Legal luminary and Third Republic Deputy Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN) is among the 24 contenders struggling for the governorship ticket of the ruling All progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State. Can he triumph at the primary and succeed Governor Abiola Ajimobi in next year’s election? Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the succession battle in the Pacesetter State, the hurdles before the eminent lawyer and factors likely to shape the exercise.
Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), legal luminary and prominent politician, has placed his hands on the plough and he is not looking back. After many years of successful practice, the activist-lawyer is changing his gear. Peeping at 2019, he is among the numerous aspirants itching to succeed Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). In his view, the state does not need a better successor than him in the Pacesetter State.
“I want to be governor and I have what it takes to be governor,” he told reporters in Lagos. “Governor Abiola Ajimobi has recorded many achievements. He has laid a solid foundation for the future. I want to consolidate on the achievements of the performing governor in the pure tradition of the progressives,” Akintola added.
Although he has not sought any elective position since 1999, the senior lawyer can as well be described as an active player in those processes that heralded the birth of the current dispensation. Outside public office, he has consistently raised fundamental issues that are germane to the sustenance of the democratic order. He has lent his voice to the debate on the national question. An advocate of federalism, Akintola has enlisted on the side of forces pushing for restructuring, devolution of power, resource control, and good governance. Vocal and versatile, the Ibadan-born politician has also pitched his tent with pro-democracy crusaders who have consistently maintained that, although Nigeria has achieved civil rule, democracy is still a tall order.
Akintola is an experienced politician. He had his first baptism of fire in politics in the Third Republic. It was an era characterised by monetisation of politics by the new breed who posed as political messiahs. But, he stood out as a man of principle who was not swayed by the bread-and-butter politics of the time. He was very popular at home, a fact that enhanced his election into the House of Assembly, where he later served as deputy speaker. To many chieftains of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), he was a man of the future.
In the House, he was not a bench warmer. He put the executive arm on its toe, constantly issuing parliamentary queries to the late Governor Kolapo Isola. Akintola was not full of bile. He was only exploring and expressing the utility of the oversight functions, conferred on the parliament, by the presidential constitution. He shone brilliantly in the House because he was endowed with the gift of the garb, an indomitable courage of conviction and a determination to make a difference.
However, Akintola’s bright career was cut short by the circumstances of the time. He had to resign as deputy speaker when the Ibadan strongman, the late Chief Lamidi Adedibu, asked him to pull the breaks from the pursuit of a better society. Though harassed and intimidated, he refused to be cowed, despite the obvious threat to his life. But he had to call it quit when he realised that the forces of darkness were bent on crippling governance in the state.
Akintola did not go into political oblivion. At the beginning of this dispensation, the pursuit of political power was not topmost on his list of priorities. But he was among the architects of the new social order. Akintola worked actively with his leader, the late Chief Bola Ige, when he was writing the constitutions of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the defunct All Peoples Party (APP) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD). He had to pitch his tent with AD when Ige and his co-travelers quit the APP, following the invasion of the Abacha politicians.
Despite the fact that he has not been in power, he has been instrumental to the setting up of legitimate governments in Southwest states. Akintola has lived up to expectation in the course of assisting victims of electoral fraud to recover their stolen mandates in Ekiti, Osun, Ogun, Ondo and Edo states. In the politically conscious region, he is a household name.
But, why did he wait for 19 years before throwing his hat into the governorship ring? Akintola explained that he did not want to join the queue, adding that there was no way he could have unfolded a governorship ambition when his leaders, Alhaji Lam Adesina and Senator Abiola Ajimobi, were yet to occupy the Agodi State House. “Alhaji Lam Adesina, our leader, had served and gone. May his soul rest in peace. Governor Abiola Ajimobi has performed well in the last seven and half years. There is the need for a government of continuity. If elected as governor on the platform of the APC, I will build on his achievements,” he stressed.
Little did he guess that he was building a profile of leadership when he started promoting developmental activities in Ido, his cradle, and Ibadanland. Akintola is not a prophet without honour at home. Many indigenes perceive him as a community leader. On many occasions, he had ploughed back through the hospitals he built, the schools he renovated, the scholarships he gave to indigent students, the employment opportunities he facilitated and the communal conflicts he resolved. While Akintola has not been off the political radar in the last three decades, he has succeeded in shunning controversies and scandals capable of denting his reputation.
