Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, has expressed its disapproval of a statement attributed to the Ogun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which was perceived as insulting towards Gbenga Daniel, a former governor of the state.
According to Afenifere, Daniel, who is a prominent member of the group, had a disagreement with the current governor, Dapo Abiodun.
However, the APC in Ogun State allegedly did not make any efforts to reconcile the two influential figures but instead exacerbated the divisions.
In a statement released by Afenifere’s Organising Secretary, Abagun Kole Omololu, on Tuesday in Akure, the organization urged the two APC leaders to resolve their differences in the interest of the state’s progress.
The statement read, “We read with utter dismay a press statement issued by the Ogun State Chapter of the APC in a reaction to an interview recently granted by Senator representing Ogun East, Otunba Gbenga Daniel.
“In this statement, Ogun APC scathingly used unprintable and untoward adjectives to describe Daniel, a former governor who served Ogun State for eight consecutive years. On the other hand, the party ardently defended the state’s incumbent governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, who recently secured re-election to serve his people and the state.
“We take grave exception to the divisive language Ogun APC used in its press statement. Even though the two illustrious sons of Ogun State may disagree on some issues, the approach of Ogun APC, as shown in its press statement, is grossly unethical and utterly unacceptable, especially in this era when our socio-cultural leaders are working behind the scenes to foster harmony and unity among all our elected officials representing us in different capacities both at state and federal levels.
“As a chapter of the ruling party, Ogun APC has the onus of ensuring peace and harmony within its ranks, rather than escalating disagreement between the two leaders, if there is any. The press statement simply suggests that Ogun APC has already taken sides rather than deploying the party’s conflict resolution mechanism and goodwill to make peace between the governor and one of his illustrious predecessors.”
Afenifere also expressed disapproval of the behavior exhibited by the party’s local chapter, emphasizing that the party’s leadership should have taken steps to initiate a process of conflict resolution in order to foster peace and unity among its members and leaders, rather than instigating discord between them.
The group further cautioned the party’s local chapter, its State Working Committee, and its Executive Committee, advising them to cease their actions that contribute to further divisions within the party’s ranks.
The statement added, “We hereby warn Ogun APC, its State Working Committee and its State Executive Committee to desist from causing and deepening division in the ranks of its elected officials. If the SWC lacks the capacity to promote peaceful co-existence among its elected officials statewide, it should, in the overall interests of our people, restrain from taking action that will complicate differences among the leaders.”
Afenifere appealed to the duo to call their aides and supporters to order and “stop every action that will publicly denigrate and rubbish our Omoluabi value before the entire world”.
