Osun 2018: Clash Of Interests Imminent Over Power Shift

….As Central Zone Shops For Candidate

Indications that there will be clashes of interests over who succeeds Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as the next governor of the State of Osun are already manifesting as powerful stake holders from the Central Senatorial District of the state are shopping for dependable material to contest for the Abeere seat of power next year.

Going by what is on ground now in the state, the belief is that, by 2018, the baton of leadership should shift to the Western axis of the state. This belief is premised around the fact that, the present governor, Aregbesola collected the baton from the central after about eleven and a half years in office.

To be very explicit, Aregbesola from the Eastern zone collected the baton from Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, a candidate from the central who spent about seven and a half years in the Government House before the Appeal Court verdict unseated him. Olagunsoye himself earlier collected the gubernatorial baton from Chief Bisi Akande who is also from the central zone. By this, majority of the Osun State citizens believe that for the sake of fair play and equity, the Western axis should be allowed to field a candidate for the job this time.

It is being argued that, the only time the West has had the chance of governing the state, its tenure was truncated by the Military after just about 22 months in office.

But another dimension is now being introduced into the contest as some powerful power brokers from Osogbo, the state capital which also falls within the central axis are putting their acts together towards pushing forward a candidate to occupy the seat Aregbesola would vacate in November next year.

Worldtopnewsng.com gathered on Saturday, April 22, that the reason for this move is that no son or daughter from the capital city has ever had the opportunity to govern the state since its creation 26 years ago despite of Osogbo being the seat of power.

Our correspondent also learnt that, even some paramount rulers in the zone are already keying into the project having being convinced that it is a worthwhile venture. In addition to that, it was also learnt that an Osogbo born lawyer, Abdur-Rasheed ‘Kunle Adegoke is being tipped for the project.

Adegoke, a Lagos based legal practitioner, who was one of the leading counsels that defended Ogbeni Aregbesola during his Tribunal travails, we learnt, is being persuaded to throw his hat into the contest ring on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The slogan for this group is “Tiwa N Tiwa.”

However, another set of stake holders in the state are hell bent on allowing the West to have their turn for the sake of justice. This set, which we learnt is already consulting widely across the state for the West project has had on its agenda, a set of qualities the candidate must possess before he or she could be supported for the plumb job.

One of the leading members of this group, Barrister Niyi Owolade in an exclusive interview with worldtopnewsng.com disclosed that, “the project code named Osun State Rescue Mission, transcends political parties,” asserting that, “the next governor, apart from coming from the West, must possess some qualities that can take the state to the next level of human development.”

Niyi Owolade, a London trained legal practitioner and the first Publicity Secretary of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Osun State as well as former Deputy Speaker, Osun State House of Assembly on the platform of the equally defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) unveiled some of the criteria to be adopted in supporting the candidate for the next election.

The material, according to him must be a household name known across the state. He must also know all the corners of the state like the back of his palm as well as being a listening person.

More importantly, Owolade, who was a three time commissioners in the state emphasized that, “our choice must have executive experience,” adding that, “if his executive experience is topped with legislative experience, it will be an added advantage.” The candidate, he concluded, must have traceable home address and must be a proverbial needle with string for easy access to him.

The third category of the stake holders in the state was peopled by those who are agitating for home based candidate from wherever zone in the state. This set of agitators are less concerned about which party the candidate aligns with, he must just be a state based politician of high repute. The slogan here is, “Ibile,” (Home bred), with insistence that, there is no more imported cargo from outside.

However, likely of emergence of more groups over the governorship project against 2018 cannot be foreclosed now and worldtopnewsng.com assures that as events unfold, our teeming readers will be kept posted.

What is crystal clear is that political revolution is imminent in the State of the Living Spring towards 2018 governorship project.