To many indigenes, Ajimobi actually recorded many achievements. But his greatest achievement yet, will be to hand over to a government of continuity on May 29, next year. There is a debate on whether or not Akintola is fit to step into his shoes. No fewer than 23 APC chieftains are in the race to succeed the governor. The contenders are from the three senatorial districts. The consensus of opinion is that, if Akintola succeeds Ajimobi, there will be a rebirth of ideological politics in Oyo State.
To observers, the primary, either direct or indirect, will not be a walk over for Akintola or any of the aspirants. This is a big hurdle. It is a crowded race. Apart from Akintola, other contenders include former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, Soji Adejumo, professor of animal physiology and former chairman, Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Adebayo Adelabu, former deputy governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Ayo Karim, engineer and Chief Executive Officer of Costain West Africa Plc, Joseph Tegbe, a senior partner with KPMG Professional Services, Dr Olusola Ayandele, Director of Integrated Energy Distribution And Marketing Limited, Dr. Azeez Adeduntan, Commissioner for Health, Soji Eniade, former Head of Service, Abimbola Adekambi, Commissioner for Finance, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari from Oyo North District, and Alhaji Adebayo Shittu, Minister of Communications.
Others are Akeem Agbaje, Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Oyo State, Dr. Babalola Owolabi, former Commissioner for Health, Isaac Omodewu, Commissioner for Land, Housing and Survey, Temitope Olatoye, who represents Lagelu/Akinyele Constituency in the House of Representatives, Alhaji Kehinde Olaosebikan, journalist and former chairman of Oluyole Local Government Area, Otunba Moses Alake Adeyemo, deputy governor, Senator Soji Akanbi from Oyo South District, Dada Awoleye, member of the House of Representative from Ibadan North Constituency, Debo Adesina, a journalist, Zacheaus Adelabu, former Commissioner for Finance, and Prof. Adeolu Aknde, a political scientist, and former Ajimobi chief of staff.
There are rumblings in the party hierarchy over who succeeds Ajimobi. The governor has clarified that he has no anointed candidate. Only a few people will believe him. Is Akintola the candidate? The lawyer said there is no reason why Ajimobi should not support his ambition, adding that he is a tested, trusted and loyal party chieftain.
The succession battle may be taking its toll on the State Executive Council. The council is paling into a lame duck council. There is growing suspicion and mistrust among commissioners and special advisers. Succession has become a divisive issue. Six members of the cabinet are in the race. They are Deputy Governor Adeyemo, Eniade, Omodewu, Adeduntan, Special Adviser on Political Matters, Morounkola Thomas, Commissioner for Finance, and Adekanmbi. The governor has not publicly anointed a candidate. Sources said that the governor’s silence on the vexed issue is strategic. His only intervention is limited to the admonition to the people of Oke Ogun to put their house in order and endorse an aspirant. The sub-zone is pushing for zoning, although zoning is not in the APC constitution.
Few months ago, eyes were on only two aspirants-Adelabu and Akintola. Later, party insiders said only Akintola and Tegbe enjoyed high rating. Tegbe is also an Ibadan indigene. He is rich and has achieved success as a technocrat in the private sector. Since he is not a politician, the belief is that the governor may prefer him because he may not quickly develop political wings.
But be that as it may, Akintola has other factors working in his favour. He is close to the gate-keepers in Oyo State, especially monarchs who have been shaping the process in the past — the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, the Soun of Ogbomosho, Oba Jimoh Oyewumi, the Aseyin of Iseyin and the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji. These monarchs are from the three senatorial districts.
Akintola’s supporters believe that prominent Ibadan indigenes are rooting for his candidature because they want to retain the seat in the capital beyond 2019. Without the support of Ibadan, it is evident that no person can be governor of Oyo State. Indeed, the political capital accruable from the ancient city is enormous. Ibadan has 11 of 33 local governments in the state. It controls 54 per cent of the voting population in the state. A source said Akintola has received the blessings of the influential umbrella body, the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII). The endorsement of Ajimobi by the association contributed to his victory at the poll.
The election may also be payback time for Akintola, whose legal career is interwoven with the emergence of many Southwest actors in the corridor of power. Beneficiaries of his legal services will be disposed to his emergence, having walked similar routes to power. In those anxious periods when the defunct Action Congress (AC) was robbed of electoral victory by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Akintola rendered invaluable legal services that led to the recovery of stolen mandates. He was the lead counsel in the case instituted by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who challenged the victory of PDP candidate, Professor Oserheim Osunbor in Edo State.