Oyo APC crisis: NEC should do the needful to stem growing discontent, says Group

The Oyo Progressive Front (OPF), a pressure Group in the Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on the National Executive Council (NEC) of the party to find a lasting solution to the crisis in the State chapter of APC.

According to the Group, the NEC which holds its meeting on Wednesday needs to act fast in order to assure party loyalists that it was ready to finally correct the errors of the previous Caretaker leadership of the party that worked in favour of a minority group.

The Group noted that if the illegal arrangement was allowed to continue, it would demoralise party loyalists since it would amount to the minority taking over the party structure from the majority.

State Coordinator of the Group, Mr Isaac Olatunde said it has been clearly established that the Congress that produced the present Executive was flawed. “ This has ultimately condemned the entire exercise”, he said.

The Group observed that the Congress of October 31, 2021  was an illegality which was confirmed by the Chairman of the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) who had apologised that the Congress was held in error as it was contrary to the directive that the Congress be held on November 6, 2021.

Listing the steps taken to resolve the crisis, the Group said, “the Chairman of the Oyo State Caretaker Committee was to convene a meeting of himself, the seven Zonal Leaders of the party, the only living former governor in the State (then), Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala and the two former deputy governors in the state to authenticate the Consensus Executive Committee list generated from the zones and the meeting was to be held at the Party Secretariat in Ibadan while only the list submitted by the State Caretaker Chairman, Chief Akin Oke would be accepted by the National Secretariat of the party”.

Continuing, the Group said the Chairman, CECPC, Governor Mai Mala Buni had further mandated the Governor of Osun State, Governor Gboyega Oyetola  to look into the matter in Oyo State. “Governor Oyetola subsequently held a meeting with the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee and Seven Zonal Leaders in the state where they unanimously affirmed the Consensus list submitted by the Caretaker Chairman.  We are therefore surprised when one Mr Ajiboye Omodewu was sworn in as the Chairman of the Party on February 03, 2022”.

According to the Group, the effect of the illegal action has put the APC in a limbo in Oyo State.  “The so-called Chairman lacks legitimacy and support of the overwhelming majority of members and has not been able to function effectively in that capacity.  The party is inactive and urgent step is needed not to further lose majority of our members to the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which is already scavenging for casualties of the prolonged crisis in the APC as evidenced in the defection of the 2018 governorship aspirant, Joseph Tegbe to PDP”.

The Group warned that if urgent step was not taken to correct the illegality, apart from losing more party members, the situation could spell the death  knell of the party in Oyo State.

“ We are aware that petitions on the state of affairs in the State had been written to the current Chairman while majority of the members of the National Working Committee (NWC) members have also been briefed,  we hope they would have also brief members of the NEC appropriately.”