The ideal Governor, in the opinion of some citizens must
possess all the attributes of a genuine omoluabi;
(a well behaved and upright person). To those who believe in dynamism, the man
who would rule Oyo State must be someone who cannot be cowed into submission, should
be one whose victory would not be orchestrated by a godfather or godfathers, must
be someone who is not scandal scarred and a man that can be trusted not to
betray public trust. The ideal man for the job must also prove to the
electorate that he is up to the task. People would gladly follow someone that
they are sure would hit the ground running and develop the state.
The Naira factor is another part of the race that cannot be
wished away. People want a Governor that has touched lives; and the only
evidence of that lies in how buoyant the candidate is, to execute projects that
people can point to, or do things that can be referred to.
Interestingly, the 2015 Oyo State governorship race is made
of three men who have been in the Governor’s Office and if one decides to look
at it from another angle; three of the contestants have been inside the upper
legislative arm of government as Distinguished Senators of the Federal Republic.
In this piece, WOLE
ADEJUMO weighs the chances of the candidates of the different parties.
Senator Abiola
Ajimobi: While opponents are deploying every possible facility to ensure
they unseat Senator Ajimobi, the present Governor of Oyo State is relying on
the support of the people of the state based on his achievements in the last 3
years and a few months in office to win him a second term as the state’s Chief
Executive.
History has never been kind to incumbent Governors in Oyo
State at the polls; Chief Bola Ige, Alhaji Lam Adesina, Senator Rashidi Ladoja
and Otunba Alao Akala have all tasted the bitter pill of defeat at the
governorship election. Governor Ajimobi’s supporters are however exercising a
strong belief that Akanji, as the
Governor is now lovingly called might as well be the jinx breaker. They are
always quick to point to the peaceful atmosphere across the state.
In all fairness, under Ajimobi, the persistent crisis that
became a characteristic feature of the National Union of Road Transport Workers
was managed well and apart from the few pockets of violence that trailed recent
electioneering campaigns in a few places, the state has enjoyed peace in the
last three years.
In the state capital, the presence of the government is felt
in various spheres; unlike years past when refuse littered most parts of
Ibadan, the Ajimobi administration has been given a pass mark in terms of
keeping the state clean.
One of the attempts at fostering development was seen as the
undoing of his administration; the forced relocation of roadside traders. That
has however been defended by those who opined that Governor Ajimobi provided
alternatives through the building of new markets. They also took time to
explain that the move was made to secure lives and property and that the
traders were not relocated in the real sense of it but were asked to shift off
the roads. The YES-O scheme too became an issue, especially with youths who complained
about the “scrapping” of the programme. Government sources revealed that it is
being reorganized but people are of the opinion that nothing might change.
The demise of the Aare Arisekola Alao is still seen by many
as a major setback to Governor Ajimobi’s second term bid. Aare Alao was the
last godfather in his category. As it stands in Oyo State today, there is
hardly anyone who can put a billion Naira down just to prevent a candidate from
winning an election. It may however not be wrong to assume that the last four
years is more than enough time to build a political war chest as he has assumed
the position of the godfather in the APC in Oyo State.
It is also to his advantage that the primaries of the PDP
left most aspirants aggrieved with a number of them seeking other parties’
tickets, thus depleting the membership of the party. With that, the biggest
contender would be Senator Ladoja’s Accord Party which has had a solid
structure for some years.
Senator Rashidi
Ladoja
As the Ashipa Olubadan of Ibadanland, Senator Ladoja is
about seven spaces away from becoming the Olubadan. He is a man who has seen it
all. He was a Senator in the botched Third Republic and he became Governor in
2003, after flooring Lam Adesina at the polls. One of the things that people in
the state have not forgotten is how Senator Ladoja was almost consumed by the
tiger on whose back he rode to power in 2003. Barely a year after he was sworn
–in, he and his then godfather, High Chief Adedibu started a political war of
sort and before long, it became a physical war in which lives were lost.
Though he did not find his 3 years and one month in office
enjoyable, civil servants, especially teachers fell in love with him for his
insistence on prompt payment of salaries and allowances of the state's work
force.
