THE activities for sale and submission of nomination forms in the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of its primaries to pick its candidates for elective offices came to an end during the week at its national secretariat in Abuja.
One state where the battle for the governorship election will be fought and won based on the outcome of the primary and who emerges as the standard bearers of the dominant political parties is Oyo State.
Stakeholders in the opposition parties in the state are watching with keen interest who the incumbent governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi will present as his anointed choice among the multitude of aspirants seeking the APC ticket.
Installing a successor is Ajimobi’s final political battle in the volatile South-West state, in spite of the fact that he is likely to be a candidate for another elective position during the general election, as he smarts to return to the Red Chamber to represent Oyo South senatorial zone.
Sunday Tribune findings revealed that despite the high number of aspirants who dominate the traditional and social media, presenting themselves as aspirants, only eight of them actually picked the nomination forms in Abuja.
The list of real contenders include, a former governor, Otunba Adebayo Alao Akala; Project Director and Director at Integrated Energy Distribution And Marketing Limited, Dr Olusola Ayandele; legal luminary, Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN); Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu and former Commissioner for Health, Dr Owolabi Babalola. Other aspirants are a Senior Partner and Head of the Technology Advisory Services and Markets of KPMG Professional Services in Nigeria, Joseph Tegbe and former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) Adebayo Adelabu and the current Commissioner for Health, Dr Azeez Adeduntan.
Further findings revealed that the list was pruned after last weekend after rigorous meetings at Oyo Government House with the aspirants by Governor Ajimobi.
Will it be a three-horse race?
While Governor Ajimobi sustains his claim of a level-playing field, the party stakeholders and discerning aspirants are not bemused. The race for the ticket is among the former deputy governor of the apex bank, Adelabu; legal luminary, Chief Akintola, (SAN) and a Senior Partner and Head of the Technology Advisory Services and Markets of KPMG Professional Services in Nigeria, Tegbe. Chief Adelabu was earlier touted as the anointed candidate. Despite the governor’s reported volteface, the grandson of the late Ibadan political maverick and chieftain of the defunct National Council of Nigerians and the Cameroons, (NCNC) Adegoke Adelabu continues to galvanise support for his ambition, endearing himself to the APC stakeholders. Some of greatest assets, according to a party source, are his financial war chest and and vast experience in the financial sector.
Adelabu at a formal declaration shortly after his resignation from the CBN told his supporters that he was determined to change the face of Oyo State. He said:”No sacrifice is too much. I am back at home to serve my good people of Oyo State. My vision is termed the next level to build on the successes of the current administration of Governor Ajimobi and to take the state to the next level by giving special attention to technology, Internally Generated Revenue and people’s prosperity to restore the glory of the state as a truly pace-setting state.
“The next level pyramid enunciated earlier will have the following as focus points: security, agriculture, food security, housing, social infrastructure (health), education, transportation and environment.” But Adelabu in some circles is perceived as a late entrant into the fold of the progressives in the zone.
What Akintola lacks in heavy financial war chest, he makes up for it in the goodwill generated over the years in the camp of the progressives in Oyo State and the South- West. Findings revealed that the legal practitioner is a household name in their camp having served as lead counsel in most of the litigation that ensured that what the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria candidates lost through the ballot in the 2007 governorship elections were restored via judicial pronouncements of the Election Petition Tribunals and the Court of Appeal.
He was the lead counsel in the case that restored the mandate of former Edo state governor and incumbent chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole. He was also the counsel in the case instituted by Dr Kayode Fayemi to challenge the victory of PDP candidate in the Ekiti governorship election, Chief Segun Oni and played same historic role in the legal adjudication that upturned the “victory of Olagunsoye Oyinlola and returned Rauf Aregbesola as duly elected governor.”
Akintola was the lead counsel of the incumbent Oyo State governor in the latter suit challenging the victory of Alao Akala in 2007. Further checks revealed that he handled the case filed by former Oyo State governor, Rashidi Ladoja, challenging his impeachment in 2005.
Besides his closeness to the party leaders, Akintola appears to be in the good books of the social gatekeepers in the state. While the three major contenders are from Ibadan which controls about 52 per cent of the voting population, observers say only the legal practitioner appears to enjoy a warm relationship not only with the power elite in the ancient city, the CCII, but beyond.
The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi gave a tacit endorsement to Akintola’s aspiration during the latter courtesy visit last year, as the Imperial majesty noted that the party ticket was Akintola’s biggest hurdle. He said: “If Niyi (Akintola) does not come out, someone else will. When those who are wise and intelligent refuse to contest elections, fools will take over. When the party chooses you, we know the next move.”
