Fresh crisis is brewing in the State of Osun chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as there is said to be a grand plot to suspend some party members.
Some of the top party leaders claimed that the intended suspension was intended to penalize those party members who were reportedly engaged in anti-party activities during the just concluded general elections.
The APC chieftains claim that some of former governor Adegboyega Oyetola’s staunchest supporters were pressing for the suspension of party members because they thought it would clean up the organization.
According to sources who spoke anonymously to the medium, party members suspected of working against the party during the presidential, national, and state assembly elections have been asked to submit their identities.
According to OSUN DEFENDER report stumbled on a message sent to some WhatsApp groups which were exclusively for Oyetola’s loyalists in which there was a call for the submission of names of party members alleged of anti-party to the party secretariat.
The message sighted on a group being administered by a young former commissioner and a strong member of Oyetola’s cabinet, reads: “Attention Please! I am directed to inform you that we should collate the names, address and the ward of the party members, no matter of his/her hierarchy in the party that has committed anti-party activities in the just concluded general elections. Such names collated should be forwarded to the state party secretariat latest Tuesday, March 28, 2023.”
However, investigations showed that no name has been submitted to the Secretariat as of the time of filing this report yesterday.
A source at the party secretariat said: “I am aware that some people in the party are making move to suspend some party members because of anti-party. But no name has been submitted at the secretariat. However, I don’t think that move is on the right path; it is a wrong move.
“This is not the time to suspend members on frivolous allegation. We cannot continue to deplete membership of the party. We need to learn from our mistakes but some selfish politicians are ready to collapse this party for their selfish interests. And these are people who were not with us until recently. And people who are misinforming former governor Oyetola just to butter their bread.”
It was gathered that the suspension move is not targeted at only loyalists of the minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.
“There are some members of the party who worked against the APC because they did not like the candidate of the party. These set of people are also penciled down for punishment”, said the APC chieftains.
The medium learnt that the poor show of the APC at the last general election, particularly at the state House of Assembly poll pained Oyetola and his supporters, hence the need to search for scapegoats within the party.
It would be recalled that the APC lost all the three senatorial, nine House of Representatives and 25 House of Assembly seats to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The electoral loss, it was learnt, has further exposed the political weakness of Oyetola and his followers before the President-elect, Sen. Bola Tinubu.
Commenting on the suspension move, a member of IleriOluwa caucus of the APC who prayed not to be named told the medium that the people behind the plot were those who do not want the party to settle for them to sustain their relevance.
The politician who was a commissioner under Oyetola’s administration said they have advised the former governor and the party leaders not to support any move that will further plunge the party into crisis.
“Unfortunately, Oyetola has lost the control of these self-styled political strategists. Oga (oyetola) is at the mercy of these selfish people. some of us are not happy with what is happening; the fact that some of the people misinforming and misdirecting oga were not with us in 2018 even put their sincerity on party affairs into question.
When contacted, the Director of Media of Osun APC, Mr. Kola Olabisi, said he was not aware of the move to suspend any party member.
Olabisi said: “I am not aware of any collation of names, or suspension move by anybody. You are just telling me that.”
Asked the step being taken by the party to address members issues surrounding anti-party, Olabisi said only the party chairman has the authority to speak on that.
This is just as the Acting Chairman of the party, Chief Tajudeen Lawal, was not reachable on phone.
Credit Osun Defender