The Ex Governor of Oyo State, Adebayo Alao-Akala has asked members of Unity Forum and others in APC to stop giving Oyo Central Senator, Oloye Teslim Kolawole Folarin undue advantage, charged them to step up their games as Folarin is currently doing.
According to Alao-Akala, his accusers are lazy politicians and such people, he said, can never become governor.
The Ogbomoso-born politician was reacting to statements by Sunday Dare, sports minister and members of the Unity forum who are opposed to the composition of zoning committee for the APC ahead of its state congress.
OYOINSIGHT.COM understands that the Alao-Akala-led committee considered all the tendencies within the party in the composition of he zoning committee, which is saddled with the distribution of leadership position within the party.
While Fatai Ibikunle and Hammed Ayinla are representing Unity Forum, Olalekan Alli and Isiaka Kolawole are from the Abiola Ajimobi group. Monisola Tegbe is of the Zenith Labour Party, ZLP while Idris Adeoye is representing the Elders Advisory Council. Akeem Olatunji and Wale Adeleke are of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, while Musiliu Olaide Akinremi is a member of caretaker/extraordinary convention planning committee, CECPC, of APC.
In a chat with OYOINSIGHT.COM Wednesday night, Alao-Akala said he is father to all and that his door is widely opened to anyone who needs his advise.
Assuring that those who would emerge party candidates would be done though internal democracy, he said those who are saying he is routing for Folarin don’t know what they are saying.
“Maybe because Folarin is a politician and has been busy with his consultation, I don’t have any preferred candidates for any position. If I have the opportunity of choosing who flies the party’s ticket for the governorship, I won’t choose from Ibadan and you know the reason. In fact, I have someone from my hometown of Ogbomoso. Yes, Folarin is working. They should also stand up and work like him if they want to take the party’s ticket.
”The party’s ticket would be won through politics. Politics in the sense that you will work and sell yourself to the party members and the populace. It is simple. Everybody should get to work and not resort to blackmail. It is not done.
“Check the names of all those people. Who is not APC among them. Even when the APC was initially formed, was it not an amalgamation of many parties. It is normal we set such committee up to midwife the process. However, if they are not satisfied, they should come up with another plan that is better. In fact, the zoning committee that was set up, nobody is bound to take whatever decision they come up with it. Everything we zone, we will ask leaders in the area to fill the positions with whoever they want. And where more than one person is put forward, we will go for election. What we are trying to do is to come up with a common list. That is all.
”The fact is that I am not aspiring for anything again. By the grace of God, I am more experienced than these people. And at one time or the other, they have had something to do with me. So, rather than say I am for someone, they should go to the field if they are interested in leadership position. They should not allow Folarin to bulldoze them into submission,” Alao-Akala explained.