The All Progressives Congress (APC) Osun State Chapter has declared that if the incumbent governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, is fielded, the party will lose the 2022 gubernatorial election in the state.
This comes as party leaders have expressed their willingness to work together to save the state from impending collapse and electoral defeat.
The immediate past Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Lasun Yusuff, a former Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Najeen Salam, and a former Secretary to the Osun State Government, all spoke at a special meeting of The Osun Progressives (TOP), a faction of the ruling APC in the State, on Thursday, lamented that Governor Oyetola had been playing politics exclusivity and had brought disunity to the party since he took
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The trio, who ran for the party ticket with Oyetola in 2018 and hope to run for it again in 2022, agreed to work together to restructure the party and position it for election victory.
They went on to say that they have resolved to put aside personal political interests and accept to work with whoever emerges as the party’s candidate in 2022.
Yusuff, who expressed regret that the party’s State chapter was in the hands of an impostor, added that the development had thrown the party into disarray, necessitating restructuring.
The former Deputy Speaker admitted that he had decided to join forces with other party leaders in order to return the party to its true progressive roots.
“Our party ran into issues in 2018 because its leaders refused to allow collective leadership to take place, and APC members were forced to accept Governor Adegboyega Oyetola.”
“This time, the party’s leaders are prepared to embrace collective leadership.” We’ll start by fielding a candidate from our camp to run against Oyetola in the party’s primaries,” he said.
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Najeen Salam, who also accused Governor Oyetola of mismanaging the party because he received the party’s ticket on a silver platter, said it was disheartening that genuine party members who helped him win were treated as outcasts by the governor and his supporters.
Salam urged party members to work together to realize the majority’s dreams in order to save the party and the country.
Alhaji Adeoti, who expressed surprise that Governor Oyetola had succeeded in driving away quality APC members from the state, believes it is hypocritical and unfair for the current administration to distance itself from his predecessor’s policies, programs, and projects.
While revealing that the doors of reconciliation in the Osun APC had closed, the former SSG accused party leaders of being unconcerned about resolving misunderstandings within the party.
He maintained that unification was required to save the party from sinking, as some party leaders in the governor’s camp were unwilling to associate with anyone who had a relationship with Aregbesola.
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Rasaq Salinsile, the state’s factional APC chairman, had previously stated that the party had decided to run a candidate in the 2022 gubernatorial election from the Osun West Senatorial District.
