Few days after a former Governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja and his supporters defected to the African Democratic Congress, ADC, a simmering crisis is already brewing over who should be the governorship candidate of the party.
Besides, a significant proportion of members of the Unity Forum who are mainly from the camp of the former governor, Alhaji Lamidi Adesina are nursing the fears that the former governor may want to favour his supporters at their own expense.
While speaking with one of the members of ADC yesterday in a telephone interview, he said as much as they are happy that the former governor would increase the fortune of the party in the 2019 election, they would not want a repeat of what they allegedly suffered under the APC ruling government.
The source said, “it was as a result of marginalisation of most of us from Lamidi Adesina’s political camp that we dumped APC, now that we are in ADC, we want things to be clearly spelt out especially with the recent defection of Ladoja and his people.”
“We hope he would not try how they split the PDP apart here in ADC. All the camps should get equal share of political offices.”
Another chieftain of the party who preferred anonymity also aligned with the first source but said there are no fears concerning other political offices.
What we don’t want is for the camp of Ladoja to get the governorship candidate. This is because the same thing we suffered under Governor Abiola Ajimobi may be repeated “.
But, the Secretary of the forum, Dr Wasiu Olatunbosun allayed the fears of other members of the group saying things are falling in place as expected.
He said, “Ladoja’s efforts in Ajimobi’s self acclaimed victory in 2007 are still fresh among discerning minds of people in the state and beyond.
“If the coalition did not fail in 2007 when Ajimobi left Action Congress because he couldn’t pick the gubernatorial ticket of the party for the unknown All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP with the support of Chief Adewolu Ladoja, there is nothing to fear.
He described the former governor and two former Secretaries to the Oyo State Government who are now in ADC as people of proven integrity with track records.
(The Vanguard)