• Calls it crude imposition
By Lateef Ibrahim
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Segun Showunmi, has criticised the adoption of a consensus governorship candidate by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State, describing it as “state capture” and a “crude instrument of control.”
Showunmi, who is also Convener of The Alternative, made his position known in a statement on Tuesday, urging residents of the state to resist what he termed an attempt to impose leadership under the guise of consensus.
His reaction follows the decision by Governor Dapo Abiodun and other APC leaders to adopt Solomon Adeola (Yayi), the senator representing Ogun West, as the party’s consensus governorship candidate ahead of the next election. The decision was reached at a strategic caucus meeting in Abeokuta.
In a piece titled “From Magbon to Now: We Will Not Be Conquered. Ogun’s Line in the Sand: Resistance to State Capture,” Showunmi argued that while consensus is a legitimate internal party mechanism, it loses credibility when it lacks integrity.
According to him, what is being presented as consensus in the current situation amounts to imposition, warning that such political arrangements could erode the state’s long-standing culture of independent thought.
He described the development as a “humiliation” for the electorate and called for grassroots resistance against what he sees as an attempt to dictate the political direction of the state.
“Yes, a political party has the right to choose its internal mechanisms, even if that means adopting consensus. But across every serious political system where consensus has credibility, it rests on one indispensable foundation: integrity. Without that, consensus degenerates into imposition,” he said.
The PDP chieftain further alleged that those behind the arrangement lack a demonstrable record of integrity in both public and private life, insisting that the process reflects a broader pattern of political control.
“This is how state capture begins. And it must be resisted,” he added.
Showunmi also invoked the historical identity of Ogun State as a society known for challenging entrenched authority, maintaining that citizens must not accept what he described as “a return to servitude” under democratic governance.
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