A year and ten months to the next governorship election in Ekiti State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is warming for the poll. Aspirants are already struggling for the party’s ticket. ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA unveils the contenders and highlights the hurdles the opposition party must cross to regain power.
Ekiti State All Progressives Congress (APC) is back to the drawing board. Its chieftains are already strategising for the next governorship election. The poll is almost two years away, but aspirants have started mobilising and drawing support for their ambition. Will the party regain power in 2018?
While no aspirant has emerged in the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) due to the fact that Governor Ayo Fayose is just a month away from celebrating his second year in office and not favorably disposed to any succession battle, the same cannot be said of the APC.
In the opposition party, many chieftains are eyeing the ticket. They believe that power will shift to the opposition at the poll. In fact, aggrieved PDP chieftains have been defecting to the APC. So far, there has not been any defection from the APC to the ruling party.
The APC is at an advantage. It is perceived as a party of choice by those who are seeking an alternative to the PDP government. But, it is at a disadvantage because at the state level, it lacks the power of incumbency. But, according to chieftains of the party, the fact that the APC is not in power means that there is no governor who will anoint a successor. The implication is that there will be a level playing ground for aspirants.
Although only one aspirant has publicly declared his intention, others are involved in underground moves, meetings, and consultations. They are setting up campaign structures across the 16 local governments.
Top on the list of aspirants is the former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Olufemi Bamisile. He has been on the field since last year when Fayose was just settling down for his second term.
Some party leaders have criticised the former legislator for starting early, saying that the bravado was unnecessary at that stage. They thought that the party had not recovered from the shock of the 2014 governorship defeat. But, some chieftains applauded the ex-Speaker for coming out early, saying that his activities have won more souls for the platform.
Bamisile has set up a campaign office beside the state secretariat of the PDP to show the people that he was serious about his ambition.
Besides, Bamisile has also organised empowerment programmes, including the distribution of free petrol to commercial motorcyclists. He has embarked on ward-to-ward visits to party members to sell his agenda to the grassroots. To party members, Bamishile is a serious contender.
Other aspirants have been reaching out to the people through the media. For example, some of them are sponsoring jingles and other programmes on the Radio Nigeria Progress 100.5 FM, Ado Ekiti and ADABA 88.9 FM Akure They often participate in radio programmes to draw attention to their ambition and drum support for the party. Some of them used the platforms to discuss burning issues affecting Ekiti.
The aspirants include the former Chairman of Ekiti State Hospitals Management Board, Dr. Adebayo Orire; former House of Representatives members, Hon. Bimbo Daramola, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele and Hon. Bamidele Faparusi; Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Senator Femi Ojudu and former Senate Deputy Minority Whip, Senator Gbenga Aluko.
Others are the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) governorship candidate in 2007, Otunba Yinka Akerele; former Executive Secretary of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Dr. Femi Thomas; former Chief of Staff, Mr. Yemi Adaramodu; former House of Assembly Majority Leader, Hon. Funminiyi Afuye; Australia-based medical practitioner, Dr. Wole Oluyede and former House of Assembly member, Hon. Bayo Idowu.
Others include former Commissioners, Chief Sesan Fatoba, Chief Bisi Aloba, Chief Dele Okeya; former Special Assistant to former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Domestic Affairs, Mr. Bodunde Adeyanju; former Ekiti South senatorial aspirant, Mr. Kayode Adaramodu; an investor, Mr. Olajide Akinyemi Jnr, an officer in the United States Army, Captain Sunday Adebomi; former Special Assistant on Forestry, Mr. Bayo Babalotin, Mr. Muyiwa Olumilua and Mr. Oladipupo Ogunkoyode.
Many aides and supporters of two former governors, Chief Segun Oni and Dr. Kayode Fayemi are also believed to be promoting their ambition, but the duo are said to be concentrating on the current positions they are holding at the national level.
While Oni is the Deputy National Chairman (South) of the APC, Fayemi is the Minister of Mines and Steel Development. But, the game of politics is unpredictable, hence, they cannot be ruled out of the race despite their “loud silence.”
The two former governors are from Ekiti North Senatorial District.
The majority of the aspirants are from Ekiti South District, which had not produced an elected governor since 1999 while the rest are from the North or South districts.
Aspirants from the South are Bamisile, Faparusi, Aluko, the two Adaramodus, Afuye, Idowu, Fatoba, Aloba, Oluyede, Adebomi, Babalotin and Ogunkoyode.
From the Central are Orire, Bamidele, Ojudu, Thomas and Adeyanju while contenders from the North include Daramola, Akerele and Akinyemi Jnr.
As the poll draws near, more chieftains are expected to show interest in the race.
It is too early to predict which senatorial district will emerge as the beneficiary of zoning. But, zoning is a contentious issue in the APC and in the entire state. Zoning is not in the APC constitution, but the concentration of aspirants from the South indicates the desire of members from the zone to clinch the ticket.
Zoning has never determined the succession pattern in Ekiti. Voters always prefer to vote for acceptable candidates, irrespective of where they come from. For instance, first civilian governor, Adebayo, who won the poll on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 1999 hails from Ekiti Central. In 2003, Fayose, who is also from the same senatorial district with Adebayo, was elected on the platform of PDP.
In the 2014 poll, there was the clamour for zoning to Ekiti South in the PDP. But, Fayose who hails from Ekiti Central won the primary and the election in controversial circumstances.
It is being rumored that Fayose may anoint a successor from Ekiti Central, particularly from Ado Ekiti.
Sources said the governor has his eyes on Ado bloc votes because the state capital has a numerical strength and the highest number of voters. This is similar to the calculation of Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who has anoited a successor from Akure, the state capital.
