There was palpable tension in Ido town, Ido local government headquarters in Oyo State recently as dozens of Mobile policemen took over the ancient town of Ido.
This was to prevent a breakdown of law and order by political gladiators struggling to control the party ahead of 2019 general election.
A quick check by our correspondent revealed that the presence of several policemen in the town was a proactive move by Ido local government Care-taker Chairman, Hon. Wahab Oladejo, and the police authority in the council to prevent the flame of political violence which would have resulted had the former chairman of All Progressive Congress, APC, Pastor S. P. Akintokun, was allowed to carry out his wish of organising his faction’s general meeting in Ido Car Park, the usual venue for the party’s general meeting in the council, from burning.
Our investigation revealed that trouble began when the leadership of APC announced the removal of Pastor Akintokun, the erstwhile party chairman, during the party’s last general meeting which was attended by all the party’s stakeholders held recently at Ido Car Park, Ido town.
His removal was as a result of a motion moved by the council’s party youth leader and one of the seventeen local executive members present, Comrade Yusuff Akeem, calling for the removal of Pastor Akintokun due to what he regarded as the man’s refusal to organise the party’s general meetings as at when due where key decisions that border on the party’s development are taken, his failure to attend the party’s key events as well as gross abuse of office.
The motion which was seconded by another local executive members popularly known as ‘Ogun’ was adopted by the council’s party executive members and thereafter unanimously made Alhaji Dauda Akanji the acting chairman.
This removal, however, did not go down well with Pastor Akintokun’s supporters who said that the process for his removal was illegal and contrary to the party’s constitution and vowed to resist it, stressing, that he still remains the party’s chairman in the council.
PMParrot checks revealed that efforts were made by APC leadership at the state’s level to resolve the issue amicably but the council’s party executive members stood their ground saying that the decision to remove Pastor Akintokun as Ido LG APC chairman was irreversible.
But, in a bid to show his popularity among the party faithful in the local government and prove that he still remains the council’s party chairman, Pastor Akintokun, approached the police authority in the local government informing them of his decision to organise his party’s general meeting, but the police authority declined his request citing a document in their possession signed by the party’s relevant stakeholders which states that he has been removed.
Undaunted by this development, the erstwhile party chairman tendered another request on Wednesday to the police authority but when it was declined again based on the same document, Pastor Akintokun was said to have reported the matter to some powerful forces in the party who called the council’s Divisional Police Officer, to allow him carry out his wish.
Our correspondent learned that it was at this point that the council’s DPO informed the state’s Commissioner of Police of his dilemma. He was, however, told to bring Pastor Akintokun and Alhaji Dauda Akanji, the party’s acting chairman to the force’s state headquarter at Eleyele for discussion where the duo were detained.
Our correspondent learned that had it not been for the prompt invitation of police to Ido town by the council’s care-taker chairman, Hon. Wahab Oladejo, with a view to maintaining law and orderliness, political violence would have erupted as party faithful who were part of the process that saw to the removal of Pastor Akintokun as the council’s party chairman had vowed to distrupt the general meeting had the erstwhile party chairman been allowed to organise it.
But according to a source within Pastor’s Akintokun’s camp, the purported removal of the erstwhile party chairman was due to what the camp of the present care-taker chairman perceived as the roles played by Pastor Akintokun during the December 2014 primary election which saw to the failure of Hon. Oladejo to cling Ido/Ibarapa-East Federal Constituency won by the then incumbent, Hon. Sunday Adepoju, who is from Eruwa in Ibarapa-East and who went ahead to win the constituency during the general election for the second time running.
Another source informed that the ‘sin’ of the Akintokun is his refusal to bow to powerful party chieftains who are also loyalists of Governor Abiola Ajimobi who are bent on carrying out the governor’s plan on how his successor will emerge.
Said one of our sources “Apart from the reasons cited by council’s executive members for the removal of Pastor Akintokun as the party chairman, the real reason for his removal is the man’s penchant of seeing himself as LAMIST, a group who are staunch followers of the former Oyo State governor, Late Alhaji Lam Adesina, first before seeing himself as APC member. The LAMISTS believe they are the founding members of the party, thus, seeing other members, especially, the SENACO, a group loyal and followers of the state’s governor, Sen. Abiola Ajimobi’s political ideology, as their ‘junior’.
“Thus, Pastor Akintokun’s activities in the party are geared towards the realisation of the objectives of the LAMIST group first before the general interests of the party he chaired.
“This was what made him to support Hon. Adepoju, a staunch LAMIST, during the primary of Ido/Ibarapa-East federal Constituency at the expense of other aspirants from his own local government”, the source who doesn’t want his name published concluded.
However, in a swift reaction, the care-taker chairman, Ido Local government, Hon. Wahab Oladejo, debunked the allegation that he had a hand in the erstwhile party chairman’s removal, saying that his removal is purely and strictly a party affair and not his business.
“That accusation that I had a hand in Pastor Akintokun’s removal as party chairman is baseless and unfounded. What happened was democracy in action. All the leaders we have in Ido LG namely; Alhaji Kamorudeen Ajisafe, Pa Oladejo Lakondoro and Alhaji Bashiru Babalola backed the decision made by our council’s executive members which saw to the removal of Pastor Akintokun as our party Chairman, so who am I to say no to this?.
“Those who know me very well know that I am an advocate of party supremacy, the party executive organ and the party leadership have made a decision and they submitted the document which has their signatures appended on it regarding that decision to the relevant authority, so what is my business in that? My job as the Chief Security Officer in the council is to prevent and nip, any form of violence noticed in any part of the council, in the bud and that’s exactly what I did.
“I want to commend the police authority both at the local and the state for doing a good job, they really had the situation under control. Meanwhile, I want to say this that, our executive governor had said that APC under his leadership is one, hence, there is nothing like LAMIST or SENACO. Anyone who is at the vanguard of this spurious struggle, is just looking for something to eat”, he concluded.
Meanwhile, another source claimed that, as the general elections draw nearer, more of these developments will be coming into fore, adding that all these moves by these political gladiators are geared towards having total control of the party not only in Ido LG but also throughout the state and country.
Packed by Alice Egbedele
