Idowu Sowunmi And Olawale Olaleye
12 July 2008
Lagos — The unfolding political drama in Ogun State has confirmed the relevance of the popular saying that in politics there are no permanent friends or enemies. But one constant in the political realm is that of vested interests of various groups and parties vying for control and power. As part of a common goal, various camps in Ogun State have embarked on political alignments and re-alignments to fight their common enemy, Governor Gbenga Daniel.
Some of the chieftains of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) party alleged to be against the governor include: former Minister of State for Finance, Chief Jubril Martins Kuye who is said to be the coordinator of all the opposition groups; Chief Suara Alani Bankole, father of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, popularly called Caterpillar; Chief Sharafadeen Ishola, Daniel's former Secretary to the State Government and now Minister of Mines and Steel Development; and Chief Dayo Abatan, among others.
These camps have found a good ally in the State House of Assembly leadership to register their collective animosity towards Daniel in Ogun State. As it stands, the assembly leadership headed by the new Speaker, Hon. Tunji Egbetokun is alleged to be doing the bidding of anti-Daniel forces under the careful tutelage of Martins-Kuye. But the Speaker has dismissed such claims. He told THISDAY: "Chief Kuye is a father to all of us including the governor. Most of us have known him for more than 10 years. It is politically incorrect for anybody to start pointing accusing fingers at him when we are doing our legislative jobs. Ordinarily, Chief Kuye would have become the governor in 1999."
The most important question to find out is: at what point did the governor become so despised by his former adherents and supporters. Today, he is derided by the opposition and dismissed by even some of his own PDP party chieftains in Ogun State? The governor is in a quandary; a man who had once been dubbed a visionary leader is now widely regarded as weak, susceptible to bouts of violence and unpopular.
For a man who had been celebrated as an action governor, the seeming reservoir of goodwill built by the governor over the last five years is being eroded and demolished. The immediate political permutations leading to his emasculation stem from a number of issues: The first was Daniel's penchant for suppressing all political opponents in the state during his first term between 2003 and 2007.
This was made easy by the fact that the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo who along with Martins-Kuye's political structures in the state helped to put Daniel in the government house in 2003, was too distracted by the affairs of state at the centre to actually rein in Daniel as he was said to have suppressed all forms of opposition. But all this ground to a halt after 2007. With Obasanjo's return to Ota, Daniel began to become uncomfortable with the presence of the former general right in his backyard.
Added to this is the 2011 governorship election. Although it can be argued that 2011 is some three years away, however, the architects of the anti-Daniel forces think otherwise. The governor's decision to support a candidate from Yewa/Awori in the Ogun West Senatorial district is also contributing to the present political imbroglio in the state. This has received some measure of resistance from the Egba people in the Ogun Central Senatorial district. The quest for the 2011 election may be one reason for the Egbas to oppose Daniel. But the same cannot be said of Martins-Kuye who is of Ijebu extraction which is in the Ogun East Senatorial district. As such, opposing camps have different reasons to oppose the governor.
Also, the impeachment of the former Speaker of the state Assembly, Hon. Titi Oseni, who was generally seen as Daniel's lackey, has put the governor at loggerheads with the legislature in the state. Since her removal a few months ago, the governor has done everything in his power to reinstate her. But the Assembly has put up a formidable resistance which has snowballed beyond anyone's imagination.
Not leaving anything to chance, the national headquarters of the PDP has directed the leadership of the party in the South-west zone to wade into the crisis in Ogun State. The party's deputy national vice chairman, South-west, Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo, said the political crisis is as a result of the handiwork of external forces.
But the state PDP director of organisation, Mr. Deji Kalejaiye, disagrees with the assertion that there is any crisis in the state, insisting it is still as peaceful as it once was. "There is no tension or crisis in the state. The so-called tension or crisis only exists on the pages of newspapers. The people of Ogun State have resolved to continuously give their support to Governor Daniel."
However, the party's position may not really reflect the true position of things as 17 members of the state House of Assembly, Wednesday have alleged that the governor's aides are behind the crisis and are really profiting from it. The members led by the Speaker declared that the governor's aides are fueling the crisis. They claimed the governor's Chief of Staff, Chief Yomi Majekodunmi was behind an attempt to assassinate him (the Speaker).
Indeed, an unexpected scenario was played out last Saturday when Majekodunmi along with six other men went to the official quarters of the state Speaker heavily armed. But luck ran out for them. They were immediately arrested by operatives of the State Security Services. The arrested people were in possession of two pump action rifles, two dane guns and several rounds of ammunition.
Although, the Chief of Staff has denied the allegation that he was at the Speaker's house with the intention to commit murder, for good measure, he added another twist to plot when by the next day, Sunday, he convened a press conference announcing that the governor of the state, Gbenga Daniel had been poisoned.
However, this strategy may have fallen flat on its face and is generally seen as a coy to distract from the issue of the crisis in the state with Daniel being in the centre of the storm.
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