Crisis may be brewing in the Ogun State chapter of the newly registered All Progressive Congress (APC), as the 2011 governorship candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) Olawale Okunniyi and the state leadership of the party have queried the rationale for some people calling themselves interim officers of the party without formal guidelines on state structures by the national leadership of the party.
Decrying the public posturing of some elements within the party in the state, Okunniyi in a statement by his media aide, Oluwabori Obafemi, noted that no decision as regards the appointment of interim executive officers or setting up of the state steering team has been taken by the leaders and arrowheads of the merging parties in the state.
The Ijebu born politician in the statement said “We are seriously perturbed by the display of crass opportunism by some self-seeking leaders of APC in Ogun State. We wish to condemn in strongest terms the usurpation of party authority by these set of ambitious elements within our new mega formation, as their illegitimate attempt to hijack the party structure before formal registration of membership is capable of inciting early disaffection and bad blood within the prospective mega party.”
“Moreover, having consulted thoroughly with the arrow heads and key leaders of both ACN and ANPP in the state, Okunniyi wishes to put it on record that at no time and no where did the party caucus or its stakeholders meet to take such very crucial decision as to appointing members of interim steering committee of the party, since there has been no directive and guideline yet from the national headquarters on the template for operational procedure and sharing of party offices at the state level.”
The state Leader of the defunct CPC however described those purporting to be acting as interim officers of the APC in Ogun State as usurpers and desperate politicians wanting to supplant the decisions of the interim national leadership of the party, warning them to desist henceforth from misleading party stakeholders and prospective members of APC or face the wrath of the popular mass of the party
Speaking on why he was absent at the state launch of APC on Monday in Abeokuta, Okunniyi who is a 2015 governorship hopeful in the state said he did not receive any formal invitation from the organisers of the launch nor directive from the national office; a situation which he said makes it inappropriate for him to attend such function.
