The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ondo poll

  • Lessons of Ondo poll

    Lessons of Ondo poll

    A combination of superior strategy, hardwork, team spirit, unity of purpose, and strong resolve to succeed accounted for the victory of All Progressives Congress (APC) Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa during the weekend poll in Ondo State. Deputy Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the lessons of the historic election.

    There was jubilation in Ondo State yesterday.

    The governorship election has been won and lost. Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) defeated his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenger, former Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi with a wide margin.

     It was an unprecedented win. No governor has ever won the governorship poll the way Aiyedatiwa won in the history of the state. The governor defeated Ajayi in all the 18 local governments.

    The implication is that APC has not suffered a credibility problem. It is hugely popular in Ondo State. The victory may also be a befitting tribute to the memory of the departed governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, who made Aiyedatiwa his deputy and held on to the promise of power shift to the Ondo South Senatorial District.

    It was Akeredolu’s wish to hand over to another APC governor in the state. The aspiration was fulfilled.

    The ruling party at the centre built on its success in Edo State where it aborted the dream of the PDP to install a successor to former Governor Godwin Obaseki. An excited national chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, instantly told PDP in other states in the region that they should brace up for a moving train.

    Many observers have applauded the umpire for conducting a free and fair exercise. To them, it was an improvement on the previous elections. It is therefore, a victory to democracy and the sanctity of the ballot box.

    The language of victory contrasts sharply with the language of defeat. After casting his vote in his native Obenla, the APC candidate exhuded happiness, saying that the process was in order. For PDP, it was complaint galore. Ajayi condemned the election, accusing the electoral commission of incompetence.

    The PDP prepared for the poll in many ways. But, the preparations may have fallen short of expectation. Its former presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and the divided national leadership of the opposition party lent a helping hand to the candidate. Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and his Osun counterpart, Ademola Adeleke, stormed Ondo State for campaign. The remnant of PDP leadership was full of bravado. It was fruitless.

    All politics is local. PDP gladiators of yore were off the radar. Yet, nature abhors vacuum. APC forces filled the void. As PDP limped in weakness, APC renewed its strength.

    Read Also: Ondo election: PDP will die under Damagum, Ologbondiyan raises alarm

    At the close of poll, Aiyedatiwa scored 366, 781 to defeat Ajayi, who got 117,845. According to analysts, it was the biggest electoral defeat since the state was created with in 1976.

    The governor made history in another respect. He is the first Ilaje to contest and win. Therefore, the poll resolved a major hurdle. It fostered equity, fairness and justice. Now and in the future, majority and minority sub-ethnic groups have equal chance of producing the governor of Ondo under the progressive banner.

    From being deputy governor, acting governor and governor, Aiyedatiwa has done his party proud by retaining power in the Sunshine state. His name Lucky (I am fortunate), Orimisan (My head is good) and Aiyedatiwa (Fortune has come our way or this opportunity is now our own) worked for him.

    The outcome of the poll revealed that Ajayi was a weak candidate on the platform of a weak PDP chapter, which failed to put its house in order. The poll result showed that the main opposition party was in deep slumber. It also failed the test of realistic self-appraisal.

    The difference between APC and PDP is leadership.

    The Leader of APC, President Bola Tinubu, offered a cogent advice to the APC family in Ondo and at the national level. After the victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo in Edo State, he urged the chieftains in Ondo to go to the poll as a united fold. No better strategy is more than a team spirit in an atmosphere of unity, peace and harmony.

    Indeed, Ondo APC went into the election in one accord. Although there was post-primary crisis, President Tinubu rose to the occasion. He pacified the aggrieved aspirants, urging them to sheath their swords and elevate the collective interest of the party over personal interests.

    Thus, while other opposition parties reached out to the contestants, majority of them declined to jump ship. An example was Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, who resisted pressures from PDP governors and senators to dump APC and contest on the platform of the major opposition party.

    The senator from Ikaleland said since President Tinubu had called for a truce in the APC, he will not join outsiders to pull the party down.

    Aiyedatiwa, assisted by the APC national leadership, also initiated reconciliation, which worked for the chapter. The aspirants came out to mobilise their supporters and followers to vote for the APC.

    While Olusola Oke (SAN) worked tirelessly in Ilaje axis, Wale Akinterinwa campaigned vigorously in Ile-Oluji/Oke-Igbo axis.

    Besides, APC structures are more formidable than that of the PDP across the 18 local governments. There was a statewide enthusiasm, the power of incumbency being an added advantage.

    APC governors rallied round Aiyedatiwa in solidarity, in utter sensitivity to the fact that these off-season elections will herald the general election in 2027. The Ondo victory is likely to embolden the party to prepare well for victory in the two Southwest states under the grip of PDP – Osun and Oyo.

    Also, APC left nothing to chances. Leading lights in the party, including the Interior Minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Senators Ibrahim, Jide Ipinsagba and Adeniyi Adegbonmire, embarked on aggressive mobilisation. Key elected and appointed public officers, including state lawmakers, other federal legislators, commissioners, special advisers,  other aides, saw the election as their personal project.

     Party leaders across the local governments galvanised party members to defend their party on poll day. In Idanre, APC Chairman Ade Adetimehin and his forces mobilised for victory.

    Generally, the mood of the people also favoured power shift to the South Senatorial District and many believed that Aiyedatiwa was their best  bet. Other zones voted because there is the feeling that power will shift to them during the next governorship poll.

    However, it must be pointed out that the number of those who voted, relative to the actual voting Ondo population, was low. There was voting fatigue. Also, incidence of vote buying was recorded in isolated cases. Security agencies should be more vigilant. Public enlightenment on the need to always vote wisely and based on conscience is very important.

    The victory is sweet. But, it imposes a heavy responsibility on Aiyedatiwa and APC. To whom much is given,much is expected.

    Two years ago, Aiyedatiwa never knew that he will be in the position of number one indigene in Ondo State. He fought battles. He triumphed. But, the onus is on the governor to govern with humility and fear of God, and avoid vendetta.

    He should be ready to implement the party manifestos and fulfil his campaign promises. Aiyedatiwa should make his government more inclusive and maintain an open door policy. He can emulate his neighbour, Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State, who is soaring higher in humility, integrity and honour.

