EXCLUSIVE: Oyo state governor, Ajimobi, ‘still planning to remove’ deputy governor

Moses Alake Adeyemo, the deputy governor of Oyo state, is currently the governorship running mate of the Oyo state All Progressives Congress (APC), but he faces a last-minute battle to retain the position – or even remain the deputy governor in 2015 if incumbent governor Abiola Ajimobi wins next month’s election.

According to a government house source who spoke with TheCable, Adeyemo was named running mate in the first place only because the governor was “severely pressurised” into sticking with him.

Ajimobi himself does not wholeheartedly want Adeyemo. His real choice is Isaac Omodewu, the state commissioner for land.

“Ajimobi wants to remove the deputy governor, but he has been pressurised into registering him as his running mate,” he said.

“It is not as if there are impeachment moves against Adeyemo, but the calculation is to see if there are still ways to avoid using him for the 2015 election. The plan is to substitute his name with that of Omodewu.”

FROM BLESSING TO NEMESIS

In the lead-up to the 2011 governorship election, it was Chief Michael Koleoso, secretary to the state government during the tenure of late Lam Adesina, who introduced Adeyemo to Ajimobi. But the man who was most influential to Adeyemo’s emergence as deputy governor is now the main reason he may not remain in the office for a long time to come.

Koleoso is believed to be in support of many of Ajimobi’s former stalwarts who have defected mainly to opposition parties Accord Party (AP) and Labour Party (LP), such as Sarafadeen Alli, former secretary to the state government and chairman of Odua Investments Company Ltd; Lowo Obisesan, who served Ajimobi as commissioner for environment; Sunbo Owolabi, Ajimobi’s former commissioner for water resources; Peter Odetomi, his former commissioner for agriculture; Kazeem Adedeji, his former commissioner for commerce and industry; and Nu­rudeen Akinyo, his former special adviser on local government.

Senator Ayoade Adeseun (Oyo central) and Sena­tor Olufemi Lanlehin (Oyo south) – two of the three Oyo state senators elected on the platform of APC –  also defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and AP, respectively, accusing Ajimobi of  running the party like a personal estate.

The belief in the Ajimobi camp is that the defectors have the blessing of Koleoso. In fact, they say Koleoso himself has joined LP. But on the eve of Christmas 2014, Koleoso issued a statement to say that after almost 50 years of involvement in partisan politics, he was “leaving the stage” for the younger generation. A few people still do not believe him, though.

“The main allegation against Adeyemo is that he is not loyal to Ajimobi. Certain people close to the governor have been alleging that since Adeyemo’s mentor, Koleoso, has defected to the Labour Party, Adeyemo is also sympathetic to the cause of LP. Not just Koleoso, most of the other people who came with him to APC have now gone to Labour,” the source said.

It is an accusation that Adeyemo does not take kindly to.

“I am over 70 years and I am in Koleoso’s generation, so how can he possibly be the one to dictate every step of my life? I have a life of my own and I can think and take decisions on my own,” Adeowo was quoted as saying recently.

ADEYEMO IS FRUGAL – NO, MISERLY

There are lots of people that Adeowo has offended by his “prudent” lifestyle. Ordinarily, prudence would be a virtue – only that his “detractors” think he is rather miserly. But someone who has worked with both governor and deputy governor told TheCable that Adeowo does not give because he doesn’t take without a genuine reason.

“Baba is a gentle kind of person. You will meet him wherever you leave him. He is not interested in the limelight and he is, to a large extent, not corrupt. While the governor is 65 years, Baba is 70 plus, so he respects himself.

“He doesn’t go about collecting money. You give him N5million and you don’t tell him why, he won’t collect it. People see him as very plain. The man is a disciplinarian and he is not a money-grubber.

“At the same time, he doesn’t dole out money like the average politician. He gives within the range of N10,000 to N20,000 when he feels it is necessary. He won’t just dash you N500,000 or N1million.

“It is not that he is miserly; he just doesn’t have the money. He is not the kind of person that you run to when you need help and then he takes you to the governor. No, he won’t do that. So the people who want him out are those who had financial expectations of him that were not met.”

THE FIRST LADY ROW

Until seven months ago when Mrs. Florence Ajimobi, the first lady of Oyo state, was “censored against making public statements”, she was more powerful than the deputy governor.

“At any official function, the order of protocols was governor, then first lady, before the deputy governor,” the source told TheCable.

“So, in short, she was way more influential than the deputy governor in the everyday running of the government.”

Although the situation has now changed, it was a source of disharmony between the two most powerful officers of the state earlier in 2014, and it is unlikely that the first lady has forgotten the row all of a sudden.

THREE FINAL DAYS

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has designated January 13, 2015 the “last day for withdrawal by candidate(s)/replacement of withdrawn candidate(s) by political parties”, which means that Ajimobi has three more days to decide if he will continue yielding to “pressure” to retain Adeyemo or press on with his desire to instead pick Omodewu.

In those three days, two things seem constant.

One, Omodewu is still interested – in fact, “desperate” – in becoming Ajimobi’s running mate and he will be hoping for some magic within that period.

Two, Adeyemo says he will retain his membership of APC, whether or not his name his struck off INEC’s list.

“Baba Adeyemo likes APC; he has no plan to leave. If fact, he still said it yesterday that he is a grandfather, he has a mind of his own, and would not leave APC simply because of Koleoso or because another governorship running mate was chosen.”