Tag: Kashamu

As Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) prepares for the October local government election, Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, examines the likely effect of the lingering political rivalry of the factions to the fortunes of the party

WITHIN the Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the October 8, 2016 Local Government Election in the state is no longer just another local council poll. It is now considered a veritable battleground to settle, once and for all, the lingering power show between two money bags, Senator Buruji Kashamu and Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu, who are laying claims to the leadership and control of the party in the state.

For the two National Assembly lawmakers, the stake is very high as they both have their eyes on the possibility of becoming fully in charge of the state party structure before 2019 general elections. While Kashamu, the senator representing Ogun East Senatorial District at the Red Chamber, wants to consolidate his hold on the party in the state as a step towards his big dream of becoming the party’s South-West leader by 2019, Adebutu, who represents Remo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, according to insiders, has his eyes fixed on the next governorship race.

Already, the rivalry between these two lawmakers, which has lingered for so long, has left the party in the state fatally wounded. The Nation investigation during the week shows that as the party prepares for the October local government polls, the matter has become even more pronounced as some members are confused following the factionalisations and the conflicting influence of the leaders.

The factionalisation of the opposition party at the centre has further worsened the matter. This is aptly captured by the confusion caused by the litigation at various courts which gave conflicting judicial verdicts on the party’s bona fide state executive. It has been alleged that the faction led by Chief Adebayo Dayo is loyal to Kashamu while Hon. Sikirulai Ogundele-led faction allegedly has Adebutu’s support.

At the onset, aside the Kashamu and Adebutu factions, there was another group, led by Chief Wale Egunleti, which had sympathy for the former House of Representatives Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, then alleged to be also interested in contesting the governorship race. It was not until after the three factions had held their different conventions on May 11 that the Bankole group merged with Adebutu’s group.

So, today, in virtually all the 20 local government areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state, PDP members remain overtly divided amongst the two factions, making the party possibly the most disadvantaged amongst the 17 political parties that have reportedly indicated interest to present chairmanship and councillorship candidates in the election.

The grand confusion

So, as Ogun State prepares for the proposed local government election in October this year, insiders said there is deep confusion in the PDP, the leading opposition party which held power in the state for many years before it was dislodged by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last elections. A source traced the confusion to the development last May when the three factions in the state held parallel congresses and produced different state executives.

Since then, no one has been able to provide feasible solution to the confusion in Ogun State PDP probably because the PDP national leadership itself is also deeply factionalised. It is still common to hear rival groups in Ogun hinterland expressing their loyalty to either Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee or Senator Ali Modu Sheriff faction of the party.

The overall result of this confusion, according to a top official of Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC), is the difficulty of knowing the authentic faction to accord recognition in the forthcoming local government election.

Already, we gathered that in all the local government areas, two separate lists of chairmanship and councillorship candidates from the Dayo and Ogundele factions were submitted to the electoral body.

The confusion deepened and became almost institutionalised when the state electoral umpire screened lists from the two factions. When observers expressed fear over the likely effect of the action of the state electoral body, Mutiu Agboke, the Commissioner III in OGSIEC, who chaired the Screening Committee, in an effort to justify the action said that day, “We have so many court judgments with us; they are not contradictory… They are judgments on different issues and we are not the Court of Appeal to decide on which judgment is superior to the other…

“The INEC has not responded to our letter; no clear-cut direction and that is the reason. But we don’t want to be caught in the web and that is why we are screening the two factions.”

It is noteworthy that when INEC later replied OGSIEC via a letter dated August 9, 2016, saying it recognises only the Dayo-led executive as the authentic state executive, the much expected reply could not resolve the crisis.

Instead of settling the matter finally, the rivalry took a new turn when OGSIEC came up later to announce that it would recognise the list of candidates submitted by the Ogundele-led faction. Agboke explained that the decision was informed by an order of an Abeokuta High Court delivered by Justice Mobolaji Ojo on May 26, 2016.

