As Bamidele’s governorship bid opens new frontiers in Ekiti REPORT ACCORDING TO NIGERIAN TRIBUNE bamidele fayemiThe news making the rounds about of Honourable Opeyemi Bamidele, the seriousness or otherwise about his bid to contest for the governorship of Ekiti State against Governor Kayode Fayemi has daily become instructive. The latest of the unfolding news and events about Bamidele’s ambition is his formal resignation as the leader of Ekiti State Caucus in the House of Representatives. He had been in the position since the election of 2011 and is representing Ekiti Central Federal Constituency I, which comprises Ado Ekiti and Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Areas of the state. The resignation letter made public by Bamidele on Tuesday, did not come to many people in the state as a surprise. On July 9, 2013, the other members of the House from the state had announced Bamidele’s sack as their leader of the House caucus, citing various reasons and replaced him with Mr. Robinson Ajiboye. The other members namely: Dr. Ife Arowosoge (Ekiti South West, Ikere, Ise/Orun); Mr. Bimbo Daramola (Oye, Ikole); Mr. Oyetunde Ojo (Ekiti West, Ijero, Efon); Mr. BamideleFaparusi (Gboyin, Emure, Ekiti East) and Mr. Robinson Ajiboye (Ido/Osi, Moba, Ilejemeje) announced Ajiboye as their new leader. Among other reasons, they claimed that Bamidele did not carry them along in his decisions. For instance, they alleged that he never, at any time, informed them that he was interested in the governorship position of the state and that he did not notify the caucus of his desire to vie for the ticket on the platform of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), with Governor Fayemi. As a matter of fact, they accused him of being openly opposed to Dr. Fayemi, saying he seemed to hold “personal grievances with our governor.” Following the action of Ajiboye et al, the national leader of defunct ACN, Senator Bola Tinubu, in a statement said to have been personally signed by him, rebuked them for the action and asked for its immediate reversal. Within 24 hours of Bamidele’s removal, Tinubu was quoted to have said “I have said before, any party member has a right to contest the governorship of Ekiti or any other state. Any other person, including Opeyemi Bamidele, has the right to. This right is so fundamental to internal democracy that I do not believe he should be sanctioned at this point where all he has done is make unofficial statements about contesting. Our party cannot join the club of other parties that punish members for expressing interests in an office.” Tinubu was further quoted thus: “It has been reported that members of the Ekiti State Caucus in the House of Representatives suspended Honourable Bamidele, as their leader because of his alleged declaration to contest the governorship election next year. I have not seen an official word through the party machinery about this action. However, I feel compelled to speak to dispel rumuor and false report from assuming the aspect of fact. “The news of the purported removal of Bamidele came as a surprise. The decision of the members of the Ekiti House Caucus in this regard truncates ongoing efforts at reconciliation. Notwithstanding the fact that the party leadership is working hard to reconcile all sides, what took some members of the leadership of the party to Ekiti State recently was a continuation of the process of appeal and reconciliation. The objective here is to first understand and iron out the issues that have resulted in a gulf between Bamidele and Governor Fayemi on one hand and the party towards building a formidable political house in Ekiti.” Further to this, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, the leader of the South-West caucus of ACN in the House, addressed newsmen and overruled the action of Bamidele’s colleagues. The Ekiti lawmakers reportedly stood their ground on the premise that what Bamidele was doing in the state amounted to undermining the party in the state and its leadership. The matter went under and had remained there until Tuesday. But before then, Bamidele himself had described his removal as the caucus leader by his colleagues as a joke, claiming that the action went beyond them as, according to him, such powers were only vested in the leadership of their party. So, when his resignation letter went public on Tuesday, it was not news to Ekiti people, who had already taken in the action since it became a public issue in July. Interestingly, before the July action of Bamidele’s colleagues, Senator Tinubu was in Ekiti and had a meeting with members of ACN from various strata of the party. There, he expressed support for the second term bid of Dr Fayemi following what he said was his above-broad performance. But soon after, Bamidele reacted that nobody could stop his ambition and also denied that Tinubu endorsed Fayemi for second term. That, like the previous issue, was not clearly sorted out, or was again blurred from the public. The Bamidele issue got to a head last month when he came to Ado Ekiti to, according to him, “launch Ekiti Bibiire Coalition and declare my governorship ambition,” and his supporters were tear-gassed by the police in the state. After the dispersal of his rally and arrest of some of his members, Bamidele announced that he was, “more than ever before prepared for the governorship race and no amount of intimidation can deter me after the measure of love and support shown to me by Ekiti people.” Thus, to pave the way for the battle ahead, he has confirmed the speculation of the people by formally handing in his resignation as the Ekiti caucus leader in the House of Representatives via a letter, addressed to Governor Fayemi, on Tuesday. In the letter which was copied the Speaker of the House, Honourable Aminu Waziri Tambuwal; Senator Tinubu and Mr Gbajabiamila, who is also the Minority Leader of the House, Bamidele said he was resigning with immediate effect. According to him, “this resignation has become a cogent and compelling