    Ekiti is one large, culturally-linked zone, unlike Ondo, which is characterised by clevages, as represented by its diversity-Akure, Ondo, Akoko, Owo, Ikale, Ilaje, Ijaw, Arogbo, Apoi, and more or less Ekiti towns  in Ondo State-Ilaramokin, Isarun and Igbara-Oke, Iju and Ita-Ogbolu.

    The governor should preside over a transparent, prudent and accountable government. If he does not govern well, he will put his party in serious jeopardy in four years time.

    Aiyedatiwa should brace up for the work of unity and development. The only governor who bewould remember for long in Ondo State is the governor of infrastructural development.

  • Ondo poll: How far can SDP, ZLP, NNPP, LP go?

    Ondo poll: How far can SDP, ZLP, NNPP, LP go?

    The November 16 governorship election in Ondo State will be an interesting battle. Seventeen political parties have fielded candidates to contest the election. Incumbent Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa is in the race with hopes to continue in office after he completes the tenure of late former Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.

    It is expected to be a two-horse race between the two major political parties — the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC). However, anything can happen during the election as was witnessed in last year’s general elections when the LP won elections in many senatorial districts, especially in the Southeast and the South-south.

    Other political parties that fielded candidates, according to the list published by the Independent National Electoral Commission, apart from the PDP and the APC, are the Accord Party (AP), the Action Alliance (AA), the African Action Congress (AAC), the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), the Action Peoples Party(APP), the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the Labour Party (LP), the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), the  Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Young Progressives Party (YPP), the Youth Party (YP) and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

    No party among the remaining 15 political parties can be tagged as the third force ahead of the election. In the 2016 governorship election, which saw the emergence of the late Akeredolu as the candidate of the APC, the Alliance for Democracy (AD), with Chief Olusola Oke as its candidate, was the third force. During the 2019 general election, the AA was the third force in Ondo State because of the support of the late Akeredolu. The APC was then polarised and politicians who failed to secure the APC’s ticket contested on the platform of the AA. Candidates of the AA lost at the polls. In the 2020 governorship election, the ZLP which had Agboola Ajayi as a candidate was the third force. So far, no third force has won the election in Ondo State.

    Read Also: Jimoh Ibrahim’s supersonic performance: A new era for Ondo State

    This year’s governorship polls may not be any different but some of the political parties fielded candidates that may spring surprises at the polls. The political parties to watch out for are the SDP, the ZLP, the NNPP and the LP

    SDP:

    Otunba Bamidele Akingboye is the governorship candidate of the SDP. Otunba Akingboye dumped the PDP after losing the primary to former Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi. He has been contesting at the PDP primary for the past 21 years. Akingboye, a Certified Fraud Examiner, hails from Okitipupa. He is an alumnus of Lagos Business School (Pan-Atlantic University) and University of Heriot Walt University, Edinburg, Scotland. He is the Managing Director and Chief Executive of Benshore Maritime Services, Clog Oil Systems Ltd, Ben Bamigboye & Associates Ltd, Daily Best Industries Ltd, Texas, USA, Fire Bee Services Ltd, WeAfrica Ltd, as well as B & P Construction, Oil & Gas Ltd, UK.

    Akingboye’s exit from the PDP has seen an influx of politicians into the SDP in Ondo State. Several youth groups have pledged support for his candidacy. Akingboye told our reporter that he left the PDP for the SDP to enable him to achieve his dreams of governing the state and creating wealth for residents.

    His words: “I have been an entrepreneur for many years. I know how to create wealth and put people to work. The suffering is too much. The people need someone who does not belong to any of those groups. I have been contesting for 21 years using my resources. This is the time to put youth to work. The educational standard of the state will be restored under my watch.”

    ZLP:

    A younger brother to former Governor Olusegun Mimiko, Dr. Abbas Mimiko, is the governorship candidate of the ZLP. The ZLP was the third force in the 2020 governorship election. Dr. Mimiko is in the race against all odds because he hails from Ondo Central. The unwritten political agreement, otherwise known as zoning, favours Ondo South to produce the next governor.

    Dr. Mimiko, a consultant psychiatrist and agro-prenuer, said he believes it is the turn of the best candidate to emerge as governor; not necessarily based on zoning. He said he does not share the philosophy that power must rotate among the three senatorial districts of Ondo South, Ondo North and Ondo Central. It is the turn of the best candidate that would better the lots of the people to emerge, he added.

    He said: “The ZLP is strong in this state. Every local government will give us at least 25 per cent of votes, including Ilaje and Ese-odo where both the PDP and the APC candidates come from. There has never been any time that there will be an election that candidates from other senatorial district order than the favoured one would not contest. What is important is to ask if this is the life we want to live in this state.

    “We are in troubled times in Ondo State. That is why I am running. We know we can change the lot of this state. We have a programme that will change the trajectory of this narration. Every household knows Dr. Abbas Mimiko. I have lived here, I have worked here, I am an employer of labour. I am a man of the masses. You came through my gate and did not see anybody harassing you. I am a man of the people. I eat agbado (corn) with the common man. I pound yam in bukas. I am a man of the people. They love me and they are going to vote for me.

    “Our leaders here are clueless about what development is. That is why they are getting everything wrong. That is why the suffering in Ondo State is bigger than anywhere in Nigeria.”

    NNPP:

    A former lawmaker in the Ondo State House of Assembly, Olugbenga Edema, is the candidate of the NNPP. Edema was a governorship aspirant within the APC before its governorship primary. He defected to the NNPP after losing at the shadow poll. Edema also served as chairman of the Ondo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (OSOPADEC). He is a grassroots politician. He said he has thoroughly studied the NNPP manifesto and saw that it aligned with his vision as encapsulated in the Igbega Ondo manifesto. The Igeda Ondo manifesto, according to Edema, was put together by great minds. He said it was capable of taking the state out of the woods as well as setting it on the “consolidation and sustainability lane” for total development.

    His words: “The demise of the APC is just around the corner like its sister, the PDP from which it took over the reign of power. It is on this note that I hereby formally announce my resignation from the APC forthwith. I hereby pitch my tent with the NNPP, a truly progressive and people-oriented party. This is a party for the immediate future.

