By Bisi Oladele, Ibadan
Crisis has hit the Oyo State chapter of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as members and leaders of the party have disagreed over the party’s relationship with the Governor Seyi Makinde-led administration.
While members led by Sen. Monsurat Sunmonu passed a vote of confidence on Makinde a few days ago, the Secretary and Publicity Secretary of the party in the state, Mr. Wasiu Emiola and Mr. Bimpe Adelowo, respectively, have warned the governor to be wary of them.
The Sunmonu-led faction had hailed Makinde for his administration’s decision so far, stressing that the governor was handling the coalition that worked for his victory on the March 9 election well.
ADC is one of the parties that collaborated with Makinde’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the governorship election. Other parties were the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
ADC itself is made up of five entities- the Unity Forum, which is a breakaway faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Rashidi Ladoja’s faction of the PDP, members of the Coalition Movement of Nigeria (CMN), members of the Labour Party (LP) and original ADC members.
The governorship candidates of the ADC Sen. Olufemi Lanlehin; ZLP’s Sharafadeen Alli and those of other coalescing parties stood down for PDP’s Makinde in the election.
But sharing of political appointments has been causing a crack in the coalition since May 29 when Makinde was sworn in.
Lanlehin had two months ago, opted out of the coalition, but Makinde was said to have visited him to assure him of his commitment to the agreement and fairness in patronage.
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In the statement on Thursday, Emiola and Adelowo said the Sunmonu faction was only out to curry favour with the governor.
They described the Sunmonu group as a “group of drowning political scavengers.”
The group warned Makinde to be wary of those it called sycophants milling around in the name of ADC to get appointments to satisfy their political desire.
They said the purported communiqué of the expanded state executive meeting of the party did not emanate from the party and did not reflect the deliberations at the meeting.
The statement said ADC’s participation in the coalition government led by Governor Makinde had not in any way rendered the party a surrogate to another party, adding that contrary to the claim in the communiqué by the group, ADC had been holding its meetings with a view to repositioning it for future elections.
It read in part: “There was nowhere the state executive has ever misrepresented the position of ADC by saying we are looking for alternative to Governor Makinde. Our interest as a party is primarily about serving the people of the state for their maximum benefit.
“This is one reason ADC is participating in the coalition government and we are in full support of every good programme initiated and implemented by Governor Makinde.
“However, we want to state that participating in the coalition government has not rendered ADC a surrogate to another party. We must, therefore, organise and rebuild our party make it viable and formidable to contribute meaningfully to the coalition government for the benefit of the people.”
“We are not unaware of the fact that not every member of the coalition parties will be appointed for one position or another. But instead of putting Governor Makinde under pressure to accommodate every member, we would rather structure ADC to help the coalition government succeed.
“The era of the structure and organs of the party being controlled from the room corner of elders or leaders has gone for good. Leaders and elders are members of the party and are our invaluable assets. It is therefore important for our members to imbibe the principle of party supremacy.”
While commending Makinde for the strides recorded in key sectors of the state, ADC urged him to be wary of “sycophants who are out for political appointments for their insatiable appetite.”
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