THE last may not have been heard of allegation of imposition of candidates by party leadership in Ogun East Senatorial District, as candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the 2007 election, Chief Bisi Adegbuyi has decried alleged moves by the state executive of the party to impose a senatorial candidate on the district.
There are indications that Alhaji Gbenga Kaka, who was deputy governor under the administration of Chief Segun Osoba, may have been given the party's nod to be its flag bearer in the senatorial race, in place of Adegbuyi who lost the 2007 election in contentious circumstances.
In a protest letter, to the Chief Bisi Akande-led National Executive Committee, against imposition of candidates and the failure to conduct primary elections, Adegbuyi alerted the national body of the party to the failure of the leadership of ACN in the Ogun East Senatorial District to conduct primary election in line with directives of the national body.
Since the crisis that engulfed the Alliance for Democracy (AD), prompting most of the leading lights of the party to form the Action Congress (AC), Adegbuyi has remained in the mainstream all through, while Kaka, until recently left the AD to pitch tent with the Olu Falae-led Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA). He contested under the platform of DPA for the governor of Ogun State in 2007.
But in the new wave of alliances, which had its roots in the changing of the AC to Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), conscious attempts may have been made by the party to bend backward to accommodate fresh members into its fold, sacrificing in some cases political ambitions of long-standing members. As part of the move, former All Nigeria's Peoples Party (ANPP) governorship candidate, Senator Ibikunle Amosu, has clinched the ACN governorship ticket of Ogun State. Amosu was originally elected as a senator under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
But this attempt toward situating the ACN for more electoral challenges may however, not be sitting well with some ACN members, whose political aspirations may have been truncated by this arrangement. Adegbuyi, for instances, pointed out the litigation that followed his 2007 loss, which spanned approximately forty-two months, which must have cost him a fortune to prosecute.
His words: "The injustice associated with the conduct of the election and the enormous cost of the litigation notwithstanding, I have remained a loyal dedicated, and committed member of our party and have in fact been at the forefront of all the efforts to rebuild our party and reform the electoral process, these efforts include but not limited to membership of the Party's South West fact finding committee, organization and active participation in various symposia, conferences, lectures etc. I actively participated in the advocacy of Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms (CODER). I initiated and played active leadership role in the organization of one man, one vote rally in Abeokuta under the auspices of Coalition of Democrats against Rigging (CODAR) in conjunction with our party, The Action Congress."
Stressing that democracy thrives and engenders justice when there is popular participation, galvanization and mobilization of the populace for popular support and translation of same to electoral victory, Adegbuyi pointed out that this can only be achieved when the most popular aspirant is elected in a well organized, manifestly free, fair and credible primary election is conducted.
"There is no scintilla of doubt in my mind that our party intended same when it caused the guidelines aforesaid to be published in various National newspapers. Brazen contravention of the said guidelines, to achieve a pre-determined, unpopular and undemocratic end should not be condoned by our party because it is capable of undermining the momentum that we have all worked so hard to achieve. The voting public believes we have something different to offer and should not loose this goodwill by imposing candidate on the generality of the party members against the weight of popular opinion".
He contended that the alleged move to forward the name of Alhaji Kaka is not only an unconstitutional act; it is a flagrant violation of the party constitution, the extant Electoral Act and the guidelines for the conduct of the primary elections. "We should not publicly give guidelines, rules and directives to ourselves and whimsically violate same, it is capable of portraying our Party as one that preaches due process, rule of law, constitutionalism and does the direct opposite".
In the letter, copies of which were also sent to Chief Osoba, former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, his Oyo and Ekiti States counterparts, Alhaji Lam Adesina and Chief Niyi Adebayo, respectively, Adegbuyi vowed to continue to be a loyal party member, publicly upholding the highest ideals of democracy, due process, equity and fairness which have endeared the party to the voting public.
Source: Ogun ACN: Adegbuyi Protests Alleged Imposition (http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=36311:ogun-acn-adegbuyi-protests-alleged-imposition&catid=1:national&Itemid=559)