equity.
The convention comes as key opposition figures, including former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and former New Nigeria People’s Party presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, joined party leaders and delegates at the Abuja gathering.
Saturday’s convention is expected to ratify several recent decisions taken by the party’s National Executive Committee, including zoning arrangements, amendments to the party constitution, and the election of new national executives.
According to the convention agenda obtained by journalists, discussions centred on zoning, ratification of the amended constitution, and leadership restructuring ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The NDC has in recent weeks witnessed a surge in defections from rival opposition parties, particularly the African Democratic Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party.
On Tuesday, no fewer than 17 members of the House of Representatives defected from the ADC to the NDC.
Their defections were formally announced during plenary at the House of Representatives.
The lawmakers include Yusuf Datti, Uchenna Okonkwo, Adamu Wakili, Thaddeus Attah, George Ozodinobi, Lilian Orogbu, Oluwaseyi Sowunmi, Peter Aniekwe, Mukhtar Zakari, George Oluwande and Munachim Umezuruike.
Others are Emeka Idu, Jesse Onuakalusi, Ifeanyi Uzokwe, Afam Ogene, Murphy Omoruyi and Abdulhakeem Ado.
The defections came barely two days after Obi and Kwankwaso formally joined the NDC from the ADC.
The duo were presented with the party’s membership cards last Sunday shortly after a closed-door meeting with party leaders.
A former Governor of Bayelsa State and NDC national leader, Seriake Dickson, officially welcomed the opposition figures into the party.
Obi had attributed his exit from the ADC to worsening internal crises, external interference and what he described as increasing hostility within party structures.
The former Anambra State governor said Nigeria’s political environment had become increasingly toxic, marked by intimidation, insecurity and sustained scrutiny of opposition figures.
He also lamented that institutions meant to protect citizens were now often deployed against them, while individuals committed to genuine public service faced mounting pressure both publicly and privately.
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