    “We therefore use this medium to serve a notice to quit to Governor Lucky Orimisan Ayedatiwa and his APC cohorts that effective from February 24, 2025, the Government House, Alagbaka will no longer be available for their use. With the NNPP, we are providing a more veritable and people-oriented government to all the good people of Ondo State as captured in our manifesto which would be made available in due course.”

    LP:

    A two-term commissioner in the LP government of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, Chief Olusola Ebiseni, is the candidate of the party. Chief Ebiseni emerged through substitution after he lost at the primary of the PDP. A lawyer by profession, Ebiseni served as chairman of the Ilaje-Ese Odo Local Government between 1991 and 1993 on the platform of the SDP. He served as commissioner under the late Governor Adebayo Adefarati. He was the Director of the Oluwa Glass Company, chairman of the Ondo State Law Commission, and the Southwest coordinator of the ObiDatti Presidential Campaign Council during the last general election. Chief Ebiseni is currently Afenifere Secretary-General and Chancellor Diocese of Ilaje Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion.

    Ebiseni described himself as among the heirs of progressive politics anchored on empirical social welfarist ideology. He said the LP intended to build on those ideological policy thrusts reworking them in tandem with the present dictates of the world. He promised to improve security partnerships with the Federal Government and its relevant agencies, develop human capital by providing qualitative education and give priority to sporting activities. He vowed to revive moribund infrastructures and build new ones.

    Very little is known of candidates of other political parties. The AP, for example, picked Ajibola Falaiye as its candidate and Samuel lkuyajolu as his running mate. Falaiye has served in different capacities in the AP and is not expected to make any impact at the polls.

    Omolere Akinuli is the candidate of the AAC and he picked Oluwatosin Adeyemi as his running mate. The AAC is not a strong party in Ondo State.

    Popularly called PMAN, Prince Adeyemi Nejo is the candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and his running mate is Rasheed Ibrahim. Prince Nejo believes in Youth development. He has provided scholarships for indigent students.

  • Ondo poll: waiting for APC primary

    Ondo poll: waiting for APC primary

    All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirants are warming up for the primary in Ondo State. Deputy Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the chances of the contenders and issues that will shape the exercise.

    A year ago, the permutations were different. The attention was on the former party leader, the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, and his succession plan, which he never unfolded till he passed on in December last year.

    Today, the governorship aspirants have returned to the drawing board in post-Akeredolu era. The All Progressives Congress (APC) is momentarily polarised by the scramble for the ticket ahead of the  November poll.

    This is evident in the brewing media war, propaganda, partisan prevarications and clandestine scheming involving the antagonistic camps and their supporters. There is tendency towards character assassination, smear campaigns and bitterness, which the national leadership of the party should nip in the bud, if the platform is to be kept intact, united and cohesive ahead of the poll. It is also important that party leaders should brace up for the inevitable challenge of reconciliation arising from post-primary crisis.

    Since 1999, the progressive bloc in the Sunshine state has often struggled with shadow polls. None has been devoid of acrimony. The pattern of crisis has reflected in the antagonism between Adebayo Adefarati and Bolaji Osomo; Adefarati and Mimiko Group ahead of 2003, Akeredolu and Jumoke Anifowose, Akeredolu and the camp of Segun Abraham, and Akeredolu and Olusola Oke.

    It is not clear whether Ondo APC would adopt direct or indirect primary. But, according to a party official, consensus is old fashioned; completely outdated. But, other methods have their darksides too.

    The official added: “If it is delegate option, it is fundamentally skewed because of the advantage of bloc statutory delegate vote. If it is general vote, that is, indirect, complaints will mount because, as experience has shown, the party register is suspect; it is never flawless. Unless effectively planned and organised, both methods are not insulated from manipulation.”

    Indeed, potential elected delegates and their statutory counterparts look forward to a trading season-the periodic naira or dollar festival-when aspirants would be eager to mobilise them through persuasion and other means.

    According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the shadow poll will hold next month and the election will take place in November.

    Its chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said the submission of the list of nominated candidates via the online portal will start on April 29 and close on May 20.

    Read Also: Edo, Ondo polls signpost troubling future

    There is no dull moment in Ondo APC. But, not all aspirats are telling the people what they intend to achieve for the state, if voted into the exalted office, beyond saying that they would build on the legacy of Akeredolu.

    No fewer than 16 condenders are struggling for the flag. They included Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who according to the APC tradition, is the party leader; Wale Akinterinwa, longest serving Finance Commissioner, who has claimed that his former boss, Akeredolu, endorsed him for the job; eminent businessman Dr. Jimoh Ibrahim, senator representing Ondo South District, legal luminary and serial contender Chief Oke (SAN), an engineer, Chief Ife Oyedele, former federal legislator Mayowa Akinfolarin and Gbenga Edema, former representative of Ondo State on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    Others are Brigadier-General Olamide Ohunyeye (rtd); Morayo Lebi, Ayo Oritedi, Sola Iji, Dr. Paul Akinterinwa, Dr. Soji Ehinlanwo, Jimi Odimayo, Dr. Adedayo Faduyile, and Mathew Oyerinmade.

    The profile of the major aspirants indicates a tendency towards zoning to the South, in accordance with the wish of the departed leader, Akeredolu.

    But, zoning appears to be a non-issue in the opposition party. Eyeing the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are a grassroots politician, former Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi, two-time contestant Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) and Adeolu Akinwumi. Sources said in PDP, zoning has become a tool for blackmail against aspirants outside the South.

    Despite the consensus of opinion in the ruling party that the South should produce the next governor, members of the Aketi camp, which used to be the dominant structure, are not on the same page. There is split, which had occured before its symbol passed on. The Aketi group is now divided and dispersed like a sheep without shepherd. The camp is finding it difficult to adopt a consensus candidate within thd group.

    The party chairman, Ade Adetimehin, an engineer, is said to be rooting for Oke. Adetimehin is from Idanre in the Central District. According to sources, he is interested in the deputy governorship ticket. Also, Senator Alasoadura, who is from Iju/Ita-Ogbolu axis of Akure, Central District, is the campaign manager for the ‘Aseyori Team’ of Senator Ibrahim. Last week, an aspirant, Princess Oladunni Odu, former Secretary to Government, stepped dowm for the senator.

