Okupe says Tinubu losing power in southwest

– Former senior special assistant on publicity affairs to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, Doyin Okupe has declared vacancy in the political leadership of the southwest– Okupe admitted that APC national leader, Bola Tinubu is losing power because of the lose of his candidate in the party’s Ondo state governorship primaries at the weekendDoyin-Okupe says Tinubu’s political influence in the west is becoming non-existentFormer media aide to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, Doyin Okupe has admitted that national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu is losing his political influence over the party in the southwest.Speaking on the emergence of Rotimi Akeredolu as APC’s governorship candidate in Ondo state on Saturday, September 3, Okupe, in a statement pasted to his Facebook page on Sunday, September 4, noted that Tinubu appears to be losing his influence in the region after failing to get in his preferred candidate, Olusegun Abraham.READ ALSO:APC under fire for forcing civil servants into partisan politicsHe summarily declared a vacancy in the political leadership of the southwest because, according to him, even the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has failed to provide the much needed guidance.Okupe wrote said: “Yes indeed Akeredolu has won a deserved victory in the apc primaries in Ondo state. I salute the SAN’s courage and sagacity and I actually wish him well.“However, media wise, the juicy news seems to be that “akeredolu defeats Tinubu’s candidate ” I have also read pieces insinuating that aso rock and some other elements of southwest extraction, had “hands and legs” in this historic victory and “embarrassing ” loss by the APC leader.“Well the Yorubas say ” ote awo, ote ogberi ” that is, when the master is disgraced, the disciples are also shamed.I do not support imposition in any form, politics must be based on collective and inclusive decision making process. Perhaps more importantly are issues relating to Justice, fairness and equity, with respect for one another and readiness for bargaining and institutionalising well laid out orderly and dependable compensatory party mechanism.“Haven said that, I make bold to say that there is still a place for strong leadership in our politics in the southwest. With seeming diminishing influence of Tinubu in the southwest Apc, and absolute lack of credible leadership in southwest PDP, our politics in the southwest may soon be described by that popular adage “ko si olori ni aganyin, gbogbo nwon ni o nru ikoko ewa” meaning, because there is no leader in the Aganyin community (beans porridge sellers) all of them (young &old) carry the beans pot on their heads to sell!!!“While I join millions of our people to rejoice with Akeredolu, I want to admonish that we in the southwest do not cry for or deride Tinubu but, ratherwe should on the two sides of the political divide, that is apc and pdp, pause and ponder on the emerging political leadership crisis in the Southwest.”NAIJ.com recalls that Akeredolu, 60, emerged the APC candidate ina keenly contested electionthat saw him polled 669 votes defeating 23 other aspirants.There were 2,774 accredited delegates who partook in the voting exercise. Dr Segun Abraham emerged second with a total number of 635 votes.Popularly called ‘Aketi’ by his admirers, Akeredolu contested under the platform of the APC in 2012 but lost out in the elections to incumbent governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko.