New Telegraph

Ondo poll: X-raying guber candidates

As the people of Ondo State file out today, to elect the person that will direct the affairs of the state in the next four years, 17 candidates will be on the ballot. ADEWALE MOMOH takes a look at some of the contenders.

With the current political reality in Ondo State, the governorship tussle is no doubt a clear contest among three political parties and their standardbearers. Though there are many other candidates and political parties battling for the hot seat, the frontliners whose fate will today be decided by the electorate are candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Oluwarotimi Akeredolu; standard-bearer of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Eyitayo Jegede and Agboola Ajayi of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

The three political parties out of the 17 participating parties have their structures as well a wide-spread membership across the three senatorial districts of the state. For the APC, the contest is to maintain its dominance in the political architecture of the country as well as its dominance in the South West while the PDP would want to make a statement and use the election to make an inroad into the region ahead of the 2023 general elections, after winning Oyo State in the 2019 election. For the new entrant, the ZLP, which has been regarded as the third-force, the contest is an avenue to spring a surprise.

The three major candidates who represent each of the three senatorial districts have been touring every unit, ward and local government across the state soliciting for support from prospective voters as they reel out their manifesto.

AKEREDOLU (APC)

The APC candidate, Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu (SAN), is the incumbent governor of Ondo State. He was born on July 21, 1956, and will no doubt be the focus of political observers and analysts as he seeks a second term in office. Akeredolu, who hails from Ijebu-Owo, Owo Local Government, in the Northern Senatorial District of the state studied law at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) where he graduated in 1977. He was called to the Nigerian Bar 1978. In 2008, Akeredolu also known as ‘Aketi’ is a former President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA). In 2012, he won the party’s governorship ticket on the platform of the ACN and in 2016 after ACN metamorphosed into APC.

Though he lost to the immediate past governor of the state, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko in 2012, he re-contested the ticket in 2016 and eventually emerged as the party’s standard-bearer with his subsequent victory at the polls.

His emergence led to the crisis that later rocked the Ondo State chapter of the APC where some aspirants in the primary election alleged that the election was fraught with some irregularities, but the national leadership of the party went ahead to fly its flag through Akeredolu who eventually emerged as the governor of the state. Politically, the last three and half years of Akeredolu in the saddle as governor can best be described as a bumpy ride following the cold war between him and political stalwarts of the party which led to the formation of the then Unity Forum.

The Unity Forum, which was led by the former Deputy Governor of the state, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, consisted of some leaders and members of the party who earlier vowed to work against the re-election of the governor. But after Akeredolu secured the party’s ticket, a reconciliation move was initiated which subsequently resolved the lingering crisis of the party.

JEGEDE (PDP)

The PDP candidate, just like the governor, is a lawyer and a SAN. Jegede, who hails from Akure in the Central Senatorial District once served as Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, during the administration of his erstwhile boss, former Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who is now the National Leader of ZLP.

Jegede qualified as a lawyer 36 years ago, having been called to the Bar in 1984 after the one-year mandatory programme at the Nigeria Law School. He bagged his law degree from the University of Lagos in 1983. Jegede was the 2016 PDP governorship candidate; he came second at the polls after losing to Akeredolu.

Shortly after the PDP primary, which was held on July 22, 2020, the party was hit with crisis following accusations that Jegede sidelined some members and leaders of the party over his choice of running mate, particularly the scheming out of the incumbent Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi out of the party, which was said to have forced Ajayi to join Mimiko’s ZLP. Following the development, most of the aspirants who contested alongside Jegede during the primary are no longer with him as some of them are either backing Akeredolu or Ajayi.

AJAYI (ZLP)

The ZLP candidate, Hon. Agboola Ajayi, who hails from Ese-Odo Local Government in the Southern Senatorial District, was born on September 24 1968. Ajayi, who is the incumbent Deputy Governor of Ondo State, had his tertiary education at the Igbinedion University, Okada in Edo State where he bagged Bachelor of Law degree. He was called to Nigerian Bar in 2010 after his grad-uation from the Nigerian Law School, Abuja.

Ajayi became the chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the Old Apoi Ward 1 between 1988 and 1992. He was made the Secretary of PDP Ilaje/Ese-Odo local government between 1998 and 1999. Between 2003 and 2004, he was appointed the caretaker Chairman of Ese-Odo Local Government and was subsequently elected as Chairman of the local government. A position he held between 2004 and 2007.

