Thousands of members of the IleriOluwa caucus of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State will tomorrow, Thursday, February 22, join the Omoluabi caucus.
The IleriOluwa members, led by a successful businessman, former local government Chairman, former state treasurer of APC, and immediate past Commissioner for Rural Development, Hon. Segun Olanibi, will be joining the Omoluabi Caucus at Iperindo town centre by 10 am.
The outgoing IleriOluwa members cited undemocratic conduct and practice, selfishness, promotion of individual interests above party interests, and arrogance, among others, as reasons for leaving the group.
They noted that the party has been witnessing retrogression since the unfortunate incursion of IleriOluwa people into Osun APC leadership in 2018.
According to the Olanibi group, their decision to join the Omoluabi Caucus is a homecoming, disclosing that it was Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola who directed them to join the IleriOluwa group in 2018 with an instruction to give Mr. Gboyega Oyetola all the support they had been giving him.
Leading their clusters to join the Omoluabi caucus are the former Chairman of Atakunmosa East Local Council Development Area, Iwara, Hon. Busuyi Makanjuola, former Secretary to the LCDA, Hon. Kola Omoniyi, former member of the Local Government Education Authority, Iperindo, Chief Gbenga Oladunjoye and former Councillor of Ward 3, Hon. Bimbola Ogungbe.
Others leaders of the IleriOluwa defecting with their followers to Omoluabi caucus tomorrow are former Vice Chairman, Atakunmosa East local government, Iperindo, Hon. Asiwaju Rasaq Oyelami, former Majority Leader of the local government, Hon. Bowofolu Babawale, Asiwaju Rasaq Oyelami and former Leader of the House an Atakunmosa East Local government, Hon. Busoye Onigbogi.
Speaking on behalf of the intending defectors, a former Vice Chairman and Secretary of Atakumosa East Local Government of the state, Hon. Rasaq Oyelami, stated that they had to stay this long in IleriOluwa for political reasons, bothering on the need to exhaust all means of reconciliation of differences within different causes in the party, which has been to no avail.
Oyelami noted that there is no indication that the APC will achieve the ultimate aim of a political party going by the current way it is operating.
He said the APC has experienced a disastrous electoral outing in the last round of elections and has not shown the readiness to act differently from what made it fall.
Oyelami stressed further: “The exhibition of undemocratic norms, deceit, mutual exclusion of members with regular overriding opinions of the few electorally ineffective leaders of Ilerioluwa, arrogance and gangster behaviour, selflessness, etc which are alien to the essence of progressive politics, make it essential to decamp without delay.
“Our outcry to the Ilerioluwa caucus leading the APC for a change of tactics, especially getting Ogbeni and Oyetola reconciled, was always seen as disloyalty and anti-party activity. So, for us, we are better off being with the caucus because we share a mutual understanding of politics, governance, and democratic norms, hence our homegoing.”
Sodiq Yusuf is a trained media practitioner and journalist with considerable years of experience in print, broadcast, and digital journalism. His interests cover a wide range of causes in politics, governance, sports, community development, and good governance.
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