    According to observers, eyes are mainly on four aspirants to the Alagbaka Government House, Akure. They are the governor, former Finance Commissioner, the senator representing the South and the legal luminary.

    Other contenders may become spectators during the primary.

    Aiyedatiwa:Top on the list is Aiyedatiwa, who wields the power of incumbency, but still building structures and broadening his networks, reaching out to friends and foes. In the past, he was assailed by huge electoral losses when he contested for the Houuse of Representatives and Senate. But, an apple of Akeredolu’s eyes, he became the NDDC representative from Ondo, and much later, deputy governor.

    Politically, Aiyedatiwa is the greatest beneficiary of the vacuum in the state. Many were jealous of him for obvious reasons; he was the potential inheritor of the throne which was becoming vacant through the protracted illness of his boss. Assisted by the national leadership of the party, the former deputy governor survived the impeachment move against him. Power finally landed on his palm few hours after Akeredolu passed on.

    Immediately he assumed the reins, Aiyedatiwa showed that he has not only come to office, he is in power. He summoned the meeting of party stakeholders from wards and local governments. They smiled home with an assurance of unprecedented largesse. The publicity secretary of the party, Alex Kalejaye, said the governor was trying to empower dedicated party members in his capacity as state leader.

    At the meeting, the governor said: “We must all come together as one family to work together for the progress of our party, knowing for sure this is an election here for us. An election to the office of the governor of Ondo State, even though the seat is not vacant currently. Let us work together In oneness and in peace so that our party, APC will continue to govern this state”.

    Aiyedatiwa promised to liaise with the leadership of the party to ensure its smooth running, adding that he will regularly engage stakeholders and consult  h with Leaders’ Caucus and the Governor’s Advisory Council.

    Reflecting on the recent acrimony in the fold, he added: “As leaders of our party, we must put behind us the events of the last few months and come together as one big family for the progress of the APC and the development of our dear State.

    “To me, what happened in the past was just politics. It was not a fight; it was not a battle; it was mere politics and I can say that I did not take any offence from that. The most important thing for us is to remain as one big family. There should be no division in our party. There is the need to make our party stronger and that necessitated the idea of this enlarged stakeholders meeting to bring everybody on board. Our party leaders and members are critical stakeholders that we cannot afford to neglect.

    “There have been complaints from many of our party officers at local levels of not being carried along in the scheme of things. That must now be a thing of the past. All our party officers from ward to local government to state levels will be given the recognition they deserve.”

    Aiyedatiwa started to consolidate his hold on power. He dissolved the State Executive Council and asked all former aides of the governor to leave. He subsequently announced the former Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly, Olayide Adelami, as deputy governor. The deputy governor hails from Owo, hometown of Akeredolu.

    The following day, he appointed Tayo Oluwatuyi as Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and Mr. Abayomi Olasanya as Chief of Protocol. He reappointed four sacked commissioners-Akinwumi Sowore; Mrs. Omowumi Isaac;  Razaq Obe; Mr Emmanuel Igbasan and Oseni Oyeniyi.

    Aiyedatiwa appointed Olukayode Ajulo, a lawyer as Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice; former state lawmaker Olugbenga Omole as Special Adviser on Information and Strategy; Mrs. Olamide Falana as Special Adviser on Gender Affairs and Alabi Johnson as Special Adviser on Energy.

    The governor,  who was in want of heavy weight backers, started reaching out beyond Ondo APC. He is attracting to himself leading lights and politicians of note, including former Governor Olusegun Mimiko, whose followers at the grassroots have moved to APC. Some of the government appointees also have links with Mimiko.

    According to analysts, whenever an incumbent governor is contesting for the governorship ticket, he is definitely a threat to other aspirants, who he perceives as adverssaries or foes. Since the governor controls the levers of powerand the state treasury, the likelihood exists that many will naturally gravitate towards his direction.

    Akinterinwa: That does not suggest that the shadow poll will be a walkover for any aspirant. A formidable challenger is Akinterinwa, who rode to Akure recently into a rousing welcome after his return from Abuja, the. Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    The former commissioner hails from Ile-Oluji in Oke-igbo/Ile Oluji Local Government Area.

     He was said to be attending the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee in Abuja when Aiyedatiwa dissolved the State Executive Council.

     Akinterinwa is an experienced technocat and politician. He had worked with Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) as the Special Assistant on Finance, Investment and Strategy to the Managing Director between 1999 and 2002. In the last eight years, he has managed the economy of the state. His political testimonial includes his reliability as a dependable ally of Akeredolu and a key member of the Aketi Team reputed for his discerning mind, calmness and integrity.

    Addressing his supporters, Akinterinwa said: “I am humbled by your perseverance. I know you have been waiting for about eight hours to express your appreciation to me after my meritorious service to our state for about seven years. Your gesture is a testimonial that when you do well, people will appreciate you. This is a manifestation of better things to come.”

    Akinterinwa has vowed to defeat Aiyedatiwa during the primary. He said Akeredolu, after he returned from his medical trip to Germany last year, anointed him as his successor.

    “During the discussion in his office, he told me that he would want me to takeover from him. And he prayed for me. I’m also aware that he told certain people about that desire. The conversation happened immediately after he came back from Germany. At an appropriate time, I will make my intentions known. I am confident that I will get the ticket. The people are with me,” he added.

    Akinterinwa, a certified accountant, is a graduate of the University of Ife, Ile – Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) where he obtained BSc (Hons) in Accountancy in 1986.

    He started his career with the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, where he had his National Youth Service and also worked with Afro Continental Nigeria Limited as an Accountant. He also worked as an Assistant Accountant at Afro Continental Nigeria Limited before joining Triumph Merchant Bank.

     Akinterinwa was sworn in as Commissioner for Finance in Ondo State in 2009 by Mimiko. His tenure waa brief. He worked on the Internally Generated Revenue IGR) of the state. He was adjudged to be a prudent financial manager that left billions of naira in the treasury.

    Akinterinwa was re-appointed in 2017 and 2021.

    Also, one of his landmark achievements while in office was the restructuring of the State Development Bond to ease some funds for the state.

    Ibrahim: Many also believe that Senator Ibrahim is a formidable contender. He is  forging ahead with his ambition, with resolve, focus, clarity and optimism. His supporters said he is bracing up for a unique popularity test, taking his message of renewed hope to the nooks and crannies of the state.

