Ladoja and Akala: Bitter-sweet romance

Ladoja and Akala: Bitter-sweet romance
on october 25, 2013 at 2:42 am in politics
Political leaders in Oyo State are not given to
retiring even when the ovation is loudest. It is as
such not surprising that the recent reconciliation by
two bitter enemies, and incidentally the two
immediate past governors of the state, Rashidi
Ladoja and Adebayo Alao-Akala is now set to
unravel
BY ÒLA ÀJAYI
It is no surprise that as the 2015 elections
approach, the competition for the highest office in
Oyo State, the governorship, has become more
intense. Though, the story is the same in other
political parties, that of the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP attracts more attention because of the
number of those involved.
For the past two years, the political space has been
filled with the rumour that a former governor of the
state, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, the leader of the
youngest political party in the state, Accord, was
contemplating returning to the PDP fold.
As events unfolded, it became glaring that the party
was doing everything possible to have him back. All
the bigwigs in the party in the Southwest, including
the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and
former leader of the party in the zone, Alhaji
Tajudeen Oladipo visited his Bodija residence and
made overtures to him almost on weekly basis.
Mounted pressure
The pressure mounted on him was occasioned by
the success of his party in the 2011 elections
despite its late take-off. PDP discovered that if it
joined forces with Accord, that the ruling party, All
Progressives Congress, APC would definitely be
defeated in the election.
Since he was a golden fish that had no hiding place,
everybody wanted to associate with him. So, it was
not surprising when his former deputy, Chief
Adebayo Alao-Akala who had parted ways with him
following his role in the impeachment of Ladoja,
suddenly made u-turn and swallowed all the pride
to pitch tent with him.
But, there was a clash of interest which made
Ladoja to retreat. He later accused the PDP of
insincerity.
Despite his refusal to rejoin the party, many political
analysts still believe he can spring surprises at the
poll especially going by the sympathy people in the
state had for him during his illegal impeachment in
January 2006. Many still believe he was unduly
cheated by his party at that time, the PDP.
Before meeting Ladoja, Akala had sent some of his
closest associates such as Prince Dotun Oyelade
who was his Special Adviser on Public
Communication to go ahead of him.
When Ladoja and Akala agreed to work together,
there was avalanche of scepticism that the two
non-identical twins were parallel lines that could
not meet. It was generally said that what brought
them together would soon separate them. Some
alleged that Ladoja would be unforgiving of the
alleged treachery against him by his former deputy,
Akala.
Of course, the point of concern among stakeholders
was the issue of who becomes the governorship
candidate of the duo? Would Akala, who was a
governor in the state again surrender himself to the
political tutelage of his former boss?
As the agreement between the two former
governors was being sealed, Akala had his left leg
in the Accord and the right one in the PDP. Each
time, he was asked if he was still in the PDP, he
kept on saying he remained a PDP man. Rumour
was rife that a senatorial ticket was reserved for
him in Accord.
Scepticism of associates and onlookers
nonetheless, the two forged ahead and set up a 14-
man committee to fine tune the reconciliation. The
membership of the committee was evenly
distributed between the two of them.
As rightly predicted, facts soon emerged that Akala
was not totally convinced he could work with his
former boss. Though, he has been in the cooler for
sometime he has obviously used the period to study
the political developments. He has abstained from
most meetings of the PDP and where not, sent
representatives.
He, however, used the crisis that engulfed the
national leadership of the party to prove that he is
still a force to reckon with. A meeting was recently
held at the Premier Hotel, Ibadan, with the Minister
of State, FCT, Oloye Jumoke Akinjide where his
faction backed President Goodluck Jonathan and
Bamanga Tukur group.
A source confided in Vanguard that the decision to
pitch tent with the president was taken overnight.
As things are now, Chief Akala is already moving
from one place to the other trying to convince
people in the state that he is the best governorship
candidate. Even though he is yet to declare the
platform on which he would contest, it is evident
that he would still want to use the PDP platform.
Second term ambition
With the forces that ensured his second term
ambition was thwarted still in place, it needs the
intervention of God to make him achieve this in
PDP. Just few days ago, a notable chieftain in the
PDP, Senator Lekan Balogun who was one of those
who opposed his second term ambition said he had
forgiven him. However, when asked if he would
support another term for Akala, he evaded the
question.
It was gathered that the sentiments of some in the
PDP hierarchy in Ibadan and Abuja is already
moving towards the former Senate leader, Teslim
Folarin to fly the party’s flag in 2015. That many
fear, would also spark a fresh round of crisis in the
party.
Teslim is a bitter political adversary of Akala’s and
was incarcerated as a suspect in the killing of the
former Chairman of the National Union of Road
Transport Workers in the state, Alhaji Lateek Salako
aka Eleweomo. It was the court that came to his
rescue. Since that time, Folarin has kept Akala at
arm’s length.
It is because of this that many are now asking that
Akala, Ladoja and others tainted by the bad
politicking of the past should give way for fresh
blood. Those supportive of this initiative note that by
2015 Akala would be 65 years old while Ladoja
would be 72. Critics witin the party say that the two
should take the back seat and direct the affairs of
the younger ones. But will they?
The drumbeats, though, distant, are very audible
that 2015 elections will be another tug of war in the
state especially as the incumbent governor, Senator
Abiola Ajimobi is leaving no stone unturned to make
sure that the broom party wins the election.