Ajayi’s political journey took another turn in 2007, when he was elected into the Federal House of Representatives to represent Ilaje/ Ese-Odo federal constituency before he was voted as the Deputy Governor in 2006 alongside his estranged boss, Akeredolu under the APC. The Deputy Governor had on June 21, 2020, quit the APC following months of frosty relationship with his boss, after which he picked the membership card of the PDP.

Shortly after his resignation from APC, the Deputy Governor disclosed that he would not resign from office, stressing that the people who gave him the mandate did not ask him to resign as deputy governor. After defecting to the PDP, Ajayi contested that party’s governorship primaries where he came second after losing to candidate of the party, Eyitayo Jegede. Following the outcome of the party primary, Ajayi again dumped the PDP for ZLP in order to keep his governorship hope alive.

OLAGBEGI (ADP)

Prince Kunle Olateru-Olagbegi is the Action Democratic Party (ADP) candidate in today’s governorship poll. The prince of Owo kingdom where Akeredolu hails from spent the better part of his life in the United States of America where he studied Architecture and later moved to construction before venturing to environmental issues. He returned to Nigeria, ventured into politics and was picked as the Vice Presidential candidate of the party in the 2019 general elections. Prince Olateru-Olagbebi said he planned contesting after the late Olusegun Agagu administration but didn’t expect that Mimiko would become governor midway into Agagu’s administration.

OJON (YPP)

The candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), 38-year-old Dotun Ojon, is the youngest among the 17 candidates. He is from Ojuala in Ese Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State. Ojon, who is a journalist, has worked with different media houses and consulted for many others within and outside Nigeria. According to him, his conviction about the need for a better nation drove him to initiate the Campaign for Patriotism in 2008. He is the brain behind many developmental initiatives like the Leadership for Students Initiative, Campus Leadership Series, Weekend Leadership Series, Police and Youth Connect, among others. Ojon holds certificates in Public Leadership, Digital Leadership, Management and Leadership, mentoring and teaching, among others. He also stressed that he is committed to creating a new direction of leadership for his community because he believes that once the issue of leadership failure is fixed, the mindset of the people will be affected and the community transformed.

THE PEACE ACCORD

Meanwhile, 10 of the 17 governorship candidates participating in the election had earlier on October 6, signed a peace accord, facilitated by the National Peace Committee, with a promise to accept the outcome of the poll. Before then, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) had predicted that the governorship election would be marred with violence majorly in riverine areas of the state.

The chairman of the committee, former Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, who joined the session via Zoom said that the peace accord was intended to enable the electorate to feel secure while exercising their franchise in an atmosphere devoid of chaos and fear. Abubakar appealed to the candidates to use the Edo election as a lesson and urged all stakeholders to commit to the agreement.

He also called on the electorate to cast their votes without fear of intimidation or coercion. He said: Those who signed the peace accord have committed themselves to ensure peace in Ondo State and Nigeria at large before, during, and after the election. The tension and anxiety associated with election necessitated the setup of the National Peace Committee, which is to support peaceful election process and enthrone culture of peace.

“In 2014, the committee conveyed efforts to support peaceful election as well as ensuring a peaceful transition. The intervention of the committee contributed immensely to the success of the 2015 election.

The NPC has since successfully intervened in the general election to ensure a peaceful outcome to the 2019 general election even at the just-concluded Edo governorship election. “We want peace during and after the election. We want to see Nigeria, as a place where people come out peacefully and vote during the election without deprivation and Ondo State deserves this. “As you are aware, the election will not come without a peaceful atmosphere, and most importantly disharmony among political parties hinders developmental efforts.

At the occasion, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, had noted that “without peace, our deployment plans, new innovations in result management, safety of personnel, security of materials and above all, credibility of elections will be undermined.”

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, who was represented by DIG Adeleye Oyabade, explained that peace must be maintained before, during and after the Ondo election. The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, explained that the signing of the accord is a way of reaffirming that they must conduct themselves in a professional and peaceful manner ahead of the Governorship election. Others who were present at the signing are Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Hassan Kukah; former Bishop of Abuja Diocese, John Onaiyekan, and various traditional rulers, among others.

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