OYO ACN LEADERS DIVIDED OVER GOVERNORSHIP CANDIDATE

By NBF News

THE issue of who flies the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)'s flag in the 2011 governorship election in Oyo State is currently generating ripples among the party's leaders in the state.

While some Ibadan elites are said to be rooting for a particular candidate who contested the last governorship election on the platform of another political party because of his Muslim background, former governor Lam Adesina who is one of the ACN leaders, is said to be insisting on following democratic principles.

Adesina reportedly said he would not want any religious sentiment to be brought into the issue and that all aspirants must be allowed to go through the primaries to test their popularity.

Presently, there are nine governorship aspirants gunning for the Agodi Government House. They are Chief Olufemi Lanlehin, Dr. Adebayo Adewusi, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, Kazeem Adedeji, Prof. Wole Akinboade, Prof. Wale Oyemakinde, Mr. Soji Akanbi, Mr. Niyi Adelakun and Charles Obisesan.

Apparently to avoid a recurrence of what happened in 2007 when some governorship aspirants left the party in protest following the imposition of Prof. Taoheed Adeoja, who is now the Minister of Special Duties, Adesina was said to have rejected the plot by the Ibadan elites.

Adesina's hardline posture, it was gathered, has unsettled the Ibadan elites and is currently causing ripples within the party in the state.