Bankole, Daniel’s reconciliation: The inside story
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- Category: Politics
- Published on Monday, 03 January 2011 08:21
- Written by Daily Sun
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After a long drawn battle that put Ogun State on siege and held back vital institutions of governance from functioning, House of Representatives Speaker, Dimeji Bankole and Ogun State governor, Gbenga Daniel have finally embraced peace. The reconciliation, it was learnt, last week came at the behest of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Earlier meetings brokered by the President on the issue were said to have failed due largely to their hardline postures. Their total commitments to Jonathan’s presidential aspiration then was shallow and suspicious. Bankole had just emerged from the shadows of the late President Musa Yar’Adua and needed to be watched for sometime, while Daniel’s closeness to former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida(rtd) who is also eyeing the presidential seat, together with his utterances made the presidency to place him on a close watch.
Determined to lay the ghost of the intractable face-off to rest finally, the president decided to pull off the rug off their feet through multiple mutual concessions to the warring duo. And the bait hooked. Part of the bargains include an automatic return ticket for Bankole, who like his counterpart in the senate, David Mark are being primed to retain t heir current positions in both legislative chambers. Daniel, on the other hand would have his Ogun East senate ambition, fast tracked with a PDP automatic ticket. His main challenger and present occupant of the seat Senator Lekan Mustapha will be compensated with a high-profile ministerial appointment.
The ding-dong affair in the state legislative house was resolved in favour of Mr. Tunji Egbetokun, since he is the court recognized speaker. Speaker of G9 (Daniels’s faction) , Soyemi Coker, will be eased out, and rewarded with an appointment. The nature of the appointment was not disclosed. The rapprochement further opted for a harmonized leadership of t he chapter of the party which will in turn produce a harmonized list of delegates for the on-going primaries in the party.
The House and the party have been split along two broad lines in the last six months. The deal which was assented to by all the parties concerned, eventually thawed the ice, and made the feuding foe to close rank for the first time in three years. Dayo Soremi and Joju Fadairo, state PDP factional chairmen were not included in the deal.
A fresh candidate will be elected. Jonathan urged them to disregard and forgive each other on the trials, humiliations and anger that came in t he aftermath of the crisis. This came on the heels of the speaker’s stringent complaint against Daniel for undermining his status as the 4th citizen of the country and variously humiliating his office through his actions and comments
