By Bright Gbotemi
Out of the 10, 231 candidates vying for 993 State Assembly seats across Nigeria, electorate in Osun state, will again file out on March 18, 2023 to elect 26 members from 30 local government areas of the state House of Assembly.
Osun is one of the eight states where governorship election will not hold on Saturday because the incumbent Governor, Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke Marked his 100 days in office in March 2023 and expected to complete his first term in office in 2026, if not upturn by Court of appeal and supreme court.
However, the electorate in the State are already warming up to storm the 3,763 polling units and 332 political wards across the 30 local government areas of the state, where they will cast their votes for the candidates of their choice.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) put the total number of registered voters in Osun State at 1,954,500. Out of these, findings show that only 1,534,948 permanent voters cards (PVCs) had been collected and over 391,141 were uncollected in the state.
In 2015, the APC got 24 assembly seats, while PDP won remaining two seats.
INEC said that PDP won in Ife central and Ife East.
In 2019, the APC won 23 seats in the Assembly, the then opposition PDP won three seats, INEC also declared that PDP won Ede North, Ede south and Obokun, while the ruling APC win the state during the Presidential and National Assembly elections, with party candidate’s Buhari polled 347, 634 votes to defeat his closest contender, Atiku Abubakar of the PDP who had 337, 377 votes.
In 2023, it is worthy to note that the other political parties also have candidates for the assembly elections, but political analysts and residents of the state believe that only the candidates of the two dominant parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) – will be the main contenders for the 26 seats in the state Assembly.
Don’t forgot that the president-elect, who was the Presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress, Bola Tinubu, lost to the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar with 343, 945 votes in the February 25 Presidential election in the state, while Atiku had 354, 366 votes.
Also, the PDP won all the three senatorial seats in the state in a landmark victory, with all the nine House of Representatives slots for the state.
So, given the dominance of PDP and APC across state, residents are fixated on the candidates of the parties while they spare little or no attention to the candidates of the other parties, like Labour party of Peter Obi and NNPP of Kwankwaso.
Out of the total 26 lawmakers that would form the 8th Assembly, only 2 out of 3 current lawmakers are re-contesting under PDP and others are new, no female.
The two include; Hon. Adewumi Adeyemi (Obokun) and Hon. Babajide Kofoworola (Ede North).
There is one female candidate of the APC for the House of Assembly seat, from (Ifelodun state Constituency), Dr Mulikat Abiola Jimoh.
The other candidates include; Hon. Babatunde Komolafe (Atakumosa West/Atakumosa East), Raji Taoheed Sijuade (Ede south); Sulaiman Kadri Olanrewaju
(Ede North); Folahan Samuel Adeniyi
(Obokun); Ibraheem Taiwo
(Ejigbo); Hon Babatunde Ibirogba
(Egbedore); Hon. Adebayo Olodo
(Ayedaade); Oyegbade Adebisi Abideen
(Irewole/Isokan); Rufus Awotidoye
(Ife North); Adejobi Adeyinka Johnson
(Ife Central); Oyewumi Adisa Najeem (Ife South); Adeyeye Olajide Martins (Ife East); Hon. Taofeek Badamosi Olatunde Abolubode
(Osogbo); Hon. Kunle Moshood Akande (Olorunda); Hon. Nasiru Babatunde Olateju
(Irepodun/Orolu); Oguntunde Akinlawon (Iwo).
Others are; Hon Adegbile Adirulahi Abefe
(Ola Oluwa); Ajiboye Kamal Adewale
(Aiyedire); Hon Desmond Ojo
(Oriade); Hon Simeon Femi Popoola
(Boluwaduro/Boripe); Hon. Adeniran Ibitoye Kilomodem
(Odo-Otin); Tinuoye Joseph Adekola
(Ifedayo); Hon. Adebisi Lati Jaiyeola (Ila); Hon Adewale Adedoyin
(Ilesha West); and Hon Timothy Owoeye
(Ilesha East)
With the performance of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the major opposition All Progressives Congress(APC), in the last Presidential and National Assembly elections, it will be a straight battle between APC and PDP in Osun State on Saturday.
Voice Air Media (VAM) gather that since the former Governor of the state, Gboyega Oyetola left office, and the disagreement between him and the Former Osun governor, Rauf Aregbesola, it has not been widely smooth politically for the APC at the state when compared with the constant engagements of the party in 2015 and 2019 across the 30 council areas of the state.
Suffice to say that come Saturday, the margin between APC and PDP might be close, but indications show that the ruling PDP might win, if not all, but the majority of the assembly seats in the state because the incumbent governor, Adeleke aren’t leaving any stone unturned in seeking votes from potential voters across the state and also, it must be on notice that the former governor, Oyetola is vigorously canvassing support and vote for all the APC Candidates in the election.