Attention shifts to Osun State in the Southwest today as the electorate in the state goes to the polls to elect a new governor.
It is evident that five candidates from five major political parties are making waves in Osun despite the fact that 48 political parties fielded candidates for the race.
The five candidates include; Alhaji Moshood Adeoti of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Alhaji Fatai Akinbade of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Senator Ademola Adeleke of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Senator Iyiola Omisore of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
The interesting part of the election is that it is the last major off-season elections that would be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Besides elections in over 190 constituencies as a result of deaths or court orders since 2015, INEC had conducted no fewer than six gubernatorial elections in different states and at different times.
But the one holding in Osun today is unique, and will send a big signal to political parties and politicians on what to expect in 2019. Osun, an APC state, is very dear to the ruling government and the Southwest.
The party now controls Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo and recently took over Ekiti which had been under the PDP. In the event it retains Osun, it means the Southwest would become a one party region.
On the other hand, the PDP would want to take over Osun so as to have a semblance of presence in the Southwest and at the same time have something to show at the national level.
The SDP, being championed by Chief Olu Falae and others, would also want to have somewhere to bank on when it comes to national discuss and winning Osun will be a big asset for the party.
The situation is the same for the ADC, the party adopted by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM). Obasanjo had since written off both APC and PDP and had gone ahead to lampoon most of the politicians associated with the two parties.
He wants a new dawn for Nigeria through a new president hopefully from ADC. Osun is therefore very important to him to start the long trek to the villa.
However, despite their differences, and if not for a last minute hitch, at least three of the political parties would have coalesced into one big force on Thursday, thereby tightening the space for a hot contest between them and the ruling APC in Osun State.
Very early on Thursday, the media, both social and conventional, were awash with stories that Iyiola Omisore of SDP, Moshood Adeoti of ADP and Fatai Akinbade of ADC had agreed to work together by fielding one candidate to challenge APC’s Oyetola and PDP’s Senator Adeleke.
It was suggested that Adeoti and Akinbade would support SDP’s Omisore, who, many believe, has a lot of odds working for him.
But towards evening, the purported alliance was denied by all the candidates who said they were all still in the race.
At a briefing in Osogbo, Omisore who spoke on behalf of the three candidates, said Adeoti and Akinbade did not step down for him.
“We only have an alliance for a credible election,” he said, adding that the decision by the three of them to form the “alliance” was because the ruling APC had been “intimidating would-be voters at rallies.”
What many voters in Osun are yet to come to terms with is whether the word “alliance” would actually end at just calling the APC to order or what the electorate heard earlier would play out at the end of the day.
But the APC in Osun through its spokesman, Kunle Oyatomi, said the leading opposition parties were only crying wolf where there was none.
He described the coming together of the three parties as a “house of commotion.”
“We are bigger than all of them put together. We will win the election because we have a lot to show as achievements,” he said.
Analysts believe that assuming the coalition would work, the combined forces of the three candidates would definitely tell on the fortunes of Oyetola of the APC, who is seen as an extension of the political empire of Governor Aregbesola and the PDP’s Senator Adeleke, who faced a lot of distractions in the past few weeks over the authenticity of his secondary school certificate, a development that seemed to take away his attention from the campaign.
Though some of the opposition political parties had accused INEC of giving unfettered advantage to the ruling APC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the electoral empire, said their performances in previous elections across the country since 2015 would vindicate them.
He said it was common for political parties to accuse election officials whenever they lose out in a contest. “The good news is that both the APC and PDP, including some of the parties have won elections in places and whoever wins will describe us as good and if the same person loses out elsewhere, he would accuse us of allowing others to rig,” he said.
Mahmood said the era of rigging was over in Nigeria because of the value addition in the electoral process.
Osun has 30 local government areas, 3,765 polling units and points, 332 wards (registration areas), 1,682,495 registered voters.
Nearly 80 per cent of the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVC) has been collected by voters in Osun and 48 political parties will participate in the election, a development that prompted INEC to print a three-column ballot papers, the first of such initiatives ahead of the 2019 general elections.
As it stands, only one of the five leading candidates will win the election and become the next governor of Osun State to succeed the incumbent, Mr. Aregbesola, whose second term will end in November.
