As members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State jostle to make the list of Gov Dapo Abiodun’s Commissioners, the Publicity Secretary of the party’s caretaker committee in the state, Tunde Oladunjoye, has appealed to them to remain calm, saying, “not everybody will become Commissioner.”
DAILY POST reports that Gov Abiodun last week said he would release his list of Commissioners before Christmas.
Our correspondent gathered that the statement has brought about ‘last-minute rush’ as party members engage in intense lobbying to be in Abiodun’s cabinet.
DAILY POST also gathered that APC loyalists who worked for Abiodun during the election were not pleased with his decision to include members of other political parties in his government as they perceived that would mean giving what belongs to them to outsiders.
It would be recalled that Prince Gboyega Nasir Isiaka of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) had led his supporters to the APC.
A former Governor of the state, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has also dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the APC.
Our correspondent reliably gathered that those eyeing various positions in Abiodun’s government are already feeling threatened, with the calibres of people joining the APC in Ogun.
But Oladunjoye, in an exclusive interview with DAILY POST on Monday, said even if Gov Abiodun were to appoint all his Commissioners from one local government, he would not have been able to appoint all APC members in that local government into his cabinet.
“If nobody from other parties had joined APC after the election, if the commissionership slot were to be shared with APC members alone, even in one local government, would it go round? It’s not going to go round. It is natural that people will lobby in politics.
“Politics involves lobbying and contestation. I am very sure that those who are coming to join would also realise that the governor is accommodating everybody because of our promise of an all-inclusive government which was made during the campaign and we also have to be conscious of the fact that there is need for somebody who made political promises to live up to his expectations.
I think so far, the governor has done that. He has created the transition working group, with Tunde Lemo as the Chairman; Gboyega Isiaka was there, Rotimi Paseda was there, Reuben Abati was there and other people who contested the governorship slot with him. Tunde Lemo is not even a politician,” the Ogun APC spokesperson said.
Oladunjoye maintained that it is normal for people to indicate interest in occupying offices, adding that the party can only preach peace.
“It is natural for people to struggle for posts, but we can only preach peace. It’s not a big deal, it’s natural,” he added
Asked if the party is working towards making sure those who worked for the party truly benefit from Abiodun’s government as he promised during his electioneering campaign, Oladunjoye retorted: “If the governor said so, he has it as an obligation to the people and it is not everybody that will become Commissioner; some would-be members of boards; some could be chairmen of boards; some could be advisors; some would be consultants, contractors and so on. It will be in varying degrees; because even our contributions to the party, to the emergence of the governor, were not on equal scale.”
