Bolaji Akinola, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Wasinmi, Ewekoro local government area of Ogun state, says the people of the state have had enough of Ibikunle Amosun, governor of the state.
Speaking with journalists in Abeokuta, the state capital on Tuesday, Akinola accused Amosun of willfully imposing candidates on the party without recourse to democratic processes.
He said only those handpicked by the governor during the congresses held across the state were returned to office.
“The way and manner Governor Amosun carries on in Ogun state should concern any well-meaning party member,” he said.
“The governor neither consults nor allows the popular will to prevail. He imposes whomever he wants on the party and that’s it.
“I fully participated in all the congresses and I can tell you authoritatively that there was no voting anywhere except in Ifo constituency 1 and that was because the deputy speaker of Ogun assembly, Hon. Taiwo Oluomo, who is the state lawmaker from Ifo constituency, defied Amosun and insisted that the right thing be done.
“During the state congress in May also, there were no elections. No party member can come out and say they voted for any one candidate. All the party executives that emerged, from the chairman, chief Derin Adebiyi to the lowest position, were all handpicked by Amosun the night before. They just announced their names to us and that was it.”
He argued that the real primary conducted in the state produced Dapo Abiodun and that any other primary is nothing but a sham.
He said any attempt to impose an unpopular candidate on the people would backfire.
“The real primaries in Ogun state APC was the one that produced Dapo Abiodun as our governorship candidate. Every other thing, including the so-called primaries conducted by the Derin-led exco, which purportedly produced Abdulkadri Akinlade, is nothing but a sham,” he said.
“Forget the propaganda dished out daily by the apparatus of the state government; people are unhappy with the Amosun administration and that’s why he is afraid of popular votes. He will rather write results than subject his candidates to popular votes.
“But we are at the point where we are saying ‘enough is enough’ to Amosun and his co-travellers. Our people have been subjugated and held in bondage for too long and the time for their liberation is now.
“Akinlade is not a popular candidate and any attempt to impose him on the state will backfire against the APC as a party, but with someone like Dapo Abiodun, who was chosen by the popular will of the people, victory is sure.”
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