The battle of who to occupy the seat of the late senator Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke has began in the Osun West senatorial district as controversy continued to trail the candidacy of Senator Mudashir Husein, a serving commissioner in the state, who was said to have been favoured by Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
Feelers within government circle have it that, Governor Aregbesola has thrown his weight behind the candidacy of Hussein as a compensation for his loyalty, having conceded his ticket for the second term to late Isiaka Adeleke in 2015, some have come out to say that the need to push for Hussein became necessary for Aregbesola to silence a party bigwig in the local government, who might be nurturing gubernatorial ambition.
Pmparrotng also learnt on Saturday that the governor has directed party faithful to mobilise for Hussein ahead of the primary of the party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) slated for Monday, June 12, by disbursing the sum of N5m to each of the ten local governments that make up the senatorial district.
The development at the party Secretariat on Saturday tactically corroborated the speculations of many, as three of the aspirants stepped down, leaving the younger brother to the late Isiaka Adeleke, Ademola Adeleke, and senator Mudashir Husein in the race.
But many within the APC caucus in the senatorial district have moved against the candidacy of Husein on the ground that despite serving as a two-term member of the House of Representatives, and once represented the senatorial district , the speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, and the member of the House of Representatives in the district came from Husein’s local government in Ejigbo.
However, the rising popularity of Ademola Adeleke within a short while has been a thing of concern for the ruling party, as amalgam of his late brother’s supporters threw their weight behind his candidacy.
A drama therefore played out at the party secretariat going by the way a mammoth crowd of party supporters stormed the Secretariat during screening, to pledge their support for the Adeleke’s family,and Ademola.
It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed the by-election for July 8.
Packaged by Bunmi Oladejo