Another feat that his name cannot be taken away from is the
start of the 30 students per class programme, aimed at reducing the
student-teacher ratio in order to develop the state educationally.
When Ladoja floated Accord Party, months to the 2011 general
elections he looked like a comedian. Some of those who laughed at him then have
however joined the party. The party won seats in the House of Assembly and the
Federal House of Representatives. Accord Party has grown stronger since then
and the party can boast of a serving senator. With the While many continue to
ask why Ladoja, who is in his 70s wants to run the state again, his followers
insist he is the best man for the job.
With his belief that when compared with other candidates who
have ruled the state before, his administration is head and shoulders above
them, he is no doubt a front runner in the contest.
But while many term his administration as one of the most prudent
in the state, especially those who remember that he fell out with his godfather
over his refusal to give him a quarter of his N 60 million monthly security
votes, the Ladoja administration is going into the race with a moral burden. Towards
the tail end of his administration, shares belonging to the state were sold and
how the monies that accrued were expended became a legal issue. There were
insinuations recently that part of the funds had been secretly refunded into
the government’s account.
Otunba Alao Akala
Otunba Alao-Akala is a true example of the fact that there
are no permanent friends or foes in politics. While strategizing for a comeback
to the Government House, Agodi, and before he eventually left the PDP to pick
the governorship ticket of the Labour Party, several meetings were reportedly
held, including some with his former boss, Senator Ladoja who once likened him
to “Judas Iscariot”. He also reportedly met with Governor Abiola Ajimobi before
the Labour Party decision was arrived at.
Otunba Akala became the Governor when he suddenly found
himself as a beneficiary of the feud between High Chief Adedibu and the Governor.
His first 11 months were spent trying to get acceptance. He however won in 2011
and landmarks of his 4-year-term included infrastructural development. Ogbomoso
holds him in high esteem, not just for being a son, but in recognition of the
hospital his administration built there. Major roads across the state also
received attention during his time, with some of them being dualized.
His choice of party is hinged on the belief that his
personality and some political ground work here and there will deliver the
votes. Otunba Akala might not be wrong as he once contested a local council
poll as an independent candidate and won yet another as candidate of a less
favoured party.
Many believe he went into the race mainly to prove a point
to the PDP, especially because of the way the party’s governorship primaries
went. Long before the primaries, one his close allies, Senator Hosea Ayoola had
teamed up with Senator Folarin to take over the structure of the party. As
such, the calculation being posited in some quarters is that Akala will get
most of the votes in Ogbomoso, which has the second largest voting population
after Ibadan and thus act as spoilsport for some candidates who might be
banking on votes from Ogbomoso to boost their chances. And with some Ibadan elements behind him and
his running mate, who was Secretary to the State Government in Ladoja’s era,
they will further divide votes that will come from Ibadan. In other words,
candidates of Ibadan extraction must look elsewhere, other than Ibadan and
Ogbomoso for bulk votes that could place them at an advantage over opponents.
Senator Teslim Kola
Folarin
Senator Folarin is flying the flag of the PDP and he is
entering the race with experience as a two-time Senator of the Federal Republic
and former Majority Leader in the Senate. Having been schemed out of the
governorship primaries of his party in 2011, Senator Folarin braced up ahead of
most others and got control of the PDP structure in the state.
At the conclusion of the primaries that produced Folarin,
Otunba Alao-Akala, Engr. Seyi Makinde and Elder Wole Oyelese left with their
supporters. The others, like Prof Soji Adejumo, Alhaji Hazeem Gbolarumi, Alhaji
Kehinde Olaosebikan among others have
been pacified and that is expected to give the party a boost; though its ranks
have been depleted by the exit of Akala and Makinde.
The party has since moved on and is firing its campaign on full
throttle. Senator Folarin is matching Governor Ajimobi billboard for billboard.
