Not many people know that former president, Olusegun Obasanjo and former Ogun governor, Aremo Olusegun Osoba don’t talk.
Though it is not so obvious, both avoid each other, so as to avoid a possible clash. And this situation has been on since 2003 when politics tore them apart.
City People can authoritatively inform you that the 2 highly respected Egba high chiefs fell out over what began as a political co-operation deal which went sour during the 2003 Ogun governorship election that swept Osoba and his then fellow Alliance Democracy (AD) south –west Governors out of power, believed to have been engineered by Obasanjo who was then leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
A source close to Aremo Osoba told City People that it was the late Alake of Egbaland Oba Oyebade Lipede who brokered a peace truce between OSoba and Obasanjo few months to the latter’s 2nd term re-election bid in 2003 when Obasanjo had political differences with some Northern powerbrokers in PDP who felt he had a pro-Yoruba agenda.
Late Oba Oyebade Lipede was said to have called Osoba and appealed to him to support Obasanjo’s 2003 re-election because he didn’t want a repeat of what happened between MKO Abiola and Earnest Shonekan in 1993, when the 2 Egba brothers worked against themselves for Nigeria’s presidency.
Oba Lipede appealed to Osoba to use his clout in the defunct AD to ensure that all South-West governors of the party worked to return Obasanjo as President in 2003 instead of presenting a presidential candidate for AD.
Osoba agreed to the proposal which he eventually put before the then South-West governors with an agreement that Obasanjo will ensure they win their 2nd term bids. Our source added that it was only Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, then Governor of Lagos state, who refused to key into the Obasanjo-Osoba deal. Tinubu, who is now the National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), directed Lagos voters not to vote PDP at all levels at the 2003 elections.
Unknown to Osoba, the South-west Governors and AD leaders, Obasanjo and PDP stakeholders had a game-plan to sweep them out of power. Obasanjo even had breakfast with Osoba at the Oke-Igbehin government House, Abeokuta on the election after he had perfected plans on how his party member will win all the elective political positions in state contrary to the co-operation deal he had with Osoba and the AD leaders.
Osoba became highly disappointed in Obasanjo when he found out that the ex-president had gotten to him through the late Oba Lipede to use his office and clout to get support for him in the South-West which was then an AD zone.
This political deal that went bad seriously strained Obasanjo and Osoba’s erstwhile bosom relationship which they had nurtured for decades. Our source added that all efforts made by family members and close associates including late Stella Obasanjo to have Osoba forgive Obasanjo and put the matter behind him did not yield positive result.
Osoba strongly stuck to his position not to relate with Obasanjo again both as a politician and an Egba brother. Osoba is said to have vowed never to have anything to do with Obasanjo again in his life despite the fact that Osoba allocated the land Obasanjo built his Olusegun Obasanjo presidential Library (OOPL) and Hilltop residence in Abeokuta before they fell apart in 2003.
City People further gathered that the large concrete-walled parcel of land opposite Obasanjo’s Hilltop residence is owned by Osoba as he also wanted to build a mansion opposite Obasanjo after retirement from public life. But the 2003 incident put an end to this plan which has made Obasanjo and Osoba, 2 political giants sworn enemies 12 years after.
No comments:
Post a Comment