Says Egba can Not be Responsible To Bear The Loss Of A Team That continues to score own goals
A socio political group, Egba Agenda 2027 Crusaders has vouched that it is the turn of Egba to occupy the 2027 Ogun governorship seat,as it insisted that Ogun Central cannot be responsible for the misses of the Yewa -Awori when they had chances to occupy the seat.
Addressing journalists at a Press Conference held on Saturday at the Nuj Secretariat, Iwe- Irohin Abeokuta, the State Coordinator of the group, Hon. Fesomade Gbadebo, who delved on gubernatorial history of the State stated "Since its creation in 1976, our state has witnessed many political dispensations leading to successive transmission of executive power from one executive to another. Our focus is on the democratic transfer of power.
"Going by the 1999 arrangements delineating Ogun State into three Senatorial Districts - Ogun Central(Egba), Ogun East(Ijebu and Remo) and Ogun West(Yewa /Awori), five civilian governors have governed the state in successions. They are late Bisi Onabanjo (1979 - 1983), Aremo Segun Osoba (1992/93) and (1999 - 2003), Otunba Gbenga Daniel (2003 - 2011), Senator Ibikunle Amosun(2011- 2019) and Prince Dapo Abiodun (2019 - 2023). Governor Abiodun is now in his Six year of the second term in office as Governor of Ogun State.
"A careful examination shows that late Bisi Onabanjo, Senator Gbenga Daniel and Prince Dapo Abiodun hail from the Ogun East extraction of the state while the duo of Aremo Osoba and Senator Ibikunle Amosun are from the Ogun Central.
"The third leg of the tripod, which is Ogun West, is yet to produce a governor for the state. This development, unfortunate though, has given rise to cries of marginalization, injustice and alienation over the years by the people of the Yewa - Awori people. And these cries have become more strident and justified as the 2027 election year beckons.
"In a democracy, power is a game of contest. And power is taken and not given. You plan, work, strategize and make necessary and legitimate sacrifice to take power. It is never gotten ala carte. That is the gospel truth in political power game and its dynamics.
"Much as we wish our brothers in Ogun West well in their long quest to produce a governor for the state if possible in 2027, we must not shy away from the reality that we of the Egba extraction of Ogun State also want to produce a successor - Governor to Prince Dapo Abiodun.
"Egba people cannot wait for the next 16 years or more before returning to the Governorship Seat of Ogun State. If power goes to the West in 2027, it may not leave the zone until 2035 and the likely destination after 2035 is the East. Where would that leave us in the scheme of things? Is it that the Yewa Awori zone has not had chances to produce a Governor in the past? Ogun West had such opportunities but all ended like the case of one scoring own goals almost all the time.
"Since 1979 till 2023, a concatenation of factors, including inherent division that often saw them clustering their chances with multiple aspirants and candidates when presenting a single person at a time would have made the difference, wrangling among political gladiators in the state at every election circle, interference from party in power at the Centre, and inability to correctly read and aligns with the prevailing political climate in any given dispensation as well as paucity of candidate from the zone with deep pocket and statewide acceptance have conspired to rob the zone of the opportunity to actualise its long quest to produce a Governor.
"Ogun West had the best chance to produce a governor in 2011 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) but a fierce wrangling and disagreement among the gladiators at the time on who from Ogun West should fly the party's ticket threw PDP in the state in disarray and balkanised it into PDP and PPN.
"While former President Olusegun Obasanjo backed PDP threw up retired General Tunji Olurin as its candidate, the incumbent Governor Gbenga Daniel's anointed political son, Prince Gboyega Nasir Isiaka(GNI) flew the ticket of the PPN, a political party hurriedly formed.
"Many expected the Ogun West to speak with one voice and prevail on any of these two prominent sons to step down for the other, but that did not happen. The two became fierce rivals on election day, dispersing what could given them bloc vote and eventually lost the chance to the ACN candidate, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.
'"It should be noted that during that election, Amosun polled 514,962 votes to defeat Olurin who scored 377,487 votes. Isiaka polled well over 200,000 votes. In the end, it turned out that the combined votes of Olurin and Isiaka outnumbered that of Amosun's, a, clear indication that had any of the two stepped down for the order, Ogun West son would have emerged a Governor in 2011.
"The zone best chance was 2011, second best time was 2015 , third best time was 2019 and the next best time is 2027 but the snag is that Egbas feel it can't be tied down for 16 years for Ogun West to have it in 2027. The Egba Agenda crusaders are of the conviction that it should not be made to pay the huge sacrifice required to heal self - inflicted wound or deprivation of the Ogun West.
"In 2003, the zone was also close to having a golden chance to produce a governor and Dele Arojo, the leading governorship aspirant from Ogun West on the platform of the PDP, was cut down gruesomely midway into his ambition and apparently frightened by the incident, no one from the zone stepped in to fill the void and Gbenga Daniel from the Ogun East made use of the opportunity of the vacuum created to pursue his own dream to reality.
"Even before the return of Democracy in 1999, the inability of the Ogun West to agree among themselves on presenting a single candidate, also gave the Ijebu section of the Ogun East the chance to produce late Bisi Onabanjo (1979 - 1983) on the platform of the UPN as Governor.
"It worths recalling how the Ogun West threw their golden chance to the IjebuRemo(Ogun Central).
"During the primary to select a governorship candidate in 1979, the Egba presented a Yewa son from Ilaro, who was living in Egbaland at the time. That Yewa son was Chief Soji Odunjo. He was our aspirant with our 20 delegates while the Ijebu presented Chief Bisi Onabanjo as the spirant with 20 delegates but the Egbado(Yewa Awori) on their own also came with their 20 delegates but had two aspirants - Chief Tunji Otegbeye and Prof. Afolabi Olabimtan and their delegates votes were shared evenly between Otegbeye and Olabimtan at the first ballot, causing Odunjo and Onabanjo to have a tie of 20:20. However, at the second ballot, Odunjo who the Egba expected to receive the support of his Egbado kinsmen didn't get it at all and thereby jeopardizing their chances. They threw their 20 delegates votes behind Bisi Onabanjo.
"The Egbado (Ogunwest) would have been the first out of the three senatorial districts to produce a governor of the state were it for that decision of theirs. So, by their own hands, two of them decided to vote for Ijebu, abandoning their own son, Chief Odunjo, a Yewa man from Ilaro. That was how Odunjo who the Egba presented was rejected by his own people. It is not as if we are against them but they are the ones against themselves.
"The pattern was reenacted in 1992/93 of the SDP era and 1999 AD which gave the chances in both instances to Aremo Osoba from the Ogun Central.
Hon. Gbadebo who didn't disclose the aspirants of Ogun Central that the group is rooting for , said "So, in 2027, the governorship is for the Egbas to grab. We are determined to ensure its actualization. Already, we have an array of Egba sons and daughters ably qualified, competent and warming up for the number one office in the Gateway State. It is not our making that Ogun West seemed not yet ready to give its governorship aspiration the much needed fire and unity of purpose the project".
Gbadebo who added that Ogun Central rights to produce a successor to Dapo Abiodun in 2027 cannot be suspended because of the usual political harakiri currently ongoing between five political gladiators namely : Hon Abiodun Akinlade, Hon Gboyega Nasiru ISIAKA, Hon Adekunle Akinlade, Deputy Governor Engr Noimot Salako -Oyedele and Sen Solomon Olamilekan Adeola Yayi, disclosed that the group has received the blessing of Alake and paramount ruler of Egba Land .
He also noted that Ogun Central cannot be held responsible for the usual betrayal syndrome peculiar to the leaders of ogun West in 2027.
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