VOICE AIR MEDIA, News Update

THE ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is planning to retain power in Ondo State during the governorship election in November. But the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is also scheming to dislodge the ruling party.

How prepared are the opposition parties?

That is the question many political analysts are asking as Ondo State heads to the polls this November to elect for a new governor. Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa will complete the tenure of his late boss, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu by February next year.

The victory of Akeredolu in 2016 showed that residents in the state respect the political understanding that power should be rotated among the three senatorial districts. It was the general belief that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) lost power because former Governor Olusegun Mimiko supported the candidacy of Eyitayo Jegede who hails from Ondo Central. Mimiko also hails from Ondo Central. As such, political parties are expected to field candidates from the Ondo South senatorial district in the coming election.

Ahead of the election, which is scheduled to hold in November, political parties, according to the timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), will conduct their primaries in April. Already, several aspirants have indicated interest in contesting the polls. There are 18 registered political parties, but the serious contenders for the election are from the two major parties, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition PDP.

There is a long list of aspirants on the platform of the ruling APC. They are Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa; Commissioner for Finance, Wale Akinterinwa; serial contender, Chief Olusola Oke; Secretary to the Ondo Government, Princess Oladunni Odu; a former lawmaker, Mayowa Akinfolarin; Senator Jimoh Ibrahim; Brigadier-General Olamide Ohunyeye (rtd); Morayo Lebi; Edema Gbenga, former representative of Ondo State on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC); and Ayo Oritedi.

For the PDP, only three aspirants have indicated interest in vying for its ticket during the forthcoming primary. They are Chief Sola Ebiseni and Adeolu Akinwumi and a former commissioner for Information, John Mato.

A chieftain of the PDP who pleaded anonymity said the party is not ready to take power in Ondo State. The chieftain said the party failed to take advantage of the political imbroglio in the ruling APC occasioned by the ill-health of late Akeredolu. He argued that the PDP was fighting the cause of Aiyedatiwa instead of exploring ways to deepen the crisis in the APC.

He said: “Our party is not serious. The governorship election is coming up this year. How many persons have declared interest in running on the platform of the party? We are not grounded in many local government areas. The removal of Fatai Adams as our party chairman will also affect the party negatively.”

A leadership crisis recently hit the PDP as the state chairman, Fatai Adams, was removed and Tola Alabere was appointed as acting chairman. Adams was removed ahead of last Saturday’s bye-election for the Akoko Northwest/Akoko Northeast Federal Constituency seat. He was said to have kicked against the decision to support Olalekan Bada as its consensus candidate for the by-election.

A spokesman for the Ondo PDP, Kennedy Peretei, said five aspirants have indicated an interest in contesting at the party primary. He said there were many others in talks with the party leaders ahead of the primary. He said: “The PDP is serious. We are not for an open circus show. We are working towards getting a consensus candidate and not getting involved in a rancorous primary. The PDP is battle-ready. No member of the party who knows what is going on will say the party is not serious.”

Chairman of the Boot Party, Ondo State chapter, Comrade Alex Adeniyi, has warned the opposition parties however that it would be difficult for any party to defeat the ruling APC without fielding a strong candidate. Adeniyi said three aspirants have already indicated interest in running on the BOOT Party platform. He said the party would field candidates from any part of the state.

Adeniyi said the BOOT Party would not zone its governorship ticket to Ondo South but would give its ticket to an aspirant who has the courage and the fear of God, irrespective of the senatorial zone he hails from. He said: “There are 18 opposition political parties. It will be difficult to remove the incumbent without a strong candidate. Our party already has three aspirants.

“We have people with a track record that we can present as a credible candidate. Politics is a game of numbers. When we look at the possibility of us winning the election, stepping down will then not be an option. No political party can solely finance elections. We are going to present a candidate that will not work behind our back to negotiate. We want to participate to win. The people have seen what other parties can offer and they want a change.”

Meanwhile, aspirants on the platform of the PDP have promised better deals for the people. They believe that the election would be an easy ride for the party if the right thing was done. Akinwumi who hails from Okitipupa in Ondo South Senatorial District is an engineer by profession. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Ibadan and a Master of Science degree from the University of East London and specialises in Computer System Engineering. He was a Special Assistant to former Governor Olusegun Mimiko for 28 months before he tendered his resignation on personal grounds. His campaign mantra is “OYA” which his supporters said represents a wake-up call to the people that the time to play roles in a manner that would enable them to fulfil their aspirations.

Akinwumi said he has been trained and exposed to what governance entails and that he is conversant with what is going on within the political terrain of the state. This, he added, would help him win the election. He added: “I believe I have what it takes to aspire for this exalted office; I served the government of former Governor Olusegun Mimiko between 2009 and 2011 and I worked very closely with the governor as one of his key staff within the office of the governor. This allowed me to come close in terms of what governance is all about in Ondo State because I had the privilege of information about the locality of our dear state and all of these I will aggregate together and bring together by the way of my aspiration.

“It takes a lot of courage for a young man to come and say he wants to be the governor, particularly with the uncertainties shouldering the political space, the power of incumbency and elections that usually end up in court.

“The PDP is still in vogue in Ondo State. Defeating the APC will be very easy. Cross-carpeting cannot affect us. We don’t know what would still happen in the APC platform. It is service to the people that is driving me to contest. It is my passion to serve. If you see my tax clearance you would know that I am committed to this party even though all my income is not coming from Ondo State but I reside in Ondo and I contribute to the economy of Ondo State.

“Politics can be very funny at times. It is about permutations. What I need to do is to work on my people and make people understand what I want to do. If you are talking about structure in the PDP, I am part of that structure. I am the leader of this party. I also command followership of the people that form the structure.”

Mato is a former deputy governorship, candidate. He has promised to introduce fresh and better ideas to turn the state around. In his declaration, he appealed to PDP leaders to give an aspirant like him the vision to fix the state as the standard bearer of the party.

Mafo said: “Today’s event is rather an August gathering to provide a moment, an avenue for sober reflections on the way forward for our dear state and beloved people at this critical stage of our history, particularly as another election beckons.

“We desire a governor, like a Messiah, who will love the people and serve them diligently by providing water for their thirst, affordable food for their hunger, durable roads for their mobility, gainful employment for their livelihood, health care delivery for their wellbeing, qualitative education for their knowledge, and general empowerment for their survival, if not comfort.

“I therefore consider myself to be tailor-made, suited, prepared, endowed, and ordained to serve the state.”

Chief Ebiseni is Secretary General of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere. He left the PDP to work for the Labour Party (LP) in last year’s general election and returned to the party a few months ago. He has previously served as local government chairman and a commissioner. He said this year’s governorship election was unique because it would be a defining moment for the state.

He added: “From serving as an elected local government chairman to being commissioner three times in the strategic Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources, we have a comparative advantage in the knowledge of the state and the geopolitical distribution of its natural resources. These include oil and gas, forestry resources, economic crops, solid minerals etc.

“Diversification of the economy of the state from over-reliance on the Federation Account is the only means of getting out of the woods and must be prioritised. There is a creative way of developing our resources within the constitution’s provisions.

“Certain social services which set our state apart ideologically and have been discontinued or abandoned must be resuscitated in terms of quality and affordable education and health services, including the Mother and Child hospitals which will be fairly extended in the zones and many such welfare programmes. It is a cheap petit-bourgeois mindset to argue that the state cannot afford such existential programmes.”

How the opposition parties manage their primaries would determine how far they would go in the governorship election. The November election will remain a battle between the APC and the PDP.

Source: The Nation

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