Akintola at a recent interactive session with newsmen expressed confidence that he would not only pick the party ticket, but ultimately win the coveted seat, as he noted that having paid his dues he expects to be rewarded
“Over the years, I have worked for this state, I have worked for the party, worked for individuals and Nigeria as a whole and people know this. So, many of them are owing me and this is a payback time.
“Beyond that, when you look at the make-up of the state, you will agree with me that we are one from Ibadan to Oke Ogun and from Oyo to Ogbomoso. If I get the ticket, I am on my way to the government house. I am in the race and I know God will decide because He is the ultimate power giver. With the support of the people, if they find me suitable to lead them, so be it. I am not desperate. It’s not a do- or- diething. I am not a professional politician but a professional in politics. Some are so desperate, but I have not closed my eyes to my profession.”
Akintola’s asset of being a man of consummate conviction could also be his albatross! Those who have the ears of Ajimobi continue to warn him not to trust with power, a man they perceive as too independent minded, who would not be willing to be a surrogate in power. They continue to make a case for Joseph Tribe, whom they believe will be very pliable. But Ajimobi’s dilemma, according to party source, is how to convince APC leaders in the zone, the likes of Senator Bola Tinubu to buy into the Joseph Tegbe project.
There are unconfirmed reports that fifth columnists within the party, who see Akintola as the most formidable candidate, are pushing for the governor’s endorsement of Tegbe.
“The PDP is likely to settle for Seyi Makinde. So, they continue to push for a weaker candidate, knowing that the Ibadan elite are already divided between Makinde and Akintola. It’s difficult to sell Tegbe to critical social gatekeepers in Oyo State,” the source further argued.
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Joseph Tegbe
Tegbe, to many observers, is perhaps the closest to Governor Ajimobi among those jostling for the ticket. A first class Engineering graduate from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), he also trained and became a chartered account. He has consulted for various presidents and many state governors across the country since 1999 when the country returned to civil rule.
Tegbe sits atop the governor’s Economic Team and has offered services to the state on economic policies, a reason many tag him the anointed. “I am close to Governor Ajimobi like every other person. But I will borrow what Governor Ajimobi said and which he has repeated at different times and in different fora that he has not anointed anybody,” he said.
On his vision for the state, he said: “My focus is to make this state an agrarian state. From peasant farming to mechanised farming. We will enumerate landowners, cluster them together under a big holder who will help the farmers with things like clearing the land, supplying seedlings to plan and when it is harvest time, they guarantee the offtake through a commodity exchange.
“The second thing I will focus on is technology because there are a lot of youths in Oyo state. When we bring metropolitan fibre into Oyo state and create technology hubs which will eventually trigger industrialisation.
“We are known in Oyo state for trade and commerce but it must be done in a structured manner and that is my third focus area. In trade and commerce, we will enumerate them and support them in a structured manner and they will do what they are doing in a more structured way and the state will be finally getting out of poverty,” he said.
Alao-Akala
The former governor has prided himself as a politician who empowered a lot of people during his first coming as the state’s chief executive officer. This, according to him, was in addition to spreading projects across the all the zones of the state.
He said he is offering himself to return to the government house based on popular demand by the people of the state who appreciated what he did during his time as governor.
“I came back because people want me to come back. And I came back also because so that our party can win Oyo State in 2019. I don’t want Oyo State to go to any other party and I had said it when I was declaring my ambition that it is because we don’t want to toy with our chances at all,” he said while submitting his form in Abuja.
Shittu
The Minister of Communications has not left anyone in doubt about his desire to succeed Governor Ajimobi, even though he has not been having it smooth with the governor.
However, the Minister appears to be banking on his position and speculated connections in the Presidency to emerge the party’s candidate. He expresses confidence that Ajimobi will present him to the party members as the standard-bearer of the party.
Ayandele
Coming from a private sector background like others, Ayandele, with the sobriquet, Stainless, comes into the race with a message of transformation and advancement of the progress of the state from where Ajimobi will leave it on May 29, 2019.
He is seen as a candidate with no baggage or political encumberance and with vast experience to steer the ship of the state. Although from Ibarapa zone with about three local government councils, Ayandele, like many observers, believes if place of origin were to be a factor, Barrack Obama would not have been president of the United States.
He, like Adelabu, has toured the state, selling themselves to the party officials and members and well as the royal fathers.
The post Oyo 2019: Will it be a three-horse race for APC ticket? appeared first on Tribune.
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