Amosun Vows To Deal With APC Senators Trying To Precipitate Crisis In Ogun

Posted by African Examiner Latest Headlines, News, Politics Tuesday, January 21st, 2014

Ayo Balogun, Lagos

Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, Nigeria has vowed to deal ruthlessly with senators representing Ogun under the banner of the All Progressive Congress (APC) if they do not desist from plots to foment crisis in the state in order to realize their selfish ambition in 2015.

Gov. Amosun of Ogun state, Nigeria

Amosun, in a letter written to Senator Olugbenga Obadara, Chairman, Senate Committee on Privatisation and Ogun State representative, said Obadara and other senators representing Ogun State under the APC have been trying to cause disturbance in the state due to their selfish ambition.

The governor said he had instructed all the Local Government chairmen that they would be held responsible for any violence in their domain and that they must be vigilant to ensure that none of the senators precipitate crisis in their councils.

“I have re-emphasised to the Chairmen of the Local Government Areas that they will be held accountable for any breach of peace in their respective areas. Furthermore, I have briefed, as always, all security agencies in the State to be more vigilant and prevent any breach of peace in our State. In the same vein, my expectation is that all political gladiators will conduct themselves peacefully within the ambit of the law as any breach of peace and security that our Administration jealously treasures will be viewed seriously.

“For emphasis, the full wrath of law will be visited on anyone whose conduct is capable of returning our State to the inglorious days of the immediate past. The citizens of the State have made it clear to us that they enjoy the current peaceful atmosphere that pervades the State in almost three years of our Administration and that they will not accept any further ugly development that casts a dark shadow on our State.

As the custodian of their legitimate and freely given mandate, I intend to keep faith with them in this regard. It is my hope that your actions and utterances henceforth will be in consonance with this simple wish of the good People of Ogun State. It is not too late for you and your group to retrace your steps by putting a stop to the plot against the State and allow good reasons prevails,” he said in the letter.

According to Amosun, it is regrettable that despite all my efforts to “warm up to you and your colleagues since your nomination as party candidates and up till now, it is obvious that your group has always had scanty regard for me and my office because you believe that I played no role in your emergence as party candidates and subsequent elections in 2011 and will play no role in your re-election.

“This explains why you continue to rebuff all my initiatives to make us work together as a team in the overall interest of our party and the good People of Ogun State. Nonetheless, I remain undeterred in the search for unity. You are therefore at liberty to share the content of this letter with your colleagues.”

He said he had received security reports and information from credible sources, including party faithful, leaders, mutual friends and utterances directly emanating from Obadara’s group, indicating that they were planning to precipitate a crisis in the APC in pursuit of their personal agenda, saying that he initially dismissed the reports with a wave of hands in the knowledge that no member of the party, much more some members of the National Assembly, would do anything that would impact negatively on his administration’s mission to rebuild Ogun State.

“However, the unfortunate events of the last few weeks, with their intensity and frequency, have lent credence to reports and information I earlier disregarded. Two instances will suffice here. The violence that accompanied the botched attempt by your group on Thursday, 9 January, 2014 to foist a handpicked so called “Harmonisation Committee” on the party in the State now seems to be the opening glee in a well-scripted series. For the avoidance of doubt, the “Harmonisation Committee”, even if properly constituted, clearly has no role in the forthcoming party membership registration exercise.

“The second incident was the event of Thursday, 16 January, 2014 in Ewekoro Local Government Area, organised by you to purportedly sensitise party members in Ogun Central Senatorial District on the forthcoming party registration exercise but ostensibly a manifestation of another scene in the series. It is curious that a day in which the interim National Chairman of our party, Chief Bisi Akande, was being honoured in Lagos was the day you chose to hold your sensitisation event. I was at the ceremony with members of the State Executive Council, Speaker, other members of the State Assembly and Chairmen of our Local Government Areas, including that of Ewekoro. These two events are just exactly one week apart and in between there were other activities by your group all aimed at achieving the desired objectives,” he explained.

According to Amosun the first objective was the quest by Obadara’s your group to control the structure of the APC in the State, commencing with the hijack of the party membership registration exercise, hence the attempt to foist a “Harmonisation Committee” on the party in the State, adding that the second objective was the desire of all the National Assembly members from Ogunr State and some members of the House of Assembly to secure automatic second-term tickets for the general elections in 2015, without regard to the opinions of the generality of members of the party.

“In order to get the support of the unwary, these personal agenda of the very few have been couched and packaged as altruistic party issues and deliberately orchestrated to attract national attention,” he stated.

Amosun noted that the plot to achieve the narrow objectives of the group has had great effect on the state and is capable of retarding the progress of Ogun, alleging that the group of Senator had plans to instigate pockets of violence to create a sense of disunity in the party and insecurity in the State as a whole, as this approach would include deliberately perpetrating arsons and symbolic harms on the property and persons of some members of your group and then blame the actions on me and our Administration.

He added that there were plans to demonise his person and administration through a well-oiled smear campaign in the media that would evoke the ugly memory of the immediate past, saying, already, some of their supporters, especially allies in the State Assembly, had been instigated to start circulating text messages alleging threats to their lives.

Another plan, he said, is “distraction of the attention of the government from governance so that the programmes and projects that have endeared the Administration to the good People of Ogun State will be stalled. The intended consequence is to reduce the popularity of the government with the populace. They plan to blackmail me and the National Leadership of our party to undermine the integrity of the party leadership to intervene as impartial umpires, should the need arise.

“They also plan to generally make the State ungovernable, including precipitating crisis in the State House of Assembly through a plan to forcefully change the leadership and continuous disruption of legislative proceedings. There is also a further orchestration of the “crises” aimed at creating a window for your group to move motions in the two chambers of the National Assembly designed to embarrass the State Government.

“They also plan to disrupt the impending party membership registration exercise, knowing full well that the exercise may expose the shallow followership of your group across the State. Even this noble exercise that is expected to develop our great party will also not be spared of the smear campaign to discredit the process. They are joining forces with the opposition who are known “Masters of Violence” in an unholy alliance to help re-enact the immediate inglorious past.

“The overall thrust is to force a negotiation to secure an undeserved advantage that could not be otherwise achieved through the internal party democracy. What is more disturbing is that in this venture, no tool is considered too crude to use, no weapon too unconventional to deploy, and no approach too demeaning to adopt. I learnt that you and your colleagues have indeed been boasting that the nationwide destruction of our great party, the APC, will be kick-started from Ogun State,” he stated.

The governor said he remained resolute to building bridges within the party and even beyond, saying that “far from being a sign of weakness, this is a demonstration of our commitment to general peace and security in the State. Any discord in the State or any critical segment or group, political or otherwise, takes away from this commitment. I swore to an oath, which primarily requires me to protect life and property of all citizens and residents of Ogun State and remain unwavering in our commitment to ensure that the Mission to rebuild Ogun State continues unhindered.