Ahead of the April 20 governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress, PETER DADA examines the chances of top contenders before the exercise
Recently, a group of elders in the Ondo State chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress came out to endorse Governor Lucky Aiywdatiwa as their preferred candidate for the forthcoming governorship election in the state. The elders under the auspices of the Ondo State APC Aborigines, who were from the 18 local government areas of the state, had earlier set up a committee within the group to assess all the governorship aspirants and recommended the one who could fly the flag of the party at the governorship poll. After three meetings of the group, they were able to settle down for Aiyedatiwa. According to them, the governor met all the criteria rolled out by the group.
Explaining their decision, the chairman of the elders’ group and former Ambassador to Togo, Sola Iji, said, “We resolved in our first meeting to commit ourselves to a unanimous goal in the forthcoming governorship primary of APC in the state. We consider this as a necessary step towards asserting our true worth in the party.
“Nevertheless, during our second meeting, we unanimously agreed to set up a nine-man committee headed by Mrs Christy Olufowose to identify the various aspirants jostling for the ticket of our party; assess them using some well-thought-out criteria, and present three of them for further consideration by the leadership of the group. In our last meeting, the committee submitted their report wherein Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, Wale Akinterinwa, and Dr Paul Akintelure were recommended.
“Furthermore, the group mandated its leadership to have further consultation and deliberations in arriving at the choice of our preferred aspirant. Consequently, the leadership of the group met, reviewed the report of the committee, and considered the three recommended aspirants qualified and worthy. However, in contriving the choice of our preferred aspirant, the leaders believed that it was normal and conventional to offer the right of first refusal to His Excellency, Lucky Aiyedatiwa as a sitting governor.”
April 20 D-day is getting nearer, it appears the party has made a full preparation for the primary as it has set up a nine-man committee to oversee the exercise. The committee is headed by Emma Eneukwu while 16 aspirants comprising 14 males and two females, have obtained the expression of interest and nomination forms totalling N50m while that of the females costs a sum of N10m.
The APC aspirants are Governor Aiyedatiwa; a former commissioner for Finance, Wale Akinterinwa; a former member of the House of Representatives, Mayowa Akinfolarin; former Special Adviser to Governor Akeredolu on Health, Prof Francis Faduyile; National Vice Chairman of the APC (South-West), Isaacs Kekemeke; and former governorship aspirant of the APC, Chief Olusola Oke, SAN.
Others are the former chairman of the Ondo State Oil-Producing Areas Development Commission, Gbenga Edema; the senator representing Ondo South Senatorial District, Jimoh Ibrahim; a retired army officer, Brig. Gen. Olamide Ohunyeye; a member of the House of Representatives representing Okitipupa/Irele Federal Constituency, Jimi Odimayo; and a former commissioner of the Nigeria Population Commission, Diran Iyantan.
We also have on the list of governorship aspirants the Executive Secretary of the Niger Delta Power Holdings, Ife Oyedele; Mr Soji Ehinlawo; Mrs Funmilayo Waheed-Adekojo; Morayo Lebi, and Mrs Funke Omogoroye.
A look at the 16 governorship aspirants will indicate that those at the frontline are not more than five and one of the five is likely to be the party’s flag bearer while others can be described as pretenders.
Lucky Aiyedatiwa
Aiyedatiwa is the seventh executive governor of the Sunshine State, having taken over the leadership of the state from the late former governor, Rotimi Akeredolu. He was the former deputy governor and acting governor before being sworn in as the governor on December 27, 2023, shortly after the death of Akeredolu. He would certainly complete the second term of his former boss in 2025, but now aspiring to continue the leadership of the state as governor.
So, by virtue of his current position as the governor and leader of the APC in the state, Aiyedatiwa is believed to have an edge over other aspirants in getting the ticket of the ruling party in the forthcoming primary, as he is said to be popular in the party as well as the state. Again, many chieftains of the party have expressed their readiness to work for him. He is closer to the Presidency and has the financial capability to campaign and garner enough delegates and supporters to earn him the desired ticket. He is also said to be loved by many party members for his loyalty to the party, part of the reasons the elders group endorsed him. So, it would not spring any surprise if the APC primary goes in his favour.
However, despite his position, it could be observed that many party faithful, particularly the loyalists of late Akeredolu, disliked him and vowed to be a stumbling block to Aiyedatiwa’s aspiration. Akeredolu’s loyalists across the state believe the incumbent governor betrayed their late leader, and they were ready to avenge by working against him at the primary. Secondly, there has been controversy over his academic certificates which some antagonist party members are hell-bent to use as a weapon against him, although he has come to clear the air on it.
Wale Akinterinwa
He is a renowned financial expert who has managed the finances of the state twice as a two-time commissioner for Finance. He was commissioner for Finance during the Olusegun Mimiko administration and the seven years of Akeredolu’s government. Akinterinwa, who is no doubt, a frontline aspirant, is also described to be a loyal party man and reportedly has the financial muscle to prosecute the campaign ahead of the primary. But the problem with him is his popularity among the party leaders. Many party leaders and elders did not support Akinterinwa on the grounds of alleged arrogance. Though he is believed to be closer to the President, some said his relationship with President Tinubu had since been severed and consequently, he could not get the automatic nod of the President to be the party’s flag bearer.
Olusola Oke, SAN
Having spent most of his life in Ondo State and knowing virtually everything about the state down to the grassroots level, Chief Olusola Oke seems to be most popular politically among the 16 aspirants of the ruling All Progressives Congress both at the national and state levels. Although his popularity has not earned him the Number one position in the state, he has contested twice on the platforms of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Alliance for Democracy in 2012 and 2016 respectively.
