WHAT IS THE OFFENCE OF IFE IN APC?

 WHAT IS THE OFFENCE OF IFE IN APC?

THE IFE QUESTION ALL APC LEADERS MUST ANSWER

By Arewa Oluwaseun

For too long, the sons and daughters of Ile-Ife have watched in silence as loyalty to All Progressive Congress (APC) party has been repaid with exclusion, humiliation and calculated political erasure. Silence, however, has reached its limit. The time has come to ask every Ife leaders in that party publicly and unequivocally that what exactly is the offence of Ife within the APC?

What truly is the offence of Ife in the hands of the APC in Osun state? This is no longer a whisper in private gatherings or a complaint muttered in political corridors; it is now a loud moral and political question demanding a public answer. For how long will Ife people be consistently present yet deliberately excluded? How long will loyalty be repaid with humiliation?

Three illustrious sons of Ife seasoned politicians with enviable records of consistency, loyalty and service stepped forward under the APC platform, only to be disgracefully disqualified, denied even the dignity of contest. Not rejected at the polls, not defeated by delegates, but administratively erased. The excuses advanced for their disqualification are not only flimsy; they are insulting to reason. 

Is APC boldly telling the world that sons of Ife, men who have navigated Nigeria’s complex electoral terrain for decades do not understand the rudiments of electoral processes?. Take Senator Babajide Omoworare, for instance. A man whose political journey predates the APC itself. He contested and won under the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Lagos State, remained steadfast through political metamorphosis and later represented Osun East Senatorial District with its four Ifẹ local governments and six Ijesa local governments for two full terms without defecting. Loyalty was not a convenience for him; it was a creed.

Beyond legislative service, he was entrusted at the federal level as a Presidential–National Assembly Liaison Officer during the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari. Yet today, this same man armed with experience, loyalty and institutional memory is suddenly deemed unfit to even aspire under the same party he laboured to build. One must ask, when did loyalty become a liability?

Then there is Senator Iyiola Omisore, a pioneer political force, former Deputy Governor, two-term Senator and undeniably one of the most influential political figures to ever emerge from Osun State. Though APC may point to his movement across parties, history records him as the very political lifeline of the party during the infamous 2018 inconclusive election that eventually installed former Governor Gboyega Oyetola. That rescue mission was neither symbolic nor sentimental; it was strategic and decisive.

For this, Omisore was rewarded with the position of APC National Secretary, one of the most powerful offices in the party hierarchy. Yet, in a twist typical of Nigeria’s politics of convenience, he was later unceremoniously removed without honour, without explanation, without gratitude.

Now, both Omoworare and Omisore despite their towering profiles were stylishly disqualified on technical pretexts, all to ensure that no son of Ife appeared on the primary ballot and that the party’s flag bearer emerged without an Ifẹ shadow.

As if this systematic exclusion was not enough, Ife APC loyalists were further encouraged to settle for crumbs, to angle for the deputy slot in the spirit of compromise. Even that olive branch was snatched away. The party suddenly discovered an aversion to a Muslim-Muslim ticket, citing the religion of a likely Ife candidate, while conveniently ignoring the presence of other competent Ifẹ sons who are not Muslims.

Yet, irony reached its peak when APC reportedly settled for a deputy from an entirely different zone, also a Muslim thereby exposing the religion argument as nothing more than a convenient alibi. If it was not about religion and not about competence, then what exactly is it about?

This leads us to the unavoidable, uncomfortable question now on the lips of every conscious Ife son and daughter, do our prominent APC figures like Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, Senator Iyiola Omisore, Senator Babajide Omoworare, Hon. Dayo Eluyemi, Sooko Kemade Elugbaju, Hon. Segun Fanibe, Hon. Rotimi Makinde, Hon. Benjamin Adereti, Hon. Jamiu Olawumi and host of others truly love Ife or are they merely negotiating personal relevance within a structure that has repeatedly humiliated their people?

This is not a call to rebellion; it is a call to reflection. History is watching, Ife is watching, generations yet unborn will ask where our leaders stood when their people were reduced to spectators in a political party they helped to build. The answer to this question by actions, not press statements will guide and guard Ife into the future. The time for political sentimentality is over, Ife must think, Ife must decide, Ife must act before it is too late.