To Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state, there is no raging storm in the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The governor, in a recent media chat, dismissed the intervention of the party’s Reconciliation Committee headed by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as unnecessary in the state, claiming that all was well with the chapter. The Tinubu committee was put in place by President Muhammadu Buhari to mend fences and reconcile aggrieved members across the country in order to prevent the APC edifice from crumbling.

“There is stability in Ondo state. We don’t have problems. Some people may claim there is problem in APC in Ondo state. But there is no problem. I am sure that the peace maker, Bola Tinubu, will have no reason to come here because we are at peace with ourselves. When there is no problem, you don’t need a peace maker so that he will not come and create problem. We are saying that we are at peace with ourselves,” Akeredolu said.

But certain events do not support Akeredolu’s conviction that the party is not sitting on a keg of gunpowder in Ondo state. Some weeks ago, as part of the activities to mark the first year of the governor in the Alagbaka Government House, the state chapter organised what it tagged a “Unification Rally”. The rally was meant to convince doubting Thomases that the APC was as solid as a rock in the Sunshine state.

But instead of proving that the chapter was united and peaceful, the event rather exposed the deep cracks in the party. Aggrieved members like the embattled state chairman, Isaac Kekemeke; the Senator representing Ondo North Senatorial District, Robert Ajayi Boroffice; the runner-up in the September 3, 2016 gubernatorial shadow poll of the party, Segun Abraham, and their supporters were conspicuously absent at the rally.

Besides, the language of the event was not that of peace and unification. It was combative. Closing the door against Kekemeke and affirming his support for the acting state chairman, Ade Adetimehin, Akeredolu said: “Ade Adetimehin is our chairman. Any other chairman is a counterfeit. He is the only chairman we have. Anybody who wants to fight should fight. There is only one Johnson. Any other Johnson is a counterfeit.”

“I know of two senators in APC in Ondo state and they are Tayo Alasoadura and Yele Omogunwa. For me, those two have been supportive. So, those are the two senators I know in APC in Ondo state,” said he.

Several months after the primary election that produced Akeredolu as the APC standard bearer in the November 26, 2016 gubernatorial poll in the state was conducted, Abraham, who came second in the exercise, is still contesting the governor’s nomination in court. Akeredolu garnered 669 of the 2,744 delegate votes in the APC shadow poll held at the International Event Centre, Akure, the state capital, and conducted by the Electoral Committee headed by Jigawa state governor, Muhammed Abubakar. He defeated Abraham who polled 635.

Following allegations that the primary election was characterized by irregularities, the Hellen Bendega-led Appeal Committee recommended its cancellation and the conduct of a fresh exercise to elect the party’s flag bearer. But the APC National Working Committee glossed over the Appeal Committee’s recommendations and submitted Akeredolu’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Abraham, not satisfied with the NWC’s action, headed for the Abuja Federal High Court to challenge the election of Akeredolu as the APC authentic candidate. Abraham is claiming victory at the shadow poll and praying the court to remove Akeredolu and declare him governor.

Last Friday, the Supreme Court dismissed Akeredolu’s appeal challenging the July 2017 judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, which upheld an order by the Federal High Court granting permission to Abraham to serve the governor through substituted means. While the news of the judgment elicited joy in the camp of Abraham, it threw confusion into that of Akeredolu.

“We urge the people of Ondo state to remain calm, collected and continue to hope in God through the judiciary for the expected judgment in the case between Dr Olusegun Abraham and Mr Rotimi Akeredolu to determine the authentic flag bearer of the APC in the 2017 Ondo governorship election.

“We also want to correct the falsehood being peddled by the Akeredolu organization that there is no case in the matter. The judgment by Supreme Court today shows that we have a good case and the frivolous attitude of Mr. Akeredolu and his cohorts,” Eko said.

But Akeredolu assured the people of the state that there was no cause for alarm over the Supreme Court ruling which dismissed the appeal filed by him. In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Segun Ajiboye, the governor described the ruling as a non-issue, saying it was nothing to worry about.

There is no doubt that the anxiety will persist in the party pending the determination of the matter, since Abraham has refused to sheathe his sword and nobody knows where the pendulum will swing.

Also, the embattled state chairman, Kekemeke, is still challenging his suspension as the state chairman in court. He was suspended last year by members of the state executive committee of the party loyal to Akeredolu. His deputy, Ade Adetimehin, was directed to step in.

The Party’s Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Adesanya, said the chairman was axed for “failing to discharge his responsibilities, neglect and dereliction of duty, among other offences. A three-man fact-finding disciplinary committee was set up to investigate Kekemeke. The suspended chairman supported Abraham against Akeredolu during the party’s governorship primaries. Not a few believe his support for Abraham is the root of his problem with the governor.

Boroffice recently accused Akeredolu of polarising the party in the state. The senator, in a statement by his media assistant, Kayode Fakuyi, said Akeredolu considered other party leaders who did not see issues from his perspective as enemies of his administration. He said Akeredolu’s attitude had polarized the state chapter and alienated a critical mass of leaders and supporters of the party. He said developments since Akeredolu became governor of the state showed that all was not well with the chapter.

Boroffice said: “Rather than embrace the challenges of leadership and reach out to every leader of the party, the governor prefers to run the government of the state and the party with his trifling followership. He continues to erroneously lay claim to the ownership of the party. He continues to threaten other party leaders with threat of expulsion from the party.”

Calling on the APC national leadership to urgently intervene in the crisis plaguing the party in the state, Boroffice said: “The National Leadership of our great party cannot forget in a hurry the road we had to travel to reach where we are. It is our collective will and unity of purpose that have taken us this far.

“To destroy the legacy is to destroy the great bond that binds us together as members of the All Progressives Congress. It is our unshakable article of faith that moral justice is an armament of political and socio-economic progress. There can be no justice when someone appropriates our common wealth and violates our common law (APC Constitution, 2014 as amended) that binds us together.

“We cannot afford to sweep under the carpet issues polarizing the APC in Ondo State as we move into another round of congresses and general elections. It is for this reason that His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, has called for reconciliation of leaders and resolutions of disputed issues.”

With the troubles in Ondo APC, one wonders why Akeredolu continues to deny the obvious. A number of people, however, have said it amounts to swimming in self-deceit for any APC member to deny the deep-seated crisis rocking the state chapter.

While some ascribe Akeredolu’s denial of the widening cracks in the party to arrogance, others attribute it to political naivety. As the governor continues to paper over the cracks in the state chapter, the crisis rocking the party also continues to fester. Will reason prevail before next elections in the state?