The APC dream of reclaiming the State House will prove to be a Herculean task as the party has to redouble its effort and do more than propaganda, issuing of press statements and complacency, borne out of the feeling of being the ruling party at the federal level.
Although majority of the civil servants and teachers who form the bulk of voters are aggrieved with Fayose over some policies they perceive as anti-people, the governor is trying to win back their affection.
The policies include the payment of deductions from their salaries and the review of their backlog of promotions and the biometric registration of intending beneficiaries of social security scheme.
The PDP is strong at the grassroots. It has elected councilors and chairmen across the local governments, commissioners, special advisers, special assistants, board chairmen and members at the state level.
The party also produced all the 26 members of the House of Assembly, six members of the House of Representatives and three senators. The services of all these officials will be needed during the poll.
Despite his face-off with the APC-led-Federal Government, Fayose is still regarded as a grassroots politician who possess the magic wang. He is perceived as a populist politician who can always win the hearts of the grassroots “since every politics is local.”
The APC has many challenges. Many chieftains have been appealing to the national leadership to pay attention to these probles because their resolution is critical to success in future elections.
Many members of the party are still aggrieved that genuine reconciliation is yet to take place less than two years to another election. Ekiti APC is a divided house.
A chieftain from Ikole Local Government Area, Chief John Filani, said the party needed “urgent reorganisation” to be an election-winning platform.
He expressed fear that, unless the national leaders intervene and put things in order, the party may lose the governorship election to the PDP.
He also advised party leaders to consider fielding a “home-based candidate” during the election, saying members are yearning for a candidate who is accessible and ready to listen to them.
Speaking with reporters in Ado Ekiti, Filani lamented that Ekiti APC could be likened to a “flock of sheep without a shepherd” as key leaders and those holding party positions and political offices at the national level have abandoned the party to its fate.
He urged the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and other well-meaning leaders to reposition chapter.
Filani called on Adebayo, Oni and Fayemi to come together and convoke a “solemn assembly” that will enable members to resolve their differences.
He said the alleged “siddon look attitude” of these leaders must stop, urging them to come home and interact with party members, ahead of the poll.
Filani said: “An average member of the APC in Ekiti State is not happy with way the party is being run. The state exco has disconnected itself from the masses; we need to do more work if we want APC to regain power in Ekiti in 2018.
“Going by the present situation of our party, if the APC is not careful, the PDP may win again in 2018. We have 177 wards in the state and hardly can we boast that our members are happy in 160 out of the 177 wards.
“At the moment, the PDP has more members in the grassroots than the APC in Ekiti and if election is held today, 16-0 may repeat itself because the exco members are not making party members happy.
“The APC leaders in the state are very selfish and they are pursuing personal interests and that is why I am scared that, unless we put our house in order, we may lose the governorship election again in 2018.”
“The reality is that PDP members are more than us and we claim that we are the party at the centre but there is no reflection at home. The party is not on ground contrary to what they are making our leaders up there to believe.
“We want the National Chairman, Chief Odigie-Oyegun, National Leader Asiwaju Tinubu to hear this: Ekiti chapter needs their intervention and majority of our members in the grassroots are aggrieved, they are not happy with the way the party is being run and there must be genuine reconciliation.”
Filani explained that preparations for the next governorship election must start now if the party hopes to win the governorship seat. He said 2018 is very much around the corner hence the party must get it right.
He warned against imposition of candidate in the next set of election advocating what he called a “home-based candidate” as the flag bearer in the next gubernatorial poll.
Filani added: “We need a home-based candidate for the next governorship election and there should be no imposition. Party members must be allowed to vote for the candidates of their choice.
“We want a home-based candidate, a home-grown governorship candidate. That is what Ekiti people want now; if you come with millions of pounds from outside few weeks to the primary and you hope to win, Ekiti people will reject you.
“The truth is bitter, we must say it so that our party will regain power and Ekiti people will enjoy good governance they are being denied by the ruling PDP administration.”
Another party member who craved anonymity said the APC has a bright chance of winning the governorship election in 2018 because “Fayose is no longer popular for allegedly imposing hardship on Ekiti people and revelations of mind-boggling corruption” adding that the party must put its house in order.
He said: “We have a bright chance of winning the next governorship election with Fayose’s popularity now at an all-time low and the mind-boggling corruption revelations but preparation must start now. It is good that many party members are showing interest in our governorship ticket but it is more than that.
“We should stop deceiving ourselves and tell ourselves the home truth because displacing an incumbent governor and ruling party from power needs much hard work, unity of purpose and winning more members into the party.
“What are the contributions of these people to the growth of the party? Some of them had not stepped into the party secretaries and they want the ticket of that party. The party presently lacks many things, it is difficult paying salaries of the secretariat staff.
“It has been a long time since we held an all-inclusive meeting. Members are loyal to the aspirants they are promoting rather than to the party and this is not good for a party looking ahead to an election.
“Those saying they want to be governor, the question we are asking is that where are they? We don’t known many of these personalities in the party and they want to be governor over us.
“They don’t come to the party secretariat, we don’t see them often and those holding federal appointments are far away from the grassroots. If you need a party platform to contest, you must strengthen the platform and make it attractive to the electorate.
“We must face the fact, our party only exists on pages of newspapers and much still needs to be done to make it an election-winning party. Remember, Ekiti is a local place and every politics is local.
“Many members are still aggrieved and there has never been a time we sat together and ruminate on why we lost the 2014 governorship election to prevent a repeat in the future.
“All these things must be done before we can dream about winning any election. Genuine reconciliation is needed, there must be aggressive membership and mobilization drive at the grassroots.
“We much work to do before the 2018 governorship contest because power is not served a la carte as our national leader use to say.”
