MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS
The much-talked about bye-election for Ibadan North Federal Constituency held last Saturday has been won and lost. The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party coasted home with victory at the expense of Hon Wale Adetunji Murphy of the All Progressives Congress.
The APC for the umpteenth time tasted defeat attributable to lack of internal cohesion. Political lessons were learnt in hard way as usual, causing avoidable political setback. But thanks to goodness that there was this opportunity of “mock exam” in the name of off-cycle election. Otherwise, the party would have carried a sort of false hope and unrealistic self confidence into the 2027 general elections.
With the outcome of the last Saturday election, it is obvious that all is not well with the APC, Oyo State. The cold war among the various tendencies remains persistent and unabated. And the much needed unity remains elusive thereby sustaining the trend of electoral failure. Only God knows when and how this perennial hide and seek relationship will come to a definite end?
Many lessons must have been taught and many lessons must have been learnt in the past couple of weeks. Personally, my take home from the election is drawn from happenings that are physical, documentary and intuitive. Let me seize this opportunity to share mine, though may not be exhaustive, as there could be many more others that escaped my radar.
Firstly, the loss started from the home of the APC candidate, Hon Wale Murphy. The turn-out in his polling unit did not show any evidence of mobilization of voters into his unit. Scoring a token of six (6) out of fifteen (15) votes in his unit is an eyesore. Charity, they say begins at home. What was it that actually went wrong? One would have expected that members of his family, friends, associates, neighbors and other well wishers ought to have come to his rescue.
Today in Nigeria, President Tinubu is Making a huge Difference–Opinion
Secondly, the controversial process through which the candidate emerged was also a contributory factor. It took much time than necessary to conclude the process. This left behind bickerings that could not be timely managed, and wounds that could not be effectively healed before the proper election.
The lesson from this is that internal democracy is very germain to electoral process. In any future election, whatever mode of primaries to be adopted, be it direct, indirect or consensus arrangement must be open to all, seen to be fair, credible and meet the minimum standard.
The idea of bragging and displaying overconfidence that I have the ticket already in my pocket usually amounts to self-deceit. It normally ends up in electoral disaster at the poll. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who submitted himself to a well conducted, open and transparent presidential primary election ought to be our role model in this regard.
The other observable lesson is that all the peace talks engaged at both the party and personal levels were phoney and ineffective. None of the reconciliation efforts was genuine and sincere. “Bo roju mi o rinu mi, demo mowa”. Sabotage by the disgruntled party stalwarts was very evident in the election.
Another one is that power of incumbency on the part of the governors manifested across Nigeria. In Kaduna State, APC governor delivered APC candidate, in Kano State, NNPP governor returned NNPP candidate and in Anambra State, APGA governor ensured that APGA candidates won. Similar scenario played out in Ogun, Edo, Oyo and other States where the bye-elections were conducted. It was only in a couple of States that opposition candidates managed to carry the day. However, if we had done the needful in Oyo State, the story could have been probably different.
Symbol of Good Leadership: Students Welcome CP, Commend Gov. Makinde for Peaceful Ibadan By-Election
Also, the level of direct and physical participation of our party bigwigs left so much to be desired. In an election of this nature, where a show of power and supremacy was a big factor, one would have expected some solidarity from people that matter. Where were the serving Honorables, Senators and other appointees of the Federal Government on Saturday? If Senator Monsurat Sunmonu could be on ground monitoring the election for her party, one wonders why our former Senators and even aspiring ones did not show up as a morale booster to the party members.
Video: The Real Story Behind ‘Emilokan’
Serious complaints were also made about shortage of funds. In Nigeria of today, vote buying and other material inducements cannot be ruled out totally. It may be criminal to do so, but that is the reality. I have a friend that used to say that it criminal to be law abiding in a society infested by criminals. “Bo ba sepe saje lo laiye, eje kajo ma ko” (Alhaji Sikiru Ayinde Barrister). The victory secured by the PDP on Saturday was bought at a price. There are video evidence of their members sharing rice to potential voters in the evening of Friday. We also heard it on good authority that huge disbursement of funds to various polling units was effected by the PDP. What governor Seyi Makinde did was to use what he had to achieve what he needed.
Ibadan Circular Road: Opening a New Axis of Development
If the truth must be said, there are pretenders and moles within the rank and file of the APC. “A fi omo eiye sabe, a ngbin oka. They are known as PDAPC. Which political party is that?. “Ti eniyan ba ma je oshakala, je oshakala, ti eniyan ba ma je oshokolo, ko je oshokolo: ewo ni shakala-shokolo?”. In order to achieve success in the 2027 general elections, delibrate efforts must be made by the party to purge itself of the moles in our midst. They are cancerous causing havoc to the party. They can easily be identified by their contributions to discourse in APC platforms. They have zero loyalty for the party and are always delighted at its electoral misfortune.
State Government Bans Nursery & Kindergarten Graduation Ceremonies, Orders 4-Year Textbook Reuse
FG Inaugurates Programme to Empower 20Million Youths
In conclusion, the way forward is for the party to go back to the drawing board to draft and implement genuine reconciliation. There is still enough sunlight to dry the clothes before 2027. Also, whosoever that has the ear of Mr President should prevail on him to intervene directly in the affairs of the party in Oyo State. He remains the only father-figure that can broker genuine and enduring peace that will be acceptable to the generality of the warlords.
The APC is bleeding in Oyo State and needs urgent attention.
B. Aderemi Ogundele,
(JagunmoluBAO)
August 18, 2025.
For More Latest News, Join Our WhatsApp Channel
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va9qtzXHwXbIyBGtjk2o
