By Tunde Adeyemi
The public attention has been drawn to the feeble but late attempts by the cronies of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State to justify his ignominious position on the zoning of the presiding officers of the 10th National Assembly done by the NWC. of the APC. in consultation with the President-Elect.
One of such attempts is the poorly crafted piece by a faceless KUNLE OGUNSAKIN aimed at vitiating the response of the people of the state as echoed by respected Dr O. N. Akeredolu and Amb. Sola Iji to the hypocritical nature of AKETI on the zoning arrangement.
While it is normal that they will want to divert attention from the public opprobrium that greeted this unprovoked coup d’etat against the party, it is expected that they will dig into facts before coming out with that piece.
The fact remains that Amb. SOLA IJI served as the State Chairman of the ALLIANCE FOR DEMOCRACY (AD) 2003 – 2007, re-elected as the State Chairman of the ACTION CONGRESS (AC) 2006 – 2010, Pioneer State Chairman, ACTION CONGRESS OF NIGERIA (ACN) Sept., 2010 – Dec. 2010 and National Exco Member, ACN. Dec. 2010 – 2013.
After the excruciating defeat of AD. by the PDP. across the South West states (with the exception of Lagos State) in 2003, it is only irrational minds that will not appreciate the effort of the National and State leaders of the party to keep the STRUCTURES alive through several parties that were established before the birth of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Again, any discerning mind would readily fault the writers concerning the character painted in their story as it did not in any way fit the caliber of Amb. SOLA IJI who enjoyed the confidence and support of the parties for eleven years prompting his election and re-election as a party leader in the state.
The truth is that the damage control contemplated by their response to the UNVEILING THE HYPOCRITICAL NATURE OF AKEREDOLU scripted by Dr O. N. Akeredolu and Amb. Iji came too late as many people were able to see the other side of Saint AKETI.
While I will not want to dabble into his style of governance as the Governor of Ondo State and leave the people of the State and posterity to do the judgement, I want to say that his autocratic management approach of handling the party’s affairs in the state does not represent anything close to Justice and Equity he is trying to sermonize across the country.
For a man who had single-handedly hand-picked all Candidates of the party for various elective positions since assuming power in 2016 without recourse to fairness, he can not be seen claiming to be championing the sanctity of the tenets of DEMOCRACY.
For a man who caused the salaries of some Members of the State House of Assembly to be stopped for expressing opposing views, he must not be seen anywhere close to the table where Justice is being served.
For a man whose words and actions are laws in the handling of party’s affairs in the State, he must not be seen complaining about the management of the party at the National level.
His Excellency, Governor Akeredolu, should recognize that the stoic silence maintained by the party leaders in the state is in deference to his position as the leader of the party in the state and not necessarily as a conquered territory. He should, therefore, learn to respect the decisions of the party leaders above him and be a team player like other Governors
Finally, it is too early to arouse an act of ganging up against the yet to be inaugurated government of ASIWAJU BOLA AHMED TINUBU. Let us give him the necessary support and enabling environment to settle down for the onerous task of delivering his promises to Nigerians.
TUNDE ADEYEMI writes from Ikare Akoko, Ondo State.
