OLAOLU OLADIPO writes on the former governor of Oyo State, Chief Rashidi Ladoja’s deft political moves since he left office in 2007.
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Since his impeachment in January 2006 and subsequent reinstatement 11 months after, the political career of former Oyo State Governor, Chief Rashidi Ladoja has been characterized by ceaseless struggle for relevance in the turbulent political atmosphere.?
Though his term ended on May 29 2007, the Ibadan High Chief has found it exceedingly difficult to regain his political rhythm which went on the ascendancy sometimes early in the 1990s when he got the first shot at power via an election into the Senate on the platform of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he failed to secure the ticket of the party for re-election, having been shut out by the powers that were who gave the ticket to his deputy, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala who in the process of holding forth (in the wake of the impeachment) hijacked the party machinery.
Owing to paucity of time and the inability to secure a judicial support for tenure elongation, he opted to stay out of the contest for the Agodi Government House and in the interim was in 2008 charged with corruption allegedly committed during his period in office. The euphoria generated by the arrest, detention and the arraignment notwithstanding, he tried to reinvent himself and he found refuge in the Accord Party from where he took another shot.
Though the action failed to generate enough publicity, his defection was made public through a statement by his media aide, Mr. Lanre Latinwo. In the statement, the ex-governor reportedly declared his intention at a gathering of his supporters from all the 33 local governments of the state.
According to the Latinwo, the decision was reached at a meeting in Ibadan. The defection is a symbolic approval of the yearning of his supporters that he should take another shot at the plum job.
On the occasion, he reportedly promised to bring back government to the people, adding that his new platform would not be conduit pipe to loot the state treasury.
Eventually, when he contested the April 2011 governorship election, he lost to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). It was not a totally bad outing for him and his supporters as the Accord Party (AP) won four House of Representatives seats and seven seats in the 32-member House of Assembly.
Since the end of the election, a kind of delicate working relationship was forged between him and the incumbent governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi. Composition of the assembly did not in anyway give the victorious ACN clear majority, having garnered 13 seats. So, an alliance of some sorts was worked out with the AP (who had become the beautiful bride) to support its ACN candidates for the speakership.
“We were persuaded by many well meaning citizens of Ibadan to support the ACN because of Senator Abiola Ajimobi who is an Ibadan man like Senator Ladoja. We would have done otherwise but my oga who is an Ibadan high chief did not want to be seen as working against the interest of another Ibadan man.” One of the close aides of the former governor told LEADERSHIP on Sunday.
Details of the arrangement were such that some positions in government would be conceded to members of the AP. For instance, the governor had conceded unspecified number of commissionership slots to them and about four local government chairmanships.
Seventh Oyo State House of Assembly Session expectedly had to be postponed three times due to disagreement among the three political parties which formed the nucleus of the legislature, on the choice of principal officers.
Families and friends of the members-elect had to converge on the parliament building on those occasions but were disappointed to find the place under lock and keys while there were no officials to offer explanations.
Disagreement arose as Ladoja allegedly requested? Ajimobi to give his party? the speakership slot, a request that didn’t go down well with ACN leaders? who believe such concession could be counterproductive and politically dangerous.
In the end, the ACN produced Mrs. Monsurat? Sunmonu representing Oyo East/Oyo West State Constituency emerged unopposed thus becoming the first woman to be so elected. Curiously, she is the only female member elected.
Compensation came as AP member, Mr. David Olaniyan, emerged the Deputy Speaker, while another ACN lawmaker emerged the Majority Leader of the House. An AP lawmaker was elected the Chief Whip.
In spite of this however, the ruling party is yet to fulfil its own side of the bargain owing to the stance of some powerful elements within the party who are said to be opposed to the alliance.
“Some people in the ACN who don’t want us (AP members) to be in government feared that doing so would unduly empower us,” the source said.
This seeming loss of relevance has prompted the former governor to explore other political alternative for relevance and he turned to his former base, the PDP.
Ladoja who claimed he has been receiving entreaties from prominent leaders of the party has however given stringent conditions for a possible return.
The conditions are hinged on his perception that the PDP harbours some hatred for the state despite its contributions to the success and growth of the party. Speaking to reporters in his Bodija home during the recently held Eid-el-Kabir celebration, he ruled out possible return until certain steps are taken by the PDP to redress past actions, which he said had affected the state negatively.??
He said: “They have sent emissaries and I am still receiving emissaries from them. They want me back in the PDP, but this would give me the opportunity of reviewing the relationship between PDP and Oyo State during the time PDP was in power.”
He also believes the state has not been fairly treated by the PDP.? “Today, in the Southwest, PDP has only six federal lawmakers, all of which come from Oyo State; a senator and five House of Representatives members, yet the biggest ministries went to Ogun State. Could thisallocations have been coincidental? Some may even be tempted to ask whether the former president (Olusegun Obasanjo) is still in power, because he is the one in charge.”
A prompt response came from Elder Wole Oyelese, a former minister for Special Duties who said Ladoja was not in a position to give the party conditions for his return, saying with such stance, Ladoja had overestimate his political worth.
In a widely circulated press statement, Oyelese said Ladoja and not Obasanjo was the cause of the misfortune that befell the state in 2006, due to his inability to manage the late strongman of Ibadan politics, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu.?
The former minister’s statement reads in part: “If the truth must be told and Ladoja would be honest with himself, he will admit that he was actually the main cause of our party’s misfortune.
His inability to manage the late Baba Adedibu was the beginning of the PDP’s problems in the state.”
Oyelese continued: “The absurdity of listening to him comment on issues that do not fall in his domain and on which he should morally not have commented on is fast becoming his flagship.
“Few weeks ago, during his birthday celebration, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) had to silence him over claims that he was instrumental to Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s election. It is, therefore, an irritation to hear Ladoja say he would return to the PDP, if the party meets his conditions. He then went on to heap the blame of the party’s misfortune in Oyo on Obasanjo.”
Efforts to woo him further intensified recently when surprisingly Alao-Akala’s deputy, Mr. Taofeek Arapaja led a delegation comprising of former local government chairmen hitherto elected on the platform of the PDP and prominent chieftains to Ladoja to mount pressure on him.
Sources close to the former governor told LEADERSHIP that though Arapaja who was recently nominated for an ambassadorial slot from the state came to Ladoja’s residence in Bodija GRA to thank the former governor for his role in the said nomination, the occasion provided an avenue to woo the latter to the PDP.
Will Ladoja eventually re-unite with his estranged party or will he remain in the AP. Those who should know him believe the former governor will soon dump the latter.