    Ibrahim is no stranger to governorship contest, having contested for governor on the platform of the All NigerianPeoplesParty(ANPP) in 203. He was 37..

     Ibrahim, fondly called Araba by his  admirers, has intensified mobilisation in the state. He has built structures. The potency of the structures will be put to test at the primary 

    The aspirant has visited the 18 local governments.  A grassroots politician, he is taking his campaign to the nooks and crannies of the state. 

    In particular,  Ibrahim is effectively mobilisibg at the grassroots when people reside. His campaign train is electrifying. He has caught the image of a philanthropist ready to give succour to the poor.

    Ibrahim’s  political agenda is around key pillars of education, health, job creation and infrastructure. However, he still needs to expantiate on the implementation strategies.

    Ibrahim’s leadership capability stems from his  intellectual prowess. At 57, he holds nine degrees from highly reputable institutions, including Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife (LLB, MPA), the University of Oxford, and Harvard (LLM/IT). He holds a Ph.D. in Business from Cambridge University (DBA).

    His academic achievements are complemented by his feats in the world of business. The scope encompasses banking, insurance, oil and gas, real estate, hospitality, and aviation, showcased by ventures like Global Fleet Group and NICON Luxury Hotel.

    He demonstrated reliability by assisting the Nigerian government in recovering unpaid withholding tax from major international oil firms, successfully implementing the plan and recovering billions of dollars.

    Oke: Oke is a veteran politician.  A lawyer, he attended the University of Ife.

    He joined Olufemi Lanlehin and Co., a law firm in Ikeja, Lagos in 1987 before moving to Okitipupa to establish Olusola Oke and Associates in 1988.

    In 1996, he became the Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, Okitipupa Branch. Between 1997 and 2000, he was the chairman of NBA, Okitipupa Branch. Also, between 1997 and year 2000, he was a member of the National Executive Committee of NBA. Later, he served as National Legal Adviser of the PDP, between 2008.

    Since he became a member of Board of Internal Revenue in Ondo State, he has combined politics with his legal practice without necessarily leaving one for the other. He was elected into the House of Representatives from Ilaje/Ese-Odo  constituency in 1992. In 2000, he was appointed into the pioneer board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC. At NDDC, his team executed and completed over two hundred and fifty projects. What he did on the board of NDDC and the experience garnered facilitated his appointment as the Executive Chairman of the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC), another intervention agency, in 2004.

    In 2005, he was nominated and served in the National Political Reform Conference and in 2007, he served as a member of the Presidential Technical Committee on Niger Delta.

