A report by The Guardian indicates that there was mild drama at the Oyo State secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday when angry members of the party pelted the national chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje and his entourage, who were on a visit with sachets of water over alleged marginalisation and ill-treatment meted to the chapter.
According to the report, the visit somehow turned sour, as some aggrieved party members protested what it described as the APC national body working against their governorship candidate, Senator Teslim Folarin, in the March 18 gubernatorial poll.
The protesters started shouting the name of Folarin and were simultaneously pelting sachets of water at Ganduje and his entourage, which included the national vice chairman, southwest, Isaac Kekemeke; Ayo Afolabi, former minister of communications, Bayo Shittu among others, as they were about leaving the party secretariat.
It was gathered that part of their grievances was President Bola Tinubu’s choice of not picking a party member as a minister but deciding to appoint Mr. Bayo Adelabu, the gubernatorial candidate of the Accord Party, in the last election.
They lamented that up till now, Adelabu, who was given the works ministry, has yet to return to APC.
They booed Ganduje, saying the National Working Committee (NWC) has practically destroyed the Oyo chapter due to its continuous romance with Governor Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
On the governor’s directive, it was also alleged that the Oyo state government provided all the logistics, security, and vehicles, among others, for Ganduje and his entourage.
Addressing Ganduje earlier, the Oyo APC chairman, Isaac Omodewu, expressed displeasure that the state chapter is yet to be duly compensated for its work for President Tinubu’s emergence in the last election.
He said: “As events that heralded the last general elections are still fresh in our memory, we must inform you that Oyo APC remains an unsung hero because we got little support, but we delivered beyond expectations.
“In spite of the fact that we had no sitting governor in Oyo, electioneering was quite challenging as we had to face a lot of hostilities from the PDP government in the state.
“All these attacks were documented and reported, but unfortunately, the same people behind the attacks are now the ones laying claim to our hard-earned victory at the February 25 presidential poll.”
Responding, Ganduje appealed to all conflicting factions and stakeholders within the state to set aside their differences and prioritise peace for the party’s success.
He acknowledged the internal crisis within the party, emphasising that the APC national leadership is well aware of the situation and is advocating for unity to strengthen the party.
While recognising the dedicated efforts of party members in securing victory during the last presidential election, he emphasised the importance of unity moving forward.
