Alhaji Fatai Ibuikunle, former Personal Assistant to the late Lam Adesina, led the delegation of Lamists that visited Tinubu in Lagos, selecting 11 others. They collected Tinubu’s N25m without informing the others, particularly those who contested. On their return to Ibadan, they endorsed Adelabu on Tuesday.
There is
trouble in the camp of the political followers of the late Lam Adesina,
popularly called Lamists/Unity Forum, following Bola Tinubu’s N25million
gift to some of its members to secure their endorsement of Bayo
Adelabu, the Oyo State governorship candidate of the All Progressives
Congress (APC).After last year’s contentious primaries of the
Oyo State APC, some followers of Adesina, the Oyo State Governor between
1999 and 2003, defected to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), to
further pursue their political ambitions.Those of them who
contested the February 23 elections under the ADC — 14 house of
representatives and three senatorial candidates — all ended up on the
losing side. With APC performing poorly in that election and fearing
that Saturday’s governorship election will not be as straightforward as
previously thought, Tinubu, the National Leader of APC, invited the
Lamists to Lagos in a last-ditch to get them to back Adelabu.
SaharaReporters undertands they were given a sum of N25million.Alhaji
Fatai Ibuikunle, former Personal Assistant to the late Lam Adesina, led
the delegation of Lamists that visited Tinubu in Lagos, selecting 11
others. They collected Tinubu’s N25m without informing the others,
particularly those who contested. On their return to Ibadan, they
endorsed Adelabu on Tuesday.In a statement announcing the
endorsement, Ibikunle said the group “bowed to pressure from the
national leadership of the APC and resolved to team up with their former
party to ensure victory for Chief Adebayo Adelabu in this Saturday’s
gubernatorial election in the state”.“In an emergency meeting
held on Tuesday at a private location in Ibadan, leaders and members of
the Forum unanimously considered the reports of a delegation which had
earlier met with Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and agreed to unite for the
sake of peace and progress of the pacesetters state,” he further said.“According
to the leader of the delegation which recently had an interface with
Tinubu in Lagos home, all the issues that led to the schisms within the
Oyo APC were presented and treated accordingly while far reaching
agreement were reached by both parties with a view to facilitating
victory for the APC gubernatorial candidate, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, on
Saturday.”Irked by the “ignominious development”, the other
Lamists, mainly the 14 reps and three senatorial candidates of the ADC
met at the Lam Adesina Hall in Felele, Ibadan, on Wednesday to
dissociate themselves from the defection of the other group to the APC.The
group, predominantly populated by political ambassadors drawn from
various political parties, condemned “the surreptitious conduct and
purported endorsement of the gubernatorial candidate of the APC by some
few individuals masquerading as adherents of the late former Governor”.In
a communique issued after the meeting, seen by SaharaReporters, they
said, among others: “Lam Adesina’s political family remains an
indivisible one.“Lamists/Unity Forum have nothing to do with
All Progressives Congress, APC, with its sheer disdainful conduct to
rubbish and obliterate the legacy of the late former Governor.“We
have not endorsed any gubernatorial candidate as we are still
consulting far and near. This is to make sure that opinions of all
members of Lamists/Unity Forum as well as of those who contested the
National Assembly elections are sought before arriving at a conclusion
on who to support.”They also maintained that they were “NOT
rejoining the APC” because the reasons they left the party had not been
addressed. They also said their membership of the ADC remains valid, and
that Senator Olufemi Solagbode Lanlehin remains the leader of the
group.“Sen. Monsurat Sunmonu, Hon. Adedapo Lam Adesina, Hon.
Sumbo Olugbemi, Dr. Wasiu Olatubosun and a host of others remain members
of the ADC as long the national leadership of APC refuse to do the
needful in addressing the injustice that characterized the conduct of
the last congress in Oyo State,” the group added.On Monday,
SaharaReporters had reported how APC’s woeful outing in Ajimobi’s
senatorial district prompted protests from party leaders, with Tinubu
now personally overseeing the campaigns in a desperate bid to prevent a
potential surrendering of the governorship to Seyi Makinde of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).Incensed by the report, Tinubu —
according to a statement by Tunde Rahman from his media office —
described it as “beyond a lie… a vindictive attempt to sow discord
because the writer is angered by the APC’s success in the presidential
election”.Surprisingly, for two straight days after issuing the
statement, Ajimobi has not been “in the forefront” of the governorship
campaign in Oke-Ogun, comprising 10 local governments. On Tuesday and
Wednesday, for example, Adelabu campaigned in Oke-Ogun, comprising 10
local governments, without Ajimobi.
Source:- Saharareporters
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