  • Ondo poll as precursor

    Ondo poll as precursor

    WHEN Governor Olusegun Mimiko won re-election in 2012 by a sizable and incontrovertible margin, pushing the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate, Rotimi Akeredolu, to third position, the factionalised Southwest political elite was flush with excitement. The vocal and pro-Mimiko faction hailed both the election and victory as a harbinger of new politics in the region, a redefinition and recasting of the fundamentals of Yoruba leadership politics and struggle. Some analysts even went as far as suggesting that Dr Mimiko would and should be the fulcrum upon which a new Southwest leadership and politics must balance. Since the re-election battle in Ondo in 2012 was cast as either pro- or anti-Bola Ahmed Tinubu struggle, and Mr Akeredolu, a senior advocate, was his badly beaten candidate, the very large pro-Mimiko forces nurtured the impression that Southwest politics had begun to change irreversibly.
    It mattered little, as this column argued at the time, that Dr Mimiko and his Labour Party (LP) received votes from just 15.8 percent of the about 1.63m registered voters, and 41.7 percent of the 624,659 who actually voted. His two main opponents received a combined but bigger support of about 17.7 percent of the registered voters and 51.1 percent of those who actually voted. Worse for everyone who carelessly attempted to extrapolate the region’s political future from the 2012 votes, voter turnout was just about 38.1 percent. This column pointed out at the time that it was unscrupulous to make dangerous extrapolations, not to talk of assigning great futuristic roles to Dr Mimiko without the relevant statistical support. Much worse was the fact that in character, intuition and charisma, not to talk of administrative skills and vision, Dr Mimiko was not what he was cracked up to be. It turned out that four more years of Dr Mimiko neither brought him nearer the approximation his supporters projected of him nor the epoch-shaping and region-defining greatness the faction of the Yoruba elite read into his election.
    Now, eight years after that thunderous misjudgement, another misdirected faction of the Southwest political elite and their northern and national allies led by President Muhammadu Buhari himself are making very ambitious, if not completely misleading, extrapolations from the just concluded 2016 Ondo governorship election. Quite apart from the fact that the same Mr Akeredolu, who was rejected in 2012 on the pretext of being Asiwaju Tinubu’s lackey, has now being canonised as the freedom fighter and rebel anchor of a new Southwest political movement, even the simple statistics that should guide an understanding of the election has been mischievously ignored or downplayed. To the pugnacious faction from the Southwest and their Abuja allies, it appeared sufficient that Asiwaju Tinubu had again been rejected.
    The statistics of the election, however, lends itself to a different reading and interpretation. Voter turnout was again a dismal 34.6 percent, even though the number of registered voters remains roughly the same. In 2012, the register contained 1.63m names; in 2016, it is 1.69m. Out of the 2016 registered voters, Mr Akeredolu and his APC received about 14.5 percent support, and 41.9 percent of the 584,997 people that actually voted. His main opponents, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Eyitayo Jegede and the Alliance for Democracy candidate Olusola Oke, received a combined 16.4 percent support from the registered voters and 47.4 percent of those who actually voted. Extrapolating from the figures for voter turnout and total registered voters, Mr Akeredolu’s performance and even acceptance in Ondo are not as inspiring and seismic as the Southwest faction and its Abuja allies think.
    What matters to the Southwest/Abuja alliance is that Mr Akeredolu has won, from which they are determined to make their extrapolations and project into 2019, if not 2023. With Ondo safe in the APC column, the alliance, believed to be led in part by Asiwaju Tinubu’s former protégés — Babatunde Fashola, Kayode Fayemi and the fiercely independent Ibikunle Amosun — assumes that a leadership change in the Southwest could be in the offing. This column reflected this obtuse line of thinking when President Muhammadu Buhari began assembling his cabinet. Should the president plan to run for re-election in 2019, the alliance believes that perhaps only Lagos, not even Osun, would hold out. The peculiar politics of Edo State, which had just been won by the APC under the president’s leadership, and which under ex-governor Adams Oshiomohle had lusted after the Abuja alliance more than it looked westward, indicates that the entire former Western Region column would be hard put to repel the president’s blitzkrieg.
    Though the Southwest face of the alliance continues to morph considerably, at least today, the faction’s leaders are fairly well known. Their differences with Asiwaju Tinubu may, however, not lend themselves to easy analysis. For Mr Amosun, for instance, his preference for Abuja may not be unconnected with his long-standing relationship with President Buhari, begun around the time when both were top leaders of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), and his idiosyncratically fierce desire to answer to no one. Whatever relationship he had with Asiwaju Tinubu was simply electoral expediency. Mr Fashola has been scarred by the difficult and frosty co-existence he had with Asiwaju Tinubu between 2007 and 2015, a frostiness that showed itself very early in his first term and ended in 2015 on a bitter and implacable note. Dr Fayemi’s animus is even foggier, considering the distance between Ekiti and Lagos and the fewer interactions he had with Asiwaju Tinubu, and also the dynamics of his re-election fiasco. But as it is, the former Ekiti governor has been even more brazen in aligning with sides and forces opposed to the former Lagos governor.
    What is more crucial to understanding the Ondo poll and its future portents is not why a faction of the Southwest political elite opposes Asiwaju Tinubu so vehemently, but the indisputable fact that the region is factionalised in an eerie replay of the politics that undid the Western Region in the First Republic, defanged its political leaders, tore to tatters the reputation of top Yoruba politicians and professionals, and ultimately doomed the country to war. If it had occurred to the three identifiable leaders of the Southwest faction of the Abuja alliance that they were playing a familiar but somewhat complex role in the unfolding political dynamics of the region, they have not shown it at all. It seemed to them that supporting Mr Akeredolu in the November 26 poll was the perfectly simple and sensible thing to do. The governor-elect is of the APC after all, and APC appears in all ramifications to be progressive. More, even Asiwaju Tinubu himself supported the Ondo politician in 2012, and the lawyer-politician appears more illustrious than ex-aspirant Olusegun Abraham, the former Lagos governor’s preference.
    With the exception of Afenifere chieftains Ayo Adebanjo and the late Olaniwun Ajayi, not many Southwest politicians, and certainly not the aforementioned Southwest faction of the Abuja alliance, have attempted to get a deep understanding of the forces the Ondo election result is unleashing. President Buhari, ceteris paribus, will run in 2019. The president and his private think tank, which incidentally does not include any of the Southwest faces of the alliance, need the Southwest to strengthen his electoral hand. But they need the region on their own terms, not the galling terms they believed they succumbed to in 2014-2015 when Asiwaju Tinubu called the shots. The president and his men are not accustomed to playing second fiddle, so they needed to rejig the party and play the game from a position of strength and power. Contradistinctively, except the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo, and Asiwaju Tinubu whose mercurial politics has made them unaccustomed to grovelling or surrendering to any ethnically-inspired talk of exceptionalism, most Southwest politicians, including Messrs Amosun, Fashola and Fayemi, seem completely inured to some of the underlying nuances of politics which the northern elite instinctively grasped back in the First Republic.
    Asiwaju Tinubu is not without his faults, what with the imposition of candidates he appeared to have masterminded when he called the shots in the Action Congress (AC) and later the ACN. Then consider also his forceful and sometimes impatient ways and politics that grated on the nerves of many of his protégés. But he has remained more ideological than any of his peers. He has enunciated a great vision for Nigeria surpassing those of many developed democracies, but he has voiced his frustrations with the fecklessness of many elected leaders incompetently thrown up by the political process. In fact, it is precisely his attempt to reduce the margin of error in leadership recruitment that has brought him into conflict with many of his protégés and others far afield. Yet, it is significant to know that his opponents, whether in the Southwest or Abuja, have not disagreed with him on ideological grounds. The disagreements have been limited essentially to struggles over positions and influence. Indeed, the vacuity of the ruling party today, the brittleness of its inner core, and the errancy indicated by its half-digested political and economic paradigms are a result of sidelining the one person that seems to have an obsession with and passion for the great possibilities available to the country.
    Both President Buhari and Asiwaju Tinubu have been decorous in managing their disagreements over the way the APC and the country are being run. That decorum showed in their responses to the Ondo poll wherein the latter congratulated the victor, Mr Akeredolu, and the former reiterated his conviction that Asiwaju Tinubu played the right, sensible politics in the election. No one believed them, not even this column. One byproduct of the 2012 Ondo election was that the true character and capacity of Mr Akeredolu came into the open rather quickly. That character and capacity were not inspiring, a factor that made this column to endorse Mr Oke whose chances of winning were slim without the unalloyed support of other disenchanted APC aspirants. Mr Akeredolu is neither a visionary nor an administrator, nor one with the depth and capaciousness of understanding and administration to pull Ondo into the ‘first’ Nigerian world as was done with Lagos. He is not alone in this. The Southwest has witnessed a steep and terrible decline in leadership and other economic and social indicators that should worry the region’s indigenes.
    Apart from the underdevelopment of the region, it is not surprising that the governors and other political leaders appear unresponsive to the complex politicking shaping out in the country. A reflection of this decline is that some former and serving governors of the region are now labelled Buhari Boys. In the past, Southwest politicians would embrace labelling only if it was based on the tested and ennobling philosophy or ideology of a leader. President Buhari has neither demonstrated unusual administrative acumen nor projected any endearing philosophy or ideology with any constancy, coherence or passion. Whether the Oyo State governor, Abiola Ajimobi, recognised this fact and spurned the label and sat gingerly on the fence is not clear. But he is not pejoratively described as one of the Buhari Boys. The Osun governor, Rauf Aregbesola, will be relieved to know he is also excluded from the label, but he has opened himself unwisely to allegations of playing religious and vacillating politics. In addition, his covert support for Mr Oke during the APC primary managed to hand the controversial victory to Mr Akeredolu. More, the close relationship between him and the wavering and slightly iconoclastic and acerbic APC National Legal Adviser, Muiz Banire, a former Tinubu protégé and now opponent, has made it difficult to place the Osun governor and his politics.
    The Southwest is, in short, no longer a bastion of ideological and exemplary politics, a fact that is worsened by the region’s ossifying and destructive fractiousness. The Ondo poll, though terribly misread, is, therefore, signposting a very uncertain time for the Southwest. The region was never a united political entity, and perhaps does not even need to be, despite possessing a rich ethnographic stimulus. But it should be worried that it seems dangerously poised to re-enact the sanguinary and destabilising politics of the First Republic going by the alliances shaping up on the two main sides of the political divide. In the First Republic, the region played regicidal politics and opened itself up for humiliation and exploitation. Under the Buhari presidency, the same politics is being replayed. Chiefs Adebanjo and Ajayi saw these portents and were desperate to avert it. But few are converted to their sagely point of view.
    What is even much more niggling is the politics and fate of Asiwaju Tinubu himself. Despite denials and pretences, the fact is that President Buhari and his brain trust have exploited the naivety and grudges of leading Southwest politicians to checkmate and sideline the former Lagos governor and senator. The problem is less that he is sidelined than what the consequences of that sidelining portend for the region. The Southwest politicians now aligning with President Buhari without the binding principles of ideology and philosophy, perhaps in anticipation of the post-Buhari era, will of course come to grief if the history of the Southwest is anything to go by. The region will also continue its precipitous decline in nearly all socio-economic indicators, managing in the process to produce grovelling fifth-rate governors and legislators. For Asiwaju Tinubu, his confidence in his politics of openness, which had seen him embrace, align with and nurture politicians from everywhere irrespective of their ethnicity and religion, may have been badly shaken.
    Against all odds, he fought to build a political party that embraced everyone without discrimination, while also deliberately seeking out promising talents. The handshake he extended across the Niger against the protests and warnings of his region has been undermined by both the northerners he thought possessed a similar pan-Nigerian ideal with him and south-westerners he thought he had mentored into public renown. His consolation should be that though the handshake has failed, and is unlikely to be rediscovered in the foreseeable future, he has, like Chief Awolowo, kept his wits and refused to subordinate his broader and tested ideals, both philosophical and ideological, to the political parochialism of those who intrigue for dominance rather than development and unity. In the long run, such confidence and pertinacity always pays. The only pity is that it is unlikely any south-westerner will again be eager to endorse or embrace the kind of pan-Nigerian ideal necessary to build a great and egalitarian Nigeria. President Buhari is content to preside over a country skewed and stewed in narrow flavours. He cannot have his cake and eat it too, having so egregiously defined and circumscribed his presidency in such a manner that many Nigerians from the South and even the Middle Belt suspect a supremacist agenda wafting in the air.

