Why is Enilolobo Working Against the Party?

It is an absolute truth that what goes around, comes around. For several years, a group of politicians in Alimosho, led by the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Her Excellency, Princess Adejoke Orelope Adefulire was labeled I-No-Go-Gree by the Enilolobo-led faction. According to the latter, the former refused to consent with party arrangement and supremacy of assigning power and leadership to Enilolobo. Enilolobo and his group accused Orelope's group of rejecting his emergence as a state executive and, by extension, his leadership over the entire constituency.

All efforts by the accused group to exonerate itself from that heinous allegation proved abortive as Enilolobo kept indicting the group with a series of damning allegations, ranging from dividing the All Progressives Congress in Alimosho to working against the party. This led to the group being ostracised and treated like some persons with a plague that must be avoided. They were completely left out of all party affairs and activities, making them completely irrelevant and rendering them redundant.

As fate would have it, the blackballed group endured the discrimination and isolation for about 6 years and never contemplated exiting the party, despite its freedom to do so. It may be necessary to stress that Princess Orelope was a former Deputy Governor of Lagos State under Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola between 2007 and 2011. After which she has held other appointments before getting an appointment to serve under President Muhammadu Buhari as SSA on SDG.

During this period, Enilolobo freely and proudly paraded himself as the Apex Leader for the entire constituency, overshadowing all other leaders, who are his seniors both politically and age-wise. He dominated Alimosho political space and wielded the big stick on anyone who opposed his leadership or decision. He created fear among the people as he became the alpha and Omega of Alimosho political space. People lamented in secrecy and those who summoned the courage to do so openly, faced severe consequence which included humiliation and banishment from the group.

Six years down the line, another congress has taken place and an unexpected retirement befell Enilolobo who had anticipated an upgrade from his erstwhile post of the party's state Organising Secretary to becoming the state party Chairman. Things went wrong as Enilolobo did not only miss the chance of becoming the state Chairman but completely lost out on a return to the party's state executive board. It was a heavy blow on Enilolobo as instead of being elevated, he we relegated, and a completely neutral person emerged. In place of Alhaji Abdullahi Enilolobo, a Pastor Babatunde Sunday Aboyade was elected the Lagos-West Vice Chairman, presiding over a wider coverage compared to his predecessor, Enilolobo who covered just Alimosho Federal Constituency.

By his position as the Lagos State APC Organising Secretary, Enilolobo operated as the number one politician in Alimosho, and truthfully, he enjoyed the support of both the young and old across Alimosho Federal Constituency. He decided and dictated what should be and who must be. On the expiration of his tenure as a state party executive officer, instead of taking an honorable bow and supporting Aboyade, the newly elected officer, Enilolobo has been scheming on how to retain the position of overall leader and still cage others putting them beneath himself. This open callousness has greatly deprived Aboyade of the chance to operate in his new office, as Enilolobo is doing everything possible to suppress his existence and make him irrelevant in his new office. At public events, Enilolobo still declares himself as the Apex Leader with Aboyade on the seat. This act of insensitivity has led to questions from concerned party members who have continuously wondered if Enilolobo is mistaking his position in politics as a family heritage that should not be occupied by another person while he is still alive. Some have attributed this domineering attitude to that of one overshadowed by fear of being thrown into history.

Had Enilolobo managed his position well and acted fairly during his reign as the party's state Organising Secretary, he would have had no cause to fret over leaving the stage but unfortunately, his acts of mismanagement are already beginning to taunt him even before he finally goes to his forceful retirement.

For the fear of being redundant, recently, Enilolobo has continued to summon for meetings and attend gatherings, just to create a false sense of relevance and that he is still in charge. At these meetings, he addresses his audience with open apprehension characterized by fear of losing relevance and control. At one of such meetings, he boasted that he remained the leader and that whoever opposes his leadership would be crushed and thrown in the bin.

To further strengthen his argument of being relevant, Enilolobo, on Wednesday summoned a meeting in Ikeja which was attended by party members from Mushin and some other local governments from Lagos. He claimed he was launching BATCO, that is Bola Ahmed Tinubu Campaign Organisation, though all talks at the meeting were towards reviving the disbanded Mandate Group. He condemned other campaign groups and warned his followers against aligning with any. He ridiculed party leaders like Cardinal James Odunbaku, describing him as failed and expired politician. He denigrated the newly inaugurated ABAT Movement, a campaign group for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu's 2023 Presidential ambition.

Again, on Tuesday, 21st December 2021, while addressing a group of party members, Enilolobo bragged that the only group recognized in Alimosho was BATCO Mandate and that any other group propagated by anyone was a nullity and would not fly. In his words, he said, "when we began this journey 23 years ago, I never knew imagined I would be made to take the lead because I never expected it, I never planned and I must say, I never worked for it but today, here I am. So, anyone who tries to work against me shall be crushed". He continued, "we have long left The Mandate Group but we practice in Alimosho today is the BATCO Mandate. And anyone who brings any other group would be dealt with". By another group, he referred to ABAT Movement and SWAGA '23. This outburst is unconnected to the series of disappointments he experienced from being retired from the party's state executive board to not being recognized to champion the new groups in Alimosho. For Enilolobo, it is either he takes it or breaks it. No one else would order him.

As Alimosho is set to step into the reality of a new dawn, Enilolobo is determined to scuttle the process and the entire agenda, provided he would not be the man in charge.