Pointing out that the court specifically addressed the issue of giving recognition to Ogundele’s faction as against the conflicting judgments of Federal High Courts of Abuja, Lagos and Port- Harcourt on the party’s leadership squabble, he said, “so, we are going to recognise the list of candidates that has been put forward by Sikiru Ogundele-led faction of PDP and we are going to release the list of eligible candidates to the faction.”

As would be expected, Kashamu’s faction cried blue murder, vowing to challenge what they described as the commission’s “illegality and injustice” in court.

After an emergency stakeholders meeting in Ijebu-Igbo, Dayo told newsmen that his group will fight its exclusion from the local government elections. The angry leadership of the faction also dragged the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, to court, seeking stoppage of the allocations due to the local governments in the state.

The plaintiffs also joined the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr. Olumide Ayeni, and OGSIEC as defendants in the suit filed before a Federal High Court, Abuja.

Justifying the decision of the Dayo-led faction to go to court again, Kashamu said INEC had recognised the Dayo-led executive and duly notified OGSIEC about it. He therefore expressed surprise that the state electoral body should take a different path.

Responding, Ogundele denied that the crisis rocking the party was all about the rift between him and Kashamu, pointing out “that PDP members must unite and forge a common front during the council polls. Our victory at OGSIEC is that of no victor, no vanquished. That’s how I can describe it. We are just one PDP family and we must just bury the hatchet. We just need to come back together,” he added.

Just last month, at the botched PDP National Convention, the animosity between the two Ogun State lawmakers was again brought to fore in far away Port Harcourt. There, Adebutu alleged that he was attacked by Kashamu’s touts.

Adebutu had reportedly told newsmen that “Kashamu mobilised hundreds of thugs from Lagos State to the venue of the convention. The thugs swooped on me at the car park of the hotel where we lodged. The thugs told me that the convention we came for was illegal and I told them to allow us go ahead, whether it was illegal or not.

“They just descended on me and stripped my dress and continued to beat me. They overpowered me. They said I was stubborn and would force me to bow to Kashamu. I started shouting ‘help, help, help.’

“I ran to the reception of the hotel to take cover. My distress shout attracted the attention of other delegates and those from Senator Ahmed Makarfi’s camp, who came to rescue me from the jaws of death.”

Reacting through his media aide, Mr. Austin Oniyokor, Kashamu said there was no contact between him and Adebutu.

According to Oniyokor’s account: “Senator Kashamu had gone to the Presidential Hotel in Port Harcourt, in company with members of the BoT of the party;

“As he made to leave and walked towards the car park, he saw Honourable Adebutu and instead of him to extend the usual courtesy expected from a younger one to the elderly, he (Adebutu) began to shout in Yoruba, saying ‘what are you doing here? Go to Sheriff’s convention.’

“At that point, a stupefied Senator Kashamu wondered what was wrong with Adebutu and beckoned on one of his aides to ask why he (Adebutu) was so unruly.

“When Senator Kashamu sought to move closer to him to have a brotherly discussion, Adebutu rebuffed him and then sped towards the hotel’s reception, where he again began to shout on top of his voice, asking Kashamu to go to Sheriff’s convention.

“At that point, the senator left him, entered his vehicle and drove off. You can, therefore, imagine our consternation upon reading the report of an imaginary attack,” Oniyokor said.

Hard nut to tie

Given the intricate link between the power game in Ogun State PDP and that of the national leadership of the party, observers say it is a hard nut to crack and that it may remain so until the problem at the centre is fully resolved. This is because Ladi Adebutu’s current influence derives partly from the fact that he aligned with the Makarfi- led Caretaker Committee while Buruji Kashamu is believed to be the main architect of the Senator Ali Modu Sherriff’s legal battles to retain control of the PDP.

After the PDP National Executive Council (NEC) extended the tenure of the National Caretaker Committee by one year within which a fresh National Convention must be organised, we gathered that many party stakeholders in Ogun State have also joined forces with the Adebutu faction, describing it as the likely option to reposition the party in the state.

It remains to be seen how far this will go in ensuring victory for the party in the state at the LG polls. Most informed observers agree however that the inability of the leaders to agree amongst themselves is a bad omen for the party that once held sway in the state.