  • Ondo poll: Observer commends exercise

    Ondo poll: Observer commends exercise

    One of the observers monitoring the Ondo governirship election, Mr Nelson Ekujumi of the Transition Monitoring Group has given kudos for the organisation of the election so far.

    He said: “So far, I have visited close to 50 polling units and my observations are that: INEC personnel arrived at their polling units on time; by 7.12am most of them were already at their polling units.

    “I started from somewbere around Fiwasaiye Girls Secondary School and I have gone as far as Owo Road. I noticed that in many places voters were at the polling units beflre the arrival of INEC officials.

    “There is a good presence of security men at polling stations; we have an average of 4 to 5 personnel at each polling unit. Happily enough, I have not seen any military presence anywhere.

    “I have observed that voting and accreditation started simultaneuosly at 8.00am at most polling units and so far everything is going on smoothly.”

    Ekujumi said the turnout is okay, but can be better. He added: “I expect more people will come as time goes on.”

    He said so far, he has not witnessed any incident of Card Reader failure.

    [news_box style=”2″ display=”category” category=”3″ count=”3″ show_more=”on”]

  • Police, INEC: We are ready for Ondo poll

    Police, INEC: We are ready for Ondo poll

    The police and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday declared their readiness to conduct a hitch-free election on Saturday.

    Former INEC Acting Chairman, Amina Bala Zakari , said effort would be made to avoid an inconclusive election.

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Segun Agbaje, said all electoral materials had been distributed.

    He said the commission was more determined to prosecute anyone who violated the Electoral Act.

    Zakari and Agbaje spoke when they briefed international observers, including representatives of the United Kingdom, German and the Netherlands embassies at the INEC headquarters in Akure.

    Residents were seen in last minute shopping as they prepare for Saturday’s polls. The markets and banks were busy.

    Agbaje dispelled rumours that the election had been postponed till December 19. He said the poll would hold on Saturday as scheduled.

    He said sensitive materials were distributed on Thursday and Friday to the local government areas, from where they will be taken to the polling units on Saturday.

    Agbaje said smart card readers had been configured to ensure that voting does not go beyond the stipulated time.

    He said when fully charged, the machines could work for 10 hours.

    The REC said effort was being made to ensure there were little or no hitches.

    Agbaje said accreditation and voting would be done simultaneously which he believes would “help capture more voters.”

    The Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Joshak Habila,  said anyone found inducing voters with money would be arrested no matter how highly placed.
    The DIG, who is the ground commander-in-charge of Ondo governorship election, said every arrangement had been made to ensure there were no security breaches.
    Habila is being assisted by two Assistant Inspectors-General of Police, Paul Okafor of Zone 11 and E. S. Saha of the Air Wing.
    Each senatorial zone is headed by a commissioner of police.
    The DIG said over 26,000 policemen had been deployed to ensure a smooth election.

  • Ondo: Ibrahim urges calm over court’s verdict on PDP ticket

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant in Ondo State, Jimoh Ibrahim, on Thursday urged his supporters to be calm over Wednesday’s appeal court judgement which declared Eyitayo Jegede the authentic candidate of the party in Saturday governorship election in the state.

    In a statement he issued in Okitipupa, Ibrahim urged his supporters not to join issues with anyone on the matter.

    The governorship aspirant expressed confidence that he would get justice at the Supreme Court.

    “We have nothing to lose as the Supreme Court will sit on the case on Friday. We shall get justice and if PDP wins Saturday’s election, we shall have our four years mandate to rule Ondo State,” the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted the businessman as saying in the statement.