The former member of the House of Representatives also seems to have the financial strength to effortlessly prosecute the campaign but the unfortunate thing there is an indication that the legal luminary does not have a strong connection with the national leadership of the APC. A source in the National Working Committee of the party said Oke was not trusted by the party’s national leadership, having left the party in 2016 to contest the governorship election in another party.
“Though Oke is a strong man in Ondo politics, he is not consistent in his loyalty to the APC. He was also a bigwig in the PDP; he defected to our party and out of desperation, he dumped our party again and moved to the AD. After losing the election in AD, he came back again and wanted to be governor. If he loses the ticket this time around, he may defect to another party. So, such a person can’t be trusted and those who decide for the party know him and can’t trust him with power. So, don’t expect the outcome of the primary to favour him,” a source stated.
However Oke, in many fora, has declared his strong commitment to the party and has no intention of leaving the ruling APC again. He also said recently that he would abide by the outcome of the party primary.
Jimoh Ibrahim
It is incontrovertible that the senator representing Ondo South Senatorial District of the state, Dr Jimoh Ibrahim, is a force to reckon with in the ongoing race of who clinches the ticket of the APC in the state. As a billionaire, if it is money that would win the party ticket for him, he has the billions to do the job and almost none of the aspirants can match him money for money in that regard. Since the beginning of the race, many of the aspirants were fearful of him due to his financial muscular capacity. Apart from being a lawyer and a businessman, he is also sound academically with many degrees from some foreign universities in his possession.
However, it could be observed that the senator is not popular among members of the party, as many chieftains believe he is too arrogant to be a servant leader. For this singular reason, it was learnt that the national leadership of the party did not trust him because they saw in him a dictatorial emperor as a governor and the party and that its members might suffer for it. Besides, some party chieftains believe Ibrahim is a bad manager of resources, having ventured into many businesses and failed. All those may work against him at the forthcoming primary. But he is seen as a serious contender as he had moved far in wooing the party members to himself.
Isaacs Kekemeke
Like Aiyedatiwa and Akinterinwa, the National Vice Chairman (South-West) of the APC, Isaacs Kekemeke is being described as a faithful and loyal party man. As a former and pioneer chairman of the APC in Ondo State, Kekemeke was commended for doing a nice job of reshaping the party in the state. Going by his leadership style, everyone believes he will be as good as a governor if given a chance. He is described as one of the grassroots politicians who know and understand the state very well, having been a commissioner and Secretary to the State Government before. Kekemeke, a legal practitioner, is also said to be connected with the power that is in the ruling party. Many believe that his current position as a member of the National Working Committee of the APC gets him closer to the APC’s power brokers.
However, what may militate against the chance of the pioneer chairman of the Board of the National Examination Council is the issue of money. Kekemeke seems not to have the money to throw around to woo party members across the 18 local government areas of the state like many other aspirants.
Mayowa Akinfolarin
As a two-term member of the House of Representatives and former deputy speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mayowa Akinfolarin is a grassroots politician who his people love. The former lawmaker is rated as a serious contender in the race; he is said to be a kitchen cabinet member of President Tinubu who is alleged to be sponsoring him. Under the Presidency’s influence, Akinfolarin is said to be connected to the topmost hierarchy of the ruling party and it would not be a surprise if he is handed the ticket of the party. But the only factor that could constitute a bane to the governorship aspiration is the level of his popularity in the state. Many are of the view that he is popular only in his federal constituency – the Ile-oluji/Oke Igbo Federal Constituency of the state.
Apart from those mentioned above, the other aspirants are mere pretenders as many of them joined the governorship race to have something to negotiate with whoever emerges as the candidate. Some were said to have joined the race to boost their political resume, while some were purportedly contesting the ticket to cash out and make money to their pockets, from the donations from friends and family members who had ignorantly contributed to their unrealistic governorship project. Also, findings show that apart from the fact that some of them are not known to the people of the state, they don’t have a political structure anywhere across the state.
Speaking with our correspondent on condition of anonymity, a member of the State Working Committee of the state APC confirmed that many of the aspirants were contesting for various reasons aside from being the governor. On the other hand, he explained that surprises might occur as any of the less popular aspirants may be picked by the party if the national leadership of the party believes in him or her.
The member, who preferred anonymity, said, “Although everybody has the right to aspire for political position and we are happy that our party is increasing in number daily, how do you describe some persons who are contesting without a strong political structure in the state? How do you describe a person who is relatively unknown to party members to just pay that huge sum of money (N50m) to buy forms to contest for the governorship ticket? Some of them know they can’t get the ticket because they don’t have the political structure, money, and popularity to be the party’s candidate, but they have their various reasons for joining the race. So, let’s see how it will go.
“But the game of politics may be funny at times because experiences have shown that any unpopular aspirant may spring surprises and win the primary and even the governorship election. It has happened before in this country. So, on that note, I would not want to underrate any candidate. That is the beauty of democracy.”
Meanwhile, the state chairman of the APC, Ade Adetimehin, expressed optimism that the forthcoming primary would be rancour-free, fair, and credible, saying the ruling party had made proper arrangements for a successful exercise. He urged all the aspirants to support whoever wins the primary for the party to be victorious in the main election coming up in November.
“With all the arrangements the party has put in place, I am very optimistic that the primary would be free, fair, and credible. My only advice for the aspirants is to support and work for the winner of the primary so that we will all win the general election in November together. We are members of the same family. Many have aspired, but only one person will get the ticket. So, the rest should join hands together with the candidate for us to win the governorship election.” Adetimehin advised.
