Posted by From Tunde Sanni in Ibadan on
Strongman of Oyo State politics, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu has been mounting pressures on some governors perceived to have the ears of the Presidency to persuade President Olusegun Obasanjo not to allow Senator Rashidi Ladoja return to the state house even if the Supreme Court judgment favours him.
Strongman of Oyo State politics, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu has been mounting pressures on some governors perceived to have the ears of the Presidency to persuade President Olusegun Obasanjo not to allow Senator Rashidi Ladoja return to the state house even if the Supreme Court judgment favours him.
The recourse to the governors, one from the South-south and the other from the North -central, sources within the Molete political turf told THISDAY might not be unconnected with the rebuff Obasanjo has been giving the political gadfly since the Appeal Court judgment.
Sources hinted that the governors who have come to his Molete palace for their presidential campaigns have been assured of the support of the party in the state at the national convention, only if they could help him persuade the presidency that Ladoja should never return to the Agodi Government House.
The responses of the governors to the plea could not be confirmed at press time, Sources however pointed to the presence of Governor Adamu Abdullahi of Nassarawa state to receive President Olusegun Obasanjo at Ibadan on Friday as part of the diplomatic strategy put in place by the political gadfly to ensure that he had the last laugh.
Abdullahi was in Ibadan in continuation of his presidential campaign on Thursday and had called on Adedibu in Molete, where he was reportedly persuaded to stay the night to receive Obasanjo who was billed to attend the 58th Foundation Ceremony of the University of Ibadan and afforded him the opportunity of broaching the issue with the president.
It could not be confirmed if Abdullahi was able to resolve the perceived political difference between the strongman and the president.
Since the November 1, 2006 Appeal Court judgment, the political strongman had been speaking tough, boasting with his adopted political godson, Akala that not even the Supreme Court could restore Ladoja to his seat.
Leading a solidarity rally to Akala on the day of the Court of Appeal judgment, Adeibu had declared that no court in the country could reinstate Ladoja to his position as the elected governor of the state.
Akala while speaking with journalists in his office on November 6, 2006, sustained Adedibu line of thought as he maintained that even if the Supreme Court ruled in favour of his former boss, he would still go to a lower court to get another relief.
Twice, according to THISDAY feelers the political strongman had attempted to meet with Obasanjo on the pending court matter and twice, Obasanjo was said to have rebuffed him reminding him that he would prefer to remain silent on the matter after the apex court's interpretation of the impeachment of Ladoja.
The Adedibu group, it was gathered had attempted to use the opportunity of a presidential visit to Ibadan penultimate Friday to rally the president to a stakeholders meeting but failed as Obasanjo immediately after the ceremony left for Anambra State.
Last week Sunday, another reported attempt by the strongman to have an audience with Obasanjo again at his Otta farm in Ogun state failed as the president reportedly shunned him.
Sources at the Otta farm said Adedibu in company of his political supporters waited in vain for several hours as the president was said to have rebuffed him and stood his ground on not wanting to dabble into the political events presently unfolding in Oyo state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Sources within PDP in the state confided in THISDAY that the strongman might have run into bad weather with the presidency over his adoption of Akala as the sole candidate of the party in the state in deference to the advise given by Obasanjo that a level playing ground should be created for all aspirants.
One of the aggrieved aspirants, Alhaji Yekini Adeojo had dragged the strongman to the presidency over the Akala matter with Obasanjo insisting that no candidate should be preferred over the other in the contest.
Other aspirants with Adeojo on the presidential parley, which took place in Otta farm, included, Brigadier General Raji Rasaki, Elder Wole Oyelese, a chieftain of the party in the state, Baba Olopoenia, Adedibu, among others.
At the meeting, sources claimed, Adedibu promised to apply the presidential advise. On October 24, at the celebration of his 78 birthday, Adedibu raised up the hand of Akala at his Molete residence as the sole candidate of the party in the state.
Already the adoption of Akala has started to engender division within the rank of the party as the party has broken into camps with Adeojo and other aspirants coming together to checkmate the success of both the strongman and his adopted godson at the primaries.
Fearing that he would be unable to actualise his ambition in the PDP, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, the chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), has resigned his appointment from office and from the party.