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How It Wants To Respond To BAYO ADELABU
Those who still believe that the governorship candidate of the Accord Party in the recent gubernatorial election, Waidi Adebayo Adelabu, is still in the party are not living in reality.
The horse of Adelabu has literally bolted from the stable of the Accord Party after his screening and confirmation as a minister by the Senate.
Adelabu, was one of the 48 ministerial nominees who were screened by the Senate. Three of them were not confirmed. The man, who is to represent Oyo State in the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government, was, however, not among the dropped nominees. His scaling through the grilling of the Senate has become a devastating blow of loss to the party that gave him its platform to run for the governorship election.
Recall that Adelabu was a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He left the party with his large followers after losing the governorship ticket of the party to Senator Teslim Folarin to seek his governorship fortune in the Accord Party. He lost, but fortunately for him and perhaps relationship outside the partisan circle, Tinubu nominated him to come and participate in the running the federal government.
The leadership of Accord Party would not ride on a horse of joy in celebration of Adelabu’s nomination and confirmation as a Minister designate.
They know that they have lost Adelabu for good. It is very unlikely that he would continue to be a member of Accord Party after he might have been given a portfolio. Forget about the concept of national government, which observers gave to the Tinubu administration because members of other parties were invited to participate in the government.
The fact remains that Adelabu was a member of the APC. Now, he is a Minister in an APC federal government administration, is there anything constituting an obstacle on his path to return to the APC? No.
Besides, politicians are known to look forward to the next election immediately after winning or losing an election. Adelabu, in this instance, can’t be different. Remember that he had contested the 2019 governorship election on the platform of the APC, but lost. There is no doubt that as a Minister in an APC administration, he would look forward to realising his governorship ambition in 2027. Those who say that 2027 is four years away do not realise that running for an elective office is not a day’s job. It is not what could be accomplished in a year or two to the elections.
Foresighted Accord Party’s leadership know the fate that has befallen the party. The exit of Adelabu and his large number of supporters would undoubtedly depopulate the Accord Party. Besides, it would also rob the party of a huge source of funding.
The leaders of the party are not, however, despondent. They believe in the axiom that soldier comes, soldier goes, but the barracks would never be empty.
Political parties are platforms that provide opportunities for power seekers. That is why they believe that the exit of Adelabu would not spell an end of the Accord Party on the political terrain of Nigeria. They expressed optimism that the clout of the party that attracted Adelabu to their fold was still there. It would definitely lure other power seekers to the party in the future.
They beat their chests that Accord Party is not a small fry in the politics of Oyo State. They recalled that the party comes close in rating in terms of popularity after the two leading parties in Oyo State and by extension in Nigeria, the APC and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). They were quick to remind people, who are ready to listen, of the Accord Party’s exploit in 2011 general election. The party had largely benefited from the Otun Olubadan, High Chief Rashidi Ladoja’s defection from the PDP.
Intra party rancour in the PDP had edged out Ladoja in the primary election that elected the party’s standard bearer. He left for Accord Party. The party made strong showing at the polls. Though Ladoja lost the governorship race, but Accord Party won many seats in the Oyo State House of Assembly and even made entrance into the House of Representatives. Its performance was so impressive that it became a bride in the electoral game in the state.
To the Accord Party leaders in Oyo State, it is now time to take a look at the strategies that earned them that stella performance in 2011, review, update and renovate them to match what are today’s needs.
Make those strategies attractive and irresistible to those seeking viable and strong political platforms to realise their political ambitions.
They asserted that more of Adelabus in weight and value who could take Accord Party to greater heights are on their way to team up with the party for a symbiotic journey to political glory. The party had once done it, it can still repeat it. “We are confident”, they say that the party has more innovation that would definitely attract heavy political weights to its fold.
– Tajudeen Adigun
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