So far, all the five candidates have carried out intensive campaigns to convince the people on the state of their plans. They made promises and gave assurances. The situation is the same with candidates of other parties, though their campaigns were less rigorous.
Adeoti
He is the immediate past Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and is a thorough grassroots politician with a solid structure across the state.
He was a chairman of the Action Congress (AC). Adeoti, a member of the APC until recently, angrily left the party because of the manner the gubernatorial primary was conducted which made it difficult for aspirants to thrive in the race.
Adeoti maintained his firm belief in the fact that it is the turn of Osun West Senatorial District to produce the governor.
With his exit, Adeoti remains the major fear of the APC given the huge number of the people that left the party and moved with him to the ADP. However, unless a miracle occurs, the chances of Adeoti winning the election seem slim.
Akinbade
Akinbade and Adeoti have many things in common as the former is also a very strong politician in the state, particularly at the grassroots.
He was the chairman of the PDP when Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola was elected governor of the state in 2003. Akinbade served as Secretary to the State Government (SSG) for almost eight years in Oyinlola’s administration.
He came third in the primary election of the PDP and left the party after the primary in which Senator Ademola Adeleke was declared winner.
For his ambition to be the next governor of Osun State, Akinbade also ran a meaningful campaign and proved his worth, particularly with the support of the likes of former governor Oyinlola, former president Olusegun Obasanjoand the former governor of Oyo State, Senator Rasheed Ladoja, among others.
Akinbade hails from Ogbaagba in Osun West Senatorial District. Like Adeoti, Akinbade also has a slim chance unless a miracle happens.
Omisore
He was a deputy governor in the state under the administration of Chief Adebisi Akande, on the return of democracy in 1999.
Omisore hails from Ile-Ife and was elected senator twice in which he represented Osun East Senatorial District.
He was a ranking senator with a huge influence in the Presidency during the administration of Goodluck Jonathan. He was the candidate of the PDP in the state in 2014 and came second to Aregbesola in the election.
He left PDP when it became obvious that he would not be given the ticket of the party to contest again. Omisore’s political structure cuts across the state.
The SDP was unknown in the state until he joined the party. In this election, he has a good chance but the tendency that he will win and become the next governor seems low.
It would therefore be a great surprise if he wins.
Oyetola
He hails from Iragbiji in Osun Central Senatorial District. He is a technocrat with quality experience in both private and public administration with over two decades experience in private business and about eight years experience in governance as the Chief of Staff to Governor Aregbesola.
Those that are close to Aregbesola say Oyetola played significant roles in the current administration and that the governor could trust him with sensitive responsibilities. Oyetola is quiet, gentle and calm.
He is loved by many people. He has no known scandal yet. He ran his campaigns with full commitment as his posters and bill boards dominated almost every available public space in the state.
However, the sins of Governor Aregbesola, particularly the issue of modulated salaries, may affect the chances of Oyetola just as the good performance of the governor, especially in the area of physical infrastructure, could work for him.
With the huge amount released by Aregbesola recently for the payment of arrears of workers’ and retirees’ salaries and pensions, and with the stoppage of modulated salaries, Oyetola might gather sufficient votes to win the race.
Adeleke
He is a serving senator and is popular for many reasons. He inherited the political structure of his brother, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, who died last year.
The death of Senator Isiaka, the first civilian governor of Osun State, brought Senator Ademola into politics.
He won the by election into the senate last year in a manner that ridiculed the ruling party APC as he defeated the APC candidate hands down by winning in nine of the 10 local government areas of the Osun West Senatorial District. As a senator, Adeleke became the talk of the town because of his famous dancing habit.
Therefore, when he joined the governorship race on the platform of the PDP, many people didn’t take him very serious. He made it clear to everyone at the PDP secretariat that he was on the race to win and that he had prayed and got the assurance from God that he would be the next governor of Osun State.
In a dramatic and controversial way, he won the PDP primary by slightly defeating the insurance mogul, Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi. The controversy that followed the PDP primary brought out the issue of his certificate which exposed the senator to some embarrassment.
While the political parties have rounded up their campaigns, observers are now keen in seeing how the voting pattern would look like today. This is amidst calls from election observers on the need to check the preponderance of vote buying and inducements. – Daily Trust.
