Factional chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Alhaji Abu Gbadamosi has that said he hasn’t committed any crime by taking the oath of office as Oyo APC chairman.
Speaking after administering oath on the 33 local government chairmen, he explained that the position was zoned to his local government, Kajola, adding that the former Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Survey in the state, Isaac Omodewu, is occupying the position illegally.
Recall that insideoyo.com had earlier reported that Alhaji Abu Gbadamosi was sworn in as parallel chairman of the party on Friday.
The swearing-in ceremony was held at Trans Wonderland Plc, popularly known as Amusement Park, Bodija, Ibadan. The oath was administered by Barr. Kehinde Owoade of MFN chambers.
His said: “What Omodewu is doing is not allowed because we agreed on consensus. That is the arrangement our national leaders actually introduced and Omodewu was actually not appointed for anything, he took over from the top.
“The post was not zoned to his local government, it was zoned to Kajola Local Government, not Itesiwaju. In consensus, when you are not able to agree, you introduce election. Election was conducted, Omodewu’s local government (Itesiwaju) scored two, the other local government scored three while Kajola scored 16. You cannot actually build something on nothing. The process that led to his emergence was illegal.”
Gbadamosi, however, expressed optimism that the incoming national executives of the party “will come and do the needful.”
After taking his oath, Gbadamosi also administered oath of office on the party’s chairmen in all the 33 local government areas of the state
Also speaking, one of the APC leaders in the state, Senator Ayo Adeseun, said the party belongs to the “vast majority members.”
Adeseun said the inauguration of the “authentic chairman” of the party in the state as well as that of the 33 local government chairmen will return the party to the people.
“A small clique cannot hijack and take control and think they have succeeded at anything. We have tried to return the party to the people.
“You know what happened in the party sometime ago, that some people did Kangaroo convention and went and stole the structures of the party. We have made presentation to the national and national has given us assurances that what they did was a non-event,” he said.
Adeseun, who said he doesn’t have any issue with Omodewu, maintained that a clique can’t hijack the structure of a party in democracy.
“Omodewu has been speaking with us, and let me say this, Omodewu has proven to be a gentle man. I don’t have any qualms at all about his personal characteristics, but that is not the issue, the issue is democracy. In a democracy, a clique can’t go and hijack the structures of the party and say ‘we’ll beg you, we’ll plead with you.’ That’s not the issue, let’s go back to the drawing board, let’s do the needful first and then we can collectively be friends and brothers. But to say you have stolen a mandate and you want to plead and beg afterwards is a non-event.
“He has been reaching out and I really commend him as a person but that seat doesn’t belong to him. The state chairman of this party is Alhaji Abu Gbadamosi Adejare that we just swore in a few minutes ago. That’s the bottom line, once we settle that issue and we restructure the exco, then no problem, we are part of the same family. We will work together amicably and we will get result by the grace of God. We need each other, there are no questions about that. However, where there is no justice, there can be no peace, where there is no peace, there can be no progress,” Adeseun added.
The senator expressed confidence that the party will come out of its national convention, scheduled for Saturday, March 26, strong and unified,saying, “you will see that APC will come back roaring.”
