Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, is disturbed by chocking visibility of Senator Solomon Adeola ahead of the 2019 governorship election, Ripples can authoritatively reveal.
Amosun, who is on second-term, is shopping for a candidate to neutralise the astronomical influence of Adeola represents Lagos West at the Upper Chambers.
Adeola, popularly called Yayi by supporters, has confided in close aides that he is gunning for the governorship of Ogun State come 2019 and already set up machineries across the state for the aspiration.
Though he represents Lagos West, easily the largest constituency in the South West in terms of population, Adeola is originally from Ago Ishaga Pahayi Ilaro in Yewa South local government of Ogun State.
He gunned for the senatorial ticket of Ogun West last year but opted out before the primaries when the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, persuaded him to drop the ambition.
He later won the senatorial ticket of the APC in Lagos West en route Abuja.
Tinubu was said to have intervened in 2015 after Amosun appealed to him to beg Yayi to allow Gbolahan Dada emerge the APC’s candidate.
Amosun, according to investigations, was rattled by the colourful, massive grassroots movement that Adeola put in place, making him become the toast of many in Ogun West.
He was said to have realised it would be difficult to defeat him and settled with appealing to Tinubu to talk Adeola out of the senatorial battle.
The duo was said to have struck a deal that Yayi will return to Ogun State for electoral purposes in 2019.
Since then, Yayi has become a popular commodity in the state, winning over key APC chieftains and supporters, even beyond Ogun West.
Sources said the increasing acceptance of Adeola in Ogun State has become a big headache for Amosun, who is angling to install a successor of his own in 2019. The governor, according to investigations, has realised many party chieftains have keyed into the Adeola’s project against his wish.
Many of the party elders are complaining that Amosun has personalised governance to the point that none of them is carried along in the running of the state.
Many of them, it was gathered, are also angry that the governor has refused to dole out patronage after they risked all to support his re-election.
Instead, they alleged he has only awarded contracts to his family members and cronies to their detriments. The party elders are also fighting the governor for allegedly grounding the party to nothing in the state.
One of them, who spoke with our correspondent, said: “You see the governor is all in all. There is no party meeting or caucus. Our secretariat has been under locks even before the elections.
“He wants to be the only one running the show. Have you heard about the party’s chairman or secretary making a comment or statement?“You won’t because Amosun likes to be the only voice. He did the same thing to the defunct ANPP when he was the governorship candidate.
“But this is APC. He has met his waterloo and we will show him he cannot be bigger than the party that produced him.”
Owing to these ill-feelings, many of the APC chieftains in Ogun have pitched their tents with Yayi, a politician with generous hands. Unlike Amosun, it was learnt that Yayi has been funding many APC elders and supporters in the state.
He has maintained a visible presence in the state with at least two major outings and visits in a month.
Yayi is said to be working with the theory that he remains the only candidate that can deliver the elusive governorship slot to Ogun West.
The senatorial district has never produced a governor despite attempts by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to install Gen. Tunji Olurin and former Governor Gbenga Daniels’ endorsement of Gboyega Isiaka from the zone in the past.
Feelers from the district revealed many believe Adeola has the network, charisma and deep pockets to win the slot. But Amosun, it was gathered, has intensified efforts to scuttle Adeola’s ambition.
He is said to be tinkering with the idea of presenting Senator Lanre Tejuosho (Ogun Central) to fight off Adeola’s influence.
Amosun, source said, believes the Tejuosho’s connections and pedigree might work for him but analysts say it will be difficult to install another Egba man in his stead.
Yayi has been a two-time member of the Lagos Assembly and became the Chairman House of Representatives Public Accounts from 2011-2015 despite being a first-timer.
His aides say these have prepared him for the gigantic political battles ahead in 2019. But going shoulder to shoulder with a sitting governor may just be his ultimate battle yet as Amosun does not seem willing to give him a free ride to the Abeokuta, Government House.