KASHAMU TO OGUNDELE: MY COMMITMENT TO RECONCILIATION IS TOTAL



Our attention has been drawn to some disparaging comments made by Honourable Sikirulai Ogundele against the governorship candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Senator Buruji Kashamu and we wish to react as follows:



1. The comments credited to Ogundele were least expected from him. This was a man who comported himself as a gentleman all through the time he spent with the Omoilu group within the PDP.



2. We recall that he aspired to contest the governorship election in 2015 but when Prince Gboyega Nasir Isiaka (GNI) came into the picture, many of the stakeholders across different groups and tendencies adopted him as the PDP governorship candidate for the election.



3. Ogundele then contemplated going to the House of Representatives (Ifo Federal Constituency) but his leaders in Ogun Central Senatorial District settled for Hon. Adijat Motunrayo-Adeleye. That was the beginning of his hatred towards Senator Kashamu. Ogundele felt that Senator Kashamu should have influenced things in his favour.



4. Despite his unjustified anger and hatred towards Senator Kashamu, the senator holds him in high esteem as someone who always comports himself so well and has contributed to the growth of the party.



5. Ogundele claimed that there had been seven reconciliations in the last 10 years that Senator Kashamu spurned. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In his usual cavalier manner, he did not provide the details of the reconciliation moves that Senator Kashamu frustrated. Rather, he was comfortable with making sweeping statements without facts.



6. In the build up to the 2015 election, the PDP structure that Senator Kashamu led offered its platform to known associates of the foremost leader of the PDP and former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel. People like GNI, Hon. Adesegun Abdulmajid Adekoya (a.k.a Attacker), Hon. Ladi Adebutu and others became PDP candidates – in the spirit of reconciliation and accommodation of all and sundry. Senator Kashamu only differed with the former governor when he wanted to have some of the candidates changed at some point before the election. Even at that, the two leaders have since resolved their differences and put all those issues behind them. That is why Senator Kashamu has openly and consistently declared that no genuine reconciliation can be done without the blessings and/or involvement of the two-time PDP governor of Ogun State.



7. It is tenuous that Ogundele could say that H.E. OGD has joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) and so should not be involved in the reconciliation moves within the Ogun State PDP. If we are to go by that line of argument, then people like Ogundele and his principal, Hon. Ladi Adebutu, who openly signed a three-year agreement with the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and declared for it should openly repudiate their agreement and membership of the APM before they can be considered as members of the PDP.



8. In case Ogundele has forgotten, what H.E. OGD said was that he was retiring from partisan politics to become an elder statesman. That does not mean that he does not have political generals, juggernauts and foot soldiers who still maintain huge influence on their communities and local government areas. It is whatever H.E. OGD tells them that they will do. So, when Senator Kashamu said no genuine reconciliation can be done in Ogun State PDP without involving H.E. OGD, it is because of his political status. He is a political strategist whose experience cannot be wished away if PDP truly wants to take over the reins of government in Ogun State.



9. Ogundele should not be afraid that he may not get the support of H.E. OGD in his aspiration to be the Chairman of the PDP in Ogun State. It is going to be a collective decision of all stakeholders. After all, when H.E OGD was the governor of Ogun State between 2003 and 2011, he gave Ogundele and Adebutu the opportunity to serve in various capacities.



10. On the issue of transactional politics, we say without mincing words that this blackmail falls flat in the face of the huge financial resources that Senator Kashamu has committed to building the party in Ogun State and the South West over the last 10 years. If people keep referring to monies given or used for electioneering purposes as if Senator Kashamu lives on such or used them to build his chain of businesses, then it is most unfair and downright ridiculous.



11. It is Ogundele’s principal that has made his aspiration a business venture which yields more than what he can envisage in government without being caught. Of every N50million that he collects from his father, he keeps N30million (60%) and spreads N20m on his political project. At the end of the day, he negotiates with those who are really interested in winning elections and ready to pay for it (just like he did with APM at the last minute); collect some parting gifts and he has recouped his investments. In the first instance, he has not lost anything since nothing personal to him is committed but the father’s money which would not come in torrent if he had not gone into politics. He collected party delegates’ money in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, even when his delegates did not participate in the primaries. He did not give anyone of them the money; he collected money for the Presidential election of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in 2019 and did not share it on the pretext that he paid some money a day before which was the N1.5billion that the father released for the so-called Door-to-Door campaign. In other words, delegates’ money, presidential election money, APM’s money; all turned out as profits, coupled with the savings from all that the father has released to prosecute his forlorn ambition. So, when people like Ogundele talk about transactional politics, they should know that when they point a finger at someone, the remaining four fingers point at them.



12. While the efforts of all the genuine leaders who are working tirelessly to sustain the party and its teeming members are well-appreciated, it is a divine assignment that anyone who is privileged to do it should be grateful for. That is why the empowerment initiatives being done by the Omoilu Foundation does not discriminate against anyone on the basis of sex, race, religion, creed or colour.



13. Senator Kashamu’s commitment to genuine reconciliation is total. He is willing, ready and available for it, any day; any time. However, it is not the purported reconciliation being done through Engr. Adebayo Dayo for his so-called Dayo group. Already, members of the Adebutu group who are aggrieved that they were not added to the list drawn up for the still-born Caretaker Committee are going behind to put their names on an imaginary Dayo list. What perfidy!



14. Finally, we wish to advise Ogundele to thread softly and stop casting aspersions on his benefactors and political leaders. He is a politician who has a long way to go and he never can tell what tomorrow holds. A situation where he portrays himself as someone who goes to town to speak ill of his leaders and benefactors does not bode well for him. It is just an advice. He may or may not take it. Enough said.





Signed

Austin Oniyokor

Media Adviser to Senator Buruji Kashamu

16th June, 2020

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