– Deji Ogundimu.
Between 1979 to 1983, the party supremacy was sacrosanct and binding on every political office holders simply because what the core -party founders of those days did was pull resources together to establish the party and strategically entrusted various positions in the hands of party loyalists across board in order to solidify the party base right from the grassroots to the state and national level, after ensuring the acceptability of their party amongst the people, they will then shop for good professionals and administrators amongst party members to field as candidates for elective offices.
The likes of Chief Victor Olabisi Onabanjo,(Journalist)
Micheal Adekunle Ajasin,(Retired School Principal) Chief Bola Ige,(Lawyer) and Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande (Journalist) were all respected personalities in their various capacities with humble and impeccable backgrounds, none of them was a moneybag, they were chosen by the party as party flagbearers for their states and the party funded their campaigns, they never had to brake their necks in order to finance their campaigns and rallies, unlike what we are witnessing today, the party supremacy was absolutely intact and that did not allow a governor to hijack the party from its founders, no matter how skilled and tactical a footballer is, he can never be powerful than the owner of his club, because without the club, there’s no platform for him to exhibit any skill he may think he has that is making him uncontrollable.
I can remember party meetings being held in the homes of party strongmen in Abeokuta then, unlike today when the governors summons party elders to meetings in his office or the government house and the party elders will be scampering foe the governor’s attention…
In those days, there were lots of genuine professionals and businessmen, (though most of them did enjoyed government patronages) who has all it takes to float and fund political parties, and they kept party ace up and far away from the governors and other elective office holders..
Today, the table has turned, no more moneybags at the helms of affairs of political parties, what we have these days is a situation where political parties and their elders sells the governorship tickets to the highest bidder, on whose neck then lies the responsibility of ensuring that all other contestants for other offices under the party umbrella wins their elections at all cost, how can someone tell me, how an individual who carried those enormous burden to become the governor, and as he becomes the governor, the treasury of the state is automatically handed to him, how will he not have the party in his pocket?
The party structure then was firmly and solidly in the hands of party elders and financiers….
So, we don’t need any grammar to explain why the governors are gods in their respective states….
But in Prince Dapo Abiodun’s case, the party mechanisms and supremacy which was wielded and which ultimately worked in his favor due to Governor Amosun’s overbearing circuses during the 2019 elections, if properly managed and maintained is capable of returning party supremacy to party politics in Ogun State and indeed Nigeria.
