POLIT(R)IC(K)S: RE-FRESHED NOT AFRESH!!

Just as new life sprouts up every spring and the dust has started to generate from the holidaying feets of happy children, so does it bring a breathe of fresh air to the political climate of our great and dear country. This is effected by the change or renewal in the mantle of leadership of various political organisations. By way of educating the non-politically -exposed individuals reading this piece, every political party is supposed to hold its congresses in order to fill in executive positions within these organisations. These officials are charged with pushing the ideals of the party in the following ways: (i) To organize Congress and implement its decisions and to convene General Meetings. (ii) To propose policies for the consideration of the Congress. (iii) To undertake membership drive, propagate the ideology, programme and manifesto of the Party and also implement the political education programme of the Party. (iv) To prepare the annual budget for the approval of the Congress. (v) Evaluate and periodically monitor the performance of elected officials under their party. (vi) To take any other lawful actions in the interest of the Party. One very remarkable aspect to be touched here is that of the convening of the congress. In it's most elementary form, this is the first step to the determination of how serious any particular party is in its campaign of electoral victory in the next dispensation. The calibre of people elected, or chosen by any other means in any political party at every level determines how serious that party is in pursuing its ideal and agenda because winning an election gives the constitutional and moral right to make changes as deemed fit for the generality of the populace. It is the aforementioned statements that makes it imperative to go back to the introductory wordings of this piece......and consider the two most viable parties in the South-West and Lagos, The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and The Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP). in this case, we'll take a case study of Amuwo Local Government Area. First, we consider the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) which held its first LGA meeting on the 5th, April 2012 at their 1st avenue/11road, Festac Town headquarters under the continued leadership of their last chairman Alhaji Oloyede, who has been trusted to be able to use his long time political experience in steadying the ship Of the party from the last dispensation and into this one........... That is what 'they' want us all to know- the truth is that under any political conclusions, you must be sure that a lot of intrigue would have taken place. Anybody who followed Amuwo politics during the election campaigns know the story of the 'siege' laid on the home of the Chairman of Amuwo ACN, Alh. Oloyede, by a section of his party men who were allegedly in support of a particular candidate, and current Chairman, Amuwo LGA Mr. Ayodele Adewale and how they also allegedly made an effort to embarrass him in his home. This action was carried out because the former was perceived as being against the Local Government chairmanship re-aspiration of the latter. These perceived objections were raised as per a rumoured agreement that Mr. Ayodele Adewale's term of service should be limited to a term of four years after which he will gracefully bow out. With this circumstances, you discover that automatically, a grand stage has been set for an intriguing grand-finale to determine who controls the heart and soul of the party, hence the power-tussle that emerged when it came the turn to determine the Chairmanship of the Party going forward. So much water has passed under the bridge of this stage........the long and short of it is that the former Chairman of the party, Alh. Oloyede appeared to have emerged unscathed and even stronger in his resolve to move his agenda forward. When contacted, a notable member of the party in Amuwo LGA Mr. Fadairo Jamiu (FOJ) stated that the return of Alh. Oloyede as the Charman of party in Amuwo LGA is "......a victory for Democrats everywhere and should be lauded as it is". He went further to state that he now expects the Party Chairman to consolidate on the perceived weak points of the party in order to move the Action Congress of Nigeria forward. On the other hand, within the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP), the centre is not really holding. With the background of allegations of a large sum of money, running into single millions, put down for the last elections just disappearing into thin air, an expectation of a hard fought congress is definitely expected. The level of distrust pervading the horizon of the PDP within Amuwo is so thick that even the Congress of the Party was held in two locations, thereby producing two executives for the Party. As at press time, there are indications that crisis resolution talks are being arranged between the two groups with members holding their breathe in the hope that a sort of compromise is reached before a full-blown crisis is created. The erstwhile Chairman of the Party, Mr. Ajewole, at various fora, has categorically denied that his person was involved in any foulplay and goes on to declare that the Party is one and whatever is happening could be desribed as a normal occurence within any political circles. The position of Mr. Adewale Nouruddine, a stalwart of the Peoples' Democratic Party within the LGA, went further to say that he "expects a stronger party to emerge in the next dispensation if the right things are done ". If the reader does not know how to read in-between the lines, then here is an interpretation you could use........in essence, what they said is this: -We have come to a standpoint -We have irreconciliable differences -We do not trust the other side -But this is our party, and we need to move on, so who makes the next move?? Now that you know the true interpretations of what is being said, you end up appreciating the real depth of challenges piled up against whoever finally emerges in the long run as the LGA Party Chairman of the Peoples' Democratic Party in Amuwo. Nobody can claim to know tomorrow, but if the political climate that is being witnessed within both parties is anything to go by, this political season just commenced is going to be a wild, undeterminable ride for both parties and even for other political contraptions that may emerge within the season. There is a promise that rumours and decampment, either noisy or quiet will be reported and the calculations behind them will be displayed to the enjoyment of our readers. In effect, you better watch this space from here-on for unbiased and factual reportage of updates from the exciting and intriguing world of the activities of those who are players in the political realm............stay tuned!! Please send info, comments and observations to the following social media and contact points: Text: +2348098799724 Twitter @festacbox, Facebook: ez'aq 'festacboi' aremzo E-mail: eazyarque@yahoo.com