Fulfill 2019 Coalition Agreements, Oyo ADC Candidates Tell Makinde

 

Another political crisis may be brewing in Oyo State as the House of Assembly candidates on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2019 general election yesterday accused the state Governor, Seyi Makinde, of not fulfilling any of the agreements reached with them in 2019.

The candidates made the revelation on Tuesday evening while addressing journalists at a press conference held at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat in Ibadan.

Present at the conference were Mr. Gaphar Ojetola (Ibadan North Constituency 1), who was the spokesperson; Tolani Adigun Tajudeen (Ibadan South West Constituency 1), Habeeb Idowu Balogun (Ibadan South West Constituency 2), Paul Alagbe (Ogbomoso North) and Akindipe Abiodun Akinsunbo (Ibadan North West).

There was an agreement between the political gladiators and political parties that worked for the success of Makinde during the gubernatorial election, it was learnt.

The climax of the agreements was when a former Governor of the state, Senator Rasheed Ladoja, raised the hand of Makinde as the candidate to support in the March 9, 2019, gubernatorial election.

Ladoja prevailed on the gubernatorial candidate of ADC, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin; Sharafadeen Alli of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), and Chief Bolaji Ayorinde of Social Democratic Party (SDP) among other political gladiators to jettison their ambitions with an appeal to them to support Makinde in the election.

But, the House of Assembly candidates, who were also part of the agreements, yesterday insisted that Makinde is yet to fulfill the agreements reached with them nine months after his inauguration, stating that they had sacrificed so much than to be abandoned, used and dumped, ignored or treated in that manner.

According to Ojetola, "It is important to note that the alliance on March 2, 2019, was the master stroke that changed the calculus of the political landscape in Oyo State which gave the four parties the deserving victory that threw up Seyi Mankinde as the Oyo State governor.

"There were terms of agreements to the alliance of March 2, 2019, with a sharing formula of political appointments across boards, all the coalition parties agreed to the terms without any reservation.

"As the House of Assembly candidates of the ADC, which election ran concurrently with that of the governorship elections, we thus became eventually the direct casualties and sacrificial lambs of the alliance as all the 32 seats of the House of Assembly went along the coalition governorship candidacy of Makinde.

"It is important to stress that we did not request for and were not given any financial compensation before consenting to the terms of the alliance as we were repeatedly assured that we shall be the first consideration for political appointments. These assurances were also reemphasised with us by the governor during his Thank You visit to Senator Lanlehin residence.

"We regret to announce that almost nine months into this government, Makinde has not fulfilled any of the agreement reached with our principal, Senator Lanlehin. The governor as a man of honour, should as a matter of importance and urgency redeem his promises according to the terms of agreement with Lanlehin.

"The body language of the governor is that of abandonment to fulfilling his own part of the agreement despite that we have staked everything possible to his electoral victory at the polls. The victory was our joint efforts and the terms of the promises should be fulfilled without further delay. We have sacrificed so much to be abandoned, used and dumped, ignored or treated in this manner. We should be setting good precedence as we did in the last election for other states to follow in similar circumstances.”

He added that "on several occasions, we have contacted the governor. Our leader has made several attempts to call and reach him. I can't tell you the number of times Lanlehin has made attempt to reach him. We waited too long."