GOV. AMOSUN vs OSOBA: Bola Tinubu, Bisi Akande and Niyi Adebayo Meet Osoba

Although he has left the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the leadership of the APC has not given up yet on former Governor Olusegun Osoba of Ogun State as it has set up a new committee to look into his grievances and ensure the former governor returns to its fold.

But a source close to Osoba dismissed the latest effort of the APC leadership as futile, saying Osoba and his team had embraced a choice they might not turn away from on principle.

Sources hinted that the latest move by the party leadership to close in on Osoba was informed by the reality of the political situation in the country, the consequences of which they reckoned could be detrimental in his local Ogun State, given APC’s desire to hold on to the South-west during the 2015 general election.

According to the APC source, “On Sunday night in Ikoyi, Lagos, a group met with Osoba to discuss the larger Yoruba /South-west interest ahead of the 2015 elections.

“The group, aside seeking to reconcile Osoba and Governor Ibikunle Amosun, was of the view that the people of the South-west will be better served by a strong national party rather than the new ones or the PDP.”

At the Lagos meeting that Sunday night were Bola Tinubu, Bisi Akande, Adeniyi Adebayo and Chief Akinyelure, amongst others.

Sources believed that it was because the two initial meetings with Osoba failed to convince Osoba, that the former governor joined the SDP.

The second leg of the meeting, which was allegedly at the instance of Adebayo in consultations with Akande and Tinubu, is scheduled to hold this Sunday.
Nonetheless, a source in the Osoba camp dismissed the possibility of returning to the APC for many reasons, chief of which is based on principle and the political import of such a turnaround.

  

He said Osoba only honoured the invitation to the Sunday meeting out of respect for his brothers in the APC, adding that “sitting with them at a meeting is no indication that he is disposed to dinning with them again. There are more fundamental issues that underpinned that decision.

“Osoba is too lettered in the nuances of politics to consider such a request. It would be too suicidal. It is like asking Governor Amaechi to return to the PDP. It is not possible. If they had done this a long time ago, maybe. But with the prevailing developments, I don’t think so.

“That regardless, they will always meet in the interest of Ogun and the nation to rub minds and discuss the way forward. For now, however, they are and will be operating on different political platforms.”