step for me to take at this time to enable me pursue, by the special grace and uncommon favour of Almighty God, my aspiration to be governor of Ekiti State by 2014 based on my personal conviction and in response to the popular demand and clarion call of well-meaning Ekiti sons and daughters at home and in the Diaspora who believe that our dear state needs a critical intervention at this time so as not to become a failed state.” In the letter, Bamidele said: “I can no longer tarry in responding to the yearnings and aspirations of the violated children, the deserted youth, the disillusioned women, the unfulfilled civil and public servants, the neglected artisans, the jobless and underemployed men as well as the heart-broken elder statesmen and frustrated founding fathers, who genuinely desire to see the emergence of a rallying point (across political and ideological divides) that would herald in a new and united Ekiti State where our past glory will be brought back from sabbatical.” With the resignation, it is no longer in doubt that the Ekiti 2014 governorship would be a fight to the finish among the various stakeholders in the various political parties. However, the implication of this long-expected move by Bamidele for the All Progressives Congress (APC) has remained a matter for conjecture among political observers in the state and beyond. It had long been in the realm of speculation which political party Bamidele would pitch his tent, with the overwhelming favourite being the Labour Party. However, since former Governor Ayo Fayose, left the Labour with his supporters and went back to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in which he is today one of the leading governorship aspirants, the party appear not to have had a foot in Ekiti. Observers contend that Bamidele’s entry would revive the party in the state but others say he may not go to the party. The contention against LP steps from the belief among some people that Bamidele would appear too predictable if he goes into the party because for about one year now, the rumour had been that he was going to Labour. Already, LP link has even grown popular among his colleagues in the National Assembly, with one of them announcing that he had painted his campaign office in the colours of the party. While this statement turned out to be untrue, the rumour is so strong and had attracted the interest of some people outside the party. It has been touted that the Federal Government led by PDP has a soft spot for the party, when the Ondo State governorship election is put in perspective. Or put differently, it is the contention in many quarters that LP is a branch of PDP. Thus, it is explained that should Bamidele go to LP, he could receive some kind of support from the PDP leaders. And that highlights the problem of ideology which would expectedly trail Bamidele, more commonly referred to as MOB by his admirers. Whether he finally goes to LP or wherever he goes to with his supporters, he would have the issue of ideology to deal with. According to some observers, “he has been known among those who refer to themselves as progressives for a long time and now that he is leaving them, they would stifle him in so many ways, including on the ideology front.” What he would do in this regard remains to be seen in the coming days. Again, the political structure he is expected to use in achieving his ambition remains a secret, just as the political party. Given that the amount of work he did in time past, especially during his campaign for the Senate (after which he settled for the House), could have earned him admirers from all parts of the state, some people are of the opinion that Governor Fayemi, through the years, had taken out of his supporters, if not most of them with appointments and sundry government patronage. The impact of the moves by Dr. Fayemi obviously the governor will obviously tell on the fortunes of Bamidele in the coming contest. For instance, some observers alleged that the people that accompanied Bamidele to the meeting he had with the acting National Chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande and Tinubu were those they referred to as “political lightweights” who they claimed could not pull the necessary weight to win elections. But the mystery about the sustained campaign and seeming forward-looking of Bamidele is still a factor in the coming months. Some people in the state believe that the mystery about his move remains a source of worry for APC in the state. The class with this opinion believes that he cannot win the governorship all by himself and the followership he is perceived to have without the support of major movers of the politics of the state. They contend that, for Bamidele to make any impact, he must align with PDP which is the other major party in the politics of the state. They calculate that should the PDP pick a strong, acceptable candidate from the Southern district of the state, which they also believe would augur well for the party, and seek partnership with Bamidele, who hails from the Central district, after agreements and horse trading, APC could be in for a big fight. Another rumour making the rounds in Ekiti is that Bamidele’s governorship is still far from being a reality. It is believed that he is being lobbied by PDP to return to the House, where he could emerge as the Speaker as the party might zone the office to the South-West again. This is also still in the offing. Meanwhile, the MOB foot soldiers said to be all over the state, but are not yet known with some of the political heavyweights in the state. But being from Central district, which is now the beautiful bride in the current political dispensation in the state, the Southern agitation and Bamidele’s ambition, if well worked-out, according to some analyses could erode the strength of the Northern district, where Fayemi, a sure candidate of APC, hails from.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 15:09:43 +0000
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