Observers have however opined that the PDP as a party has to do extra hard work
to sell its governorship candidate. Checks have revealed that not many people
like the political style of the former Senate Leader, especially those in his
immediate constituency. His neighbours who had to endure a bad portion of road
were further irked when he answered a question during a radio debate recently
as regards why he did not fix the road. His response, ‘‘you know road construction
costs a lot of money and I don’t have that money”, was termed ‘not good enough’
by some residents of Oluyole Estate.
It is a common saying around Ibadan and environs that only a
very few people benefitted anything from him when he was Senate Leader.
To those who say “Tesi is too thrifty to be a politician”
however, the PDP candidate’s supporters have come out to say he is a whole new
man of depth and maturity now.
One of the focal points of his campaign is the actualization
of Ibadan State, which is something most Ibadan indigenes are looking forward
to.
Engr. Seyi Makinde
At 47, Engineer Makinde is about the youngest of the lot.
And he is one of the few that have never held public office among the
candidates. In 2003 and 2007, he operated from the background, providing strategic
support towards the governorship election. He contested in the 2007 general
election for the Oyo South Senatorial District and contested in the PDP
primaries for the same position in 2011.
Like Alao-Akala, he too left the PDP after the shadow
election which almost all the aspirants agreed was ill-conducted. His movement is fast transforming the fortune
of the Social Democratic Party, which was last heard of in the state when Chief
Kolapo Ishola left office as Governor in November 1993. His exit and those of
other aggrieved aspirants will definitely affect the fortunes of the PDP in the
governorship election as the votes that would have been garnered by the party
will have to be shared between PDP, Labour Party and SDP.
The party now enjoys large followership and just like Accord
Party started months before the 2011 polls with Senator Ladoja as the face of
the party, Engr. Makinde is the face of the SDP in Oyo State.
His age is being used to advantage, as he seems to be
winning the admiration of the younger generation of people in the state. Though
with a new party, winning the governorship is a serious task, those in the
political class believe it can be done.
His followers too believe he has done enough to that he is a
good material for the job. He initiated a youth empowerment programme back in
2006. He also has a style of responding to needs of the people ahead of other
candidates. He did it with free bus services when Apete was ravaged by a flood years
ago and he performed a similar feat after a fire outbreak at Alashinloye Market
in Ibadan. After assessing the damage, he mobilized engineers to site to sink a
borehole. The Local council however moved in shortly after. While Makinde can
pull a large number of surprise votes in Ibadan, his choice of running mate has
also been seen as an added advantage to his aspiration. Alhaji Suleiman Adediran
was the Chairman of Irepo Local Government Area and he knows the Oke Ogun axis
well.
There is also a
school of thought that believes things might swing in Makinde’s favour going by
the fact that the others have governed the state and people have seen their
strengths and weaknesses, the electorate might decide to give Makinde a chance.
Taiwo Otegbeye
But for Taiwo Ibiyemi Otegbeye’s decision to discontinue
with the case he and his Action Alliance instituted after the 2011 poll, the
election that produced Governor Abiola Ajimobi would have been nullified.
Otegbeye’s name was omitted on the list of candidates at polling units back then.
Not long after, he was named as the Commissioner for
Information and Orientation. The appointment was largely seen as a payback for
allowing Mr. Governor’s victory to stand. Meanwhile, it also served as a good
PR shot for the Ajimobi administration as Otegbeye never renounced his AA
membership.
Now, Otegbeye is back in the race. Incidentally, he is one
of the candidates only a few would give any chance. Unlike the candidates of
the other parties, Otegbeye is rarely seen and the financial status of his
party, Action Alliance is fast becoming a subject of discussion. Checks have
revealed that Mr. Otegbeye has not printed any new poster; rather, the
remaining posters from the 2011 elections are the ones being pasted around the
state capital. Cardboard markers were simply used to change the “1” in 2011 to “5”.
Action Alliance also has no visible billboard of its governorship and
presidential flag bearers in any strategic location in the state capital. The
party has also not held any mega rally or campaign.
Laide Olayiwola
Mr. Olayiwola, the candidate of the little known Kowa Party is
known more as a businessman. He runs a hotel and a group of schools in Ibadan.
The party is believed to be using the 2015 polls to test the waters while warming
up for future elections.
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