As preparation for the governorship election of Oyo gathers momentum, Insideoyo.com has reliably gathered that Accord has settled for Sen. Olufemi Lanlehin.
According to sources within the party, the leadership had to settle for Lanlehin in order to prevent any crack in the camp of the party.
Many party faithful, it was gathered, were said to be happy with the ‘deal’ as it will enable former governor Rashidi Ladoja to play a strategic role as the leader of the party.
Ladoja had been speculated to be considering contesting the election for the fourth time, in 2019, an action many members of the party see as counter-productive.
It was learnt that the ‘deal’ is being kept from many people in order to ‘protect’ the former senator from being ‘dress down’.
Lanlehin, who represented Oyo South senatorial district, defected from the All Progressives Congress, APC, to Accord in the build-up to the 2015 governorship election when it was obvious incumbent Governor Abiola Ajimobi would run for another term.
Reacting, an Accord member in the Oyo State House of Assembly, who did not want name in print, denied the report, saying that people might have insinuated that “because, Lanlehin is the only person who has shown interest after our leader-Sen. Rashidi Ladoja; they might have come up with that calculation should Ladoja decides not to contest.”
He, however, said the calculation is a possibility, but added that “apart from Accord, a coalition is being worked on to make al opposition parties come together to dislodge the ruling APC in the state. Anything can still happen. But after our leader, only Lanlehin has shown interest.”