Ayobami Agboola 
A former deputy Governor of Osun State, Mr Benedict Alabi has said that the All Progressive Congress (APC) lost July 16, 2022, gubernatorial election in the state due to an intractable internal crisis.
Alabi who said emphatically that the people of the state still love the party and all its developmental agendas suggested that the only way to reclaim the state from the PDP is for all the factions in the APC to come together to form a united party.
New Telegraph reports that Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won the election, ending 12 years of APC rule in the state. The PDP repeated the feat when it swept the poll in the 2023 general election.
The former deputy Governor stated this while fielding questions from journalists in Osogbo on Wednesday.
According to the deputy Governor, an intractable internal crisis in the state chapter of the APC caused their loss, saying it was not because the people of the state were fed up with the administration of former governor Gboyega Oyetola.
“Internal rancor is the major cause of us losing the election. No house will be divided and win. The Yoruba says that when two brothers fight to the death, it is outsiders that will inherit their properties,” he said.
“You don’t go to a battle with a divided home. It is the major reason. But I think everybody has sheathed their sword now that we know that we are all on the ground,” he added.
“Nobody is going to tell anybody not to fight again. Everybody has fought and they have gone home with bruises and the bruises are painful to all parties. I am sure both we that lost the election and those that said we must lose the election, nobody is a winner in these circumstances.”
However, he said the party requires the service of a trusted individual to lead the reconciliation move that will pacify the aggrieved members of the party.
“We can be together. What we need is trust. Whoever is doing the reconciliation must be somebody that all the factions will trust and believe in and they know his stand is not for personal gains or apportioning blame but he only wants the party to come together to face the common opposition,” he said.
“To me, it is very easy. Yes, when the battle is hot it can be difficult to reconcile people. But everybody has tested their strength now. We need to call ourselves to order and chart a new course and that can be done by someone that is not factional, someone that all the factions will trust, someone who is not after personal gains,” he added.
Alabi said he is willing to lead the reconciliatory move to reunite the aggrieved members of the party.
He further said he has the qualities to reconcile the aggrieved members of the party because he does not belong to any of the factions.
“If I am given the opportunity to reunite the party, it is not a difficult task. We have very large followers and our people are satisfied with little things. What they want from you is for you to carry them along in whatever you are doing and give them recognition, and wherever it is possible, give them dividends of democracy” he said
“If I have the opportunity of reuniting the party, I will carry all and sundry along in the decision-making. I will reach out to all the factions, whatever it will take for them to come back. United we stand, divided we fall,” he added.
“I will be in touch with the gladiators to let them realize that we need to work together. If I am given the opportunity, I don’t see any problem in coming together, now we have seen it and it will be easy and I thank God that I have the pedigree to do that.
“The structures are there, I know who and who to reach out to and what button to press. If I am given that opportunity, having been a contestant for governorship before and also being the deputy governor of the state, I belong to no faction, I belong to the party and that is where I still remain till tomorrow.
