The impeachment of Alhaji Ali Olanusi as the Deputy Governor of Ondo State last week may have reshaped the battle on who succeeds Governor Olusegun Mimiko come next year, reports Assistant Editor, Remi Adelowo
Time and again, Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, always prove to anyone who cares to know that he takes no prisoner in his approach to politics.
Within the last 15 years when the medical doctor-turned politician gained prominence in politics, he has unarguably acquainted himself as a good student of Machiavelli who believes strongly that the end justifies the means.
The impeachment of Alhaji Ali Olanusi as the Deputy Governor of the Sunshine state by the Ondo State House of Assembly a few days ago clearly attests to the fact that the governor is poised to take the battle to his political opponents, particularly in the All Progressives Congress (APC), which has not hidden its desire to take over the Alagaka Government House come next year.
Olanusi’s impeachment was not unexpected after all. Shortly after he defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) a few days to the March 28 presidential election (a move which sources say embarrassed the governor), there were whispers in several quarters that the governor would bid his time before getting even with his former deputy.
If the governor was initially shocked by his former deputy’s defection, he however did not betray his emotion. In its reaction to Olanusi’s move to APC, the state government in a terse statement by the Commissioner for Information, Kayode Akinmade, said though the news came as a surprise, “government acknowledges his (Olanusi) right to determine his political affiliation and wish him well.”
This move by Olanusi was to receive a boost few days later when the APC in the state swept five of the nine House of Representatives seats, two of the three Senate seats and also defeating the PDP by 299,889 to 251,368 votes in the March 28 presidential election.
To make matters worse for the governor, notable leaders of the PDP, including the governorship candidate of the party in the 2012 election, Chief Olusola Oke; former Head of Service, Alaba Isijola; former Chairman of State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Oladunni Odu and Demola Ijabiyi, all joined the APC immediately after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the presidential candidate of APC, General Muhammadu Buhari, winner of the poll.
Jolted by the outcome of the National Assembly and presidential poll and aware of the consequence of the APC winning the House of Assembly poll, which was just two weeks away, the governor quickly went to work.
The governor, it was learnt, went on air, pleading with the people of the state to vote for candidates of PDP in the Assembly, arguing that a vote for APC would endanger the peace and stability of his administration.
That was not all. Sources disclosed that he went further to make personal contact with some aggrieved members of old PDP and his former party, Labour Party (LP), appealing to them to help save his job, which he may lose if the APC wins the majority seats into the Assembly.
Mimiko had earlier met with a section of civil servants, teachers, market women and men, and artisans in the state to beg for their votes and that of their immediate and extended families.
The governor’s efforts paid off. The outcome of the assembly polls saw PDP winning 19 of the 24 seats, while APC won five.
For some days, the governor and the PDP basked in the euphoria of this victory. But the APC cried foul, claiming the poll was marred with brigandage and open inducement of voters before and during election.
As earlier predicted, the first causality of the fallout of the April 11 poll in the state was Olanusi, whose impeachment process lasted for just one week.
Battle shifts to 2016 governorship
With the 2015 general elections already won and lost, and with the governor winding down his two term tenure next year, the next phase of the battle for the political soul of Ondo State has shifted to the 2016 governorship election in the state.
Handing over to his anointed candidate come next year might turn out to be the governor’s biggest political battle, even as the APC is poised to give Mimiko and his party a run for their money.
Sources disclosed that the Ondo PDP, which is in the firm grip of the governor, may zone the 2016 governorship ticket to the North Senatorial District made up of Akoko and Owo, in response to the alleged plan by the APC to also cede its ticket to the zone.
Mimiko keeps everyone guessing
Who is Mimiko’s anointed candidate to succeed him next year? This is the big question on the lips of many in the state, including the governor’s close aides, all of who are in the dark of their boss’ succession plan.
The governor’s unpredictable nature, it was learnt, has further made taking a bet on his proposed plan a risky venture that no one in his camp and even outside is prepared to take at least for the time being.
Take the choice of Mr. Lasisi Oluboyo as his new deputy as a case study. A prominent PDP stalwart, Mr. Saka Lawal, was initially touted as the man likely to replace Olanusi based on his reported closeness to the governor.
Lawal, who hails from Akoko, was also once mentioned as a possible Chief of Staff to the governor, but that later turned out to be a hoax.
Despite the governor’s ambivalence on his succession plan, a school of thought argued that his choice of Oluboyo as the new Deputy Governor clearly reveals his thoughts on who is likely to succeed him in 2016. Until his appointment as Deputy Governor, Oluboyo was the Commissioner for Agriculture and was least expected within the governor’s camp as Olanusi’s successor.
Following his emergence as the new Deputy Governor, attention has shifted to Oluboyo as a likely contender for the number one seat, with some sources arguing that the governor would likely prefer a person with a low key character and profile as his would-be successor.
But another school of thought has dismissed this scenario in its entirety. The governor, they argued, would hand over to someone in his image who would run with his vision for the state.
One name being bandied in some circles and who is said to fit this bill is Tokunbo Modupe, a Public Relations consultant and one of the closest confidants of the governor. The governor’s implicit trust and confidence in Modupe, sources say, necessitated his appointment by the former as the Chairman of PDP Presidential Campaign Council in Ondo State for the last general elections.
Modupe, who hails from Owo in Ose Local Government Area and also the Convener of the Orange Family Initiative (OFI), is alleged to be interested in the governorship seat and is working behind the scene to actualise his ambition.
Other potential governorship aspirants in the PDP include Victor Olabimtan, a Commissioner in the Federal Civil Service Commission and former Speaker of the state House of Assembly; Sola Ebiseni, former Chairman of Ilaje/Ese Odo Local Government; Tokunbo Kayode, a former Minister of Defense and Senator Bode Olajumoke, to mention but a few.
Boroffice for APC ticket
The re-elected Senator representing Ondo North in the National Assembly, Prof. Ajayi Boroffice, who stepped down for Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu in 2012, is one of the frontline leaders in the race for the APC 2016 governorship ticket, The Nation has gathered.
The public rating of the lawmaker has shot up in the last few years, a development not unconnected to his popularity within and beyond his Ondo North constituency.
Barring any last minute change in his plans, Boroffice, sources say, would announce his intention to contest the governorship seat before the end of the year. His closeness to prominent leaders of his party may work in his favour, it was learnt.
Other APC chieftains allegedly interest in the governorship ticket are Mr. Isaac Kekemeke, the current State Chairman of the party and Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, who was the party’s candidate in the 2012 governorship election. An unconfirmed report, however, indicates that Akeredolu may not run for the governorship.
For Mimiko, PDP and the APC, the battle for the soul of Ondo State may have just begun.