•The Game Plan Of Sen. LANLAHIN, ADESEUN & Co. Come 2023
The political atmosphere in Oyo State is getting charged ahead of 2023 elections already. There are strong alignments and realignments currently going on across political parties in the State, especially within the two major parties; the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and All Progressives Congress (APC).
One man who seems to be the target of all these scheming and alliances, however, is no other person than the sitting governor of the State, Engr. ‘Seyi Makinde. As most of his political enemies are joining forces with the opposition party, APC to send him packing from the Agodi Government House come 2023.
Though the governor has consistently been saying it that he is not afraid of losing election in 2023. He feels his achievements and the people of Oyo State should determine whether he would come for a second term or not. But some feel that is just a political talk coming the Governor.
Leading the packs of those who are ready to work against Governor ‘Seyi Makinde and who have since joined APC are the former senator who represented Oyo South Senatorial District, Senator Olufemi Lanlenhin; another former senator from Oyo Central, Senator Ayoade Adeseun, and lately the former SSG to Oyo State Government under Ex-Governor Rashidi Ladoja, Barr. Sarafadeen Abiodun-Ali.
Adeseun, it would be recalled, contested PDP’s guber ticket with Makinde in 2018. Before he backed out and left the venue out of annoyance shortly before the commencement of the primaries held at Liberty Stadium. He alleged that the authentic delegates list was tampered with. All efforts to reconcile both Adeseun and Makinde afterwards proofed abortive, hence Adeseun’s movement to APC.
In his own case, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, the guber candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in 2019 and Governor ‘Seyi Makinde enjoyed a cordial relationship until the existing alliance between them broke down, irreconcilably. Lanlenhin was one of those who entered into an alliance with Makinde shortly before the 2019 guber election. The alliance was believed to have helped Makinde a great in defeating the incumbent APC in that election.
Four days to the election, some political parties agreed to form an alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party against the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Oyo State, Chief Adebayo Adelabu.
Femi Lanlehin, ADC; Barr. Sarafadeen Abiodun-Ali, Zenith Labour Party and Barr. Bolaji Ayorinde SAN with the input of former governor Ladoja, all jettisoned their guber ambition to work for Makinde.
The coalition, however, broke down when Makinde was accused of abandoning the agreements reached by those involved. While Barr. Bolaji Ayorinde and a fraction of ADC and Zenith Labour Party are still with Governor, Lanlehin, Sarafadeen Abiodun-Ali and their loyalists have since opted out of the coalition and pitched their tents with APC.
Interestingly, even those who have been sworn political enemies before are now back in APC to battle Governor Seyi Makinde. We now have the likes of Senator Teslim Folarin, Ex-Governor Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, Senator Ayoade Adeseun, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, Chief Bayo Adelabu, Barr. Sarafadeen Abiodun-Ali, Joseph Tegbe etc under one political roof, APC.
To also show their determination in making sure power comes back to Oyo APC in 2023, the party leadership have set in motion a machinery to reconcile all the aggrieved members of the party and bring them back to their fold.
A former Federal Honourable, Dapo Lam-Adesina, who represented Ibadan North East/South East federal constituency between 2015 and 2019, alongside some Unity Forum members, as well as other aggrieved members, have since rejoined APC.
Again, apart from the enemies from the opposition party, Governor Makinde is also not having it cool within his party, PDP. There are some internal forces who have been promising fire and brimstone, to make sure Makinde doesn’t return as governor of Oyo State come 2023.
A chieftain of PDP in Oyo State, Alhaji Bisi Olopoeyan has been consistently attacking Governor ‘Seyi Makinde despite the fact that they belong to the same political party. Just recenty, Olopoeyan described those endorsing Gov Makinde for the second term as set of opportunists, eating from where they did not work, as they are just trying at all cost to protect their jobs.
However, while Makinde’s group believe strongly in governor’s achievements and popularity among the general populace to speak for him in any election. The believe in the opposition is that Makinde will be taught a great political lesson come 2023. They believe the same formula applied in bringing him to power, which was ‘’coalision’, will also be used to remove him.
The big question now is, can the political conspiracy against Makinde be sustained till the next election?
Can Governor Makinde survive all the incessant attacks from both within and outside his party, and go ahead to clinch PDP guber ticket once again and eventually win the guber race come 2023? Is he going to dump PDP for APC or join any other political party as being rumoured? Time is definitely ticking fast and we’ll get our fingers crossed, as we watch events unfold.
– Dare Adeniran