    “Let me advise you not to abuse anyone or fight over this one day ruling, which was paid for from the state treasury.

    “Mimiko will not succeed himself with Jegede. This is too sure, let’s continue with our work and remain in our great party, the PDP.”

  • Ondo election holds Saturday – INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday said the Ondo State governorship election slated for Saturday will hold as scheduled.

    The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, stated this at the stakeholders’ meeting on the election, held at Akure, the state capital.

    The event was attended by the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, political parties’ candidates and traditional and religious leaders.

    Yakubu said the yet to be resolved political parties’ crisis does not warrant postponement of the election.

    He said, “I wish to assure you of INEC’s preparedness and neutrality. We are not unaware of the partisan insinuation of bias in the nomination of candidates by one of the political parties.

    “We are equally aware that party primaries for the selection of flagbearers by some of our political parties tend to be rancorous.

    “For this reason, while each activity under our election time table is tied to a specific day, the conduct of party primaries, including the resolution of disputes arising from the nomination of candidates, was allocated a whole month from August 18 to September 19, 2016.

    “However, where an intra-party dispute becomes the subject of litigation resulting in specific orders of court, INEC shall obey such orders until they are set aside by a superior court. We remain guided by this principle.

    “Our responsibility is to ensure that, as a legal process, elections are conducted strictly in conformity with the provisions of the law.

    “We have taken every step within the powers of the commission to ensure that the election this weekend is held as scheduled and that it is free, fair and credible.”

     

     

  • Ondo: Supreme Court okays hearing of Jegede’s appeal

    Ondo: Supreme Court okays hearing of Jegede’s appeal

    The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Court of Appeal to continue hearing on the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ondo State, Eyitayo Jegede, challenging the decision of a federal high court to substitute him with the billionaire businessman, Jimoh Ibrahim, as the party candidate for the November 26 governorship election in the state.

    A five-man panel led by the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, ordered the court of appeal to continue hearing on the matter.

    The court had last week adjourned indefinitely, hearing on the matter, following an application for stay of proceedings filed at the apex court.

     

     

  • Ondo Poll: Oke, Akeredolu bicker over alleged N7bn campaign fund

    Ondo Poll: Oke, Akeredolu bicker over alleged N7bn campaign fund

    The race for the Ondo State governorship seat became fiercer yesterday with the campaign teams of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) candidate, Chief Olusola Oke and that of  the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Chief Rotimi Akeredolu bickering over an alleged N7 billion  campaign fund.

     The Olusola Oke Campaign Committee(OOCC) had cried out to the Presidency over an  alleged plan by some government officials to ‘surreptitiously’ release the sum of N7b to the  APC governorship candidate, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu from  the N10b  infrastructural contract slated for Owo community of the state to perfect plans to rig the November 26, 2016 poll in the state.

    The organisation while raising the alarm yesterday in Akure, alleged that the plan was hatched in a federal ministry, Abuja, wherein a bogus contract without due process was mooted for works on some infrastructure in Owo area of the state where Akeredolu hails from and then divert a substantial part of the money towards rigging the election.

    The OOCC in a  statement  issued by the Chairman of the Publicity Committee, Kolawole Olabisi said: “The boast of the APC which had been sedentary in its approach to canvassing for votes in the state is that they would rig this election even if only one vote is cast for them.They have been preaching it and now they have professed  it with this dastard plan perfected and supervised by the top echelons of the government to use government funds to make good their threat.”

    According to the OOCC, the contract  sum was perfected and released without going through due process and the money has now been earmarked as part of the war chest to be used by the APC to rig the election later this month.

    “We want to appeal to President Buhari to be aware of what is being done by  some members of his cabinet in their vaunted ambition to win this election at all costs  and immediately arrest the situation. While we have been going round the state canvassing for votes from the people, they have remained in their offices boasting that they will use federal might to rig the election even if nobody votes for them.

    “The APC members in Ondo have been preaching this strange gospel of rigging and we are now amazed by this latest antics to win the election with the award of a strange contract for a whopping N10 billion for Owo community where Akeredolu hails from with a view to releasing a whopping sum of N7 billion to him to make the rigging plan a reality.

    “The pertinent question to ask now is, why a contract in Owo, which has one of the best road networks in Ondo State? Who approved this contract sum and why did it not go through due process that such contracts have to go through?

    “We want to assure them that the people of Ondo State are watching them and the consequences of rigging election here await perpetrators. Winning election  should not be a do-or-die affair,” the OOCC said.

    The Oluwarotimi Akeredolu Governorship Campaign Organization has however described the allegations as a cheap blackmail and baseless.

     The campaign team said Chief Oke has accepted defeat before the election because he knew that the AD could not  fly in the coming election.

     It added that Oke was only looking for ways to discredit the process before the election is conducted just the way he did after the APC governorship primary.

     A statement issued by Chairman of the Campaign Research and Communication Committee, Mr. Soji Alakuro said no amount of blackmail would  stop the party from winning.

     The statement reads:  ”It will be recalled that Oke and one of his main supporters were behind the crisis in APC before it was resolved.They intentionally painted the process of the September 3, APC primary as being fraudulent by asking journalists to interview Oke’s cook and one of his brother from Ilaje who pretended to be delegates. In the said interviews, they lied that they voted during the party primary and also claimed that Akeredolu gave them money to vote during the primary.

     “They were declared wanted by security operatives after Akeredolu officially made  complaints about  the allegation and later on,  it was revealed  to the whole world that they lied against our candidate. Oke is afraid because he believes that his political trick of  running to AD to contest cannot change the mind of the electorate, who have made up their minds to vote for the APC.

     It added: “We also challenge Oke to explain the source of his funds because we are aware of those governors oiling his campaign through their states resources. It is unfortunate that Oke, who raised the allegation that N7billion project had been diverted to the campaign of Akeredolu, failed to mention where the project will be cited in Owo and the kind of project that will be executed in that ancient community.

    “Oke should be informed that the people of the state are aware of his roles during the primary election and will never believe the lies being spread by a man, who is desperate to rule the state.”

     However, our party is not planning to rig the coming election as you all know that our candidate and party have absolute respect for the rule of law.