Ondo 2016: Battle between APC, PDP


Political activities seem to have received life in Ondo state as the state ahead of the next Governorship election scheduled to hold in October, 2016. The two major political parties in the state ,Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC)have commenced subtle campaigns  ahead of the election. The  two  are boasting to  win  election . PDP is currently holding sway in the state.
Notwithstanding the increased activities  by PDP and APC, the other political parties cannot be underestimated in the race. These parties may have smaller structures but they are not pretending that they are ready to test their luck during the election. Some of them include   the Labour Party and Accord Party.
As a sign that the parties are not sleeping over the poll aspirants in the PDP and APC   have flooded major streets in Akure, the state capital and other major towns and cities in the state. Doing everything to outwit the other   APC and PDP seem to have commenced electioneering  with erection of billboards and pasting of posters across the state.
With almost a year to the Governorship election in the state, political gladiators have started strategizing for the Governorship race, even as momentum is being gathered daily ahead of the election.
Gladiators in the Governorship race in the state have been planning on how to succeed the incumbent Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko who will be completing his second term next year.
From every indication, the 2016 Governorship election in the state is a battle between the PDP and the APC. While the APC currently controls the government at the centre, the PDP is in control of the state with Governor Mimiko who is currently the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ forum as the leader of the party in the state.
The PDP relies on Mimiko, considering his acceptance by the people of the state including civil servants and artisans, while the APC is basking on federal might, being the party at the central. As the situation is in the state, many believe that the achievements of
Governor Mimiko in the last seven years has impacted on   all the 18 Local Government Areas of the state. This  may assist the candidate of the party. But   others believe that “federal might” will also play vital role in the election.
Although the governorship election is expected to hold in 2016, and a new government inaugurated in February, 1017 preparations had since begun after the last general election.  Political players across the three senatorial districts of the state are already working round the clock in search of the successor to   Governor Mimiko.
Mimiko seems not worried over who succeeds him but has continued . Instead  he has, as it seems, focused on his  responsibilities and duties as the chief executive officer of the state. This does not vitiate from the fact that he has been campaigning for his party. At a recent function in Owo, headquarters of Owo Local Government Area of the state where the Governor commissioned the Caring Heart School, he  told his audience to support the PDP and ensure that PDP candidate emerge in the next election. This, Mimiko said would enhance the continuation of all his lofty programmes and agenda for the state.
However, the major issue which both the APC and PDP are contending with in the state is the unwritten zoning arrangement which has been the order of the day in the state since the return to democracy in 1999.
If the zoning system  is adhered to, the coast is becoming clearer for Ondo south and Ondo north senatorial districts to produce the next governor.  And it appears both districts seem to have drawn a battle line as far as the race is concerned.
Since the advent of the current political dispensation in the state in 1999, Ondo north has presided over the affairs of the state for four years with the late Chief Adebayo Adefarati (1999-2003), while the pendulum swung to the south senatorial district with late Dr. Olusegun Agagu governing the state between 2003 and 2009, and the incumbent Governor, Dr Mimiko who took the baton in 2009 is from the central senatorial district, thereby completing the cycle.
There are conjectures  that the two major political parties in the state may not pick their candidates from the same senatorial district considering areas where their strengths lie. Considering the results of the elections held in the state after the merging of the Labour Party and the PDP, the PDP seems to have dominated the southern district, while the APC strength lies in Ondo North senatorial district.
Even before the structures of the LP and PDP were fused, the south senatorial district was a stronghold of the PDP as it had always win sizeable number of votes from the area. The result of the last gubernatorial election in 2012 attested to this with Chief Olusola Oke, who was the PDP candidate in the election losing the contest to Mimiko with just a little above 100, 000 votes, while the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) came a distant third in the Governorship election. The bulk of ACN’s vote came from the north, while the PDP also had a good show in the south. The results of the just concluded general election also reflected the same pattern.
Against this backdrop, it is clear that the PDP, in order to continue its dominance of the state will look southwards in producing Mimiko’s successor. PDP might want to look inward to where its strength lies while the voting population and the contributions of individual, as well as party loyalty and discipline will come to play as who emerge as the party’s candidate in 2016 . However the APC may pick its candidate from the north to guide against the bitter experience it had following the defeat of its candidate, Chief Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) in the 2012 Governorship election.
It was believed that picking the next governorship candidate from the south senatorial district with the running mate from the central district will be an advantage for PDP as the voting population of these two districts is enough to win the state for the party.
Political pundits however noticed that those who could have made personality difference in PDP in the North senatorial district had allleft for APC. These include the immediate past Deputy Governor of the state, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, former speakers of the state House of Assembly, Hon Victor Olabimtan and Taofeek Abdulsaalam, among others.
Analysts argued that those who remained in the PDP in the northern senatorial district might not have the clout and the political sagacity of the “heavyweights” like Senator Ajayi Boroffice, Olabimtan, Akeredolu among others that the APC parades in the area.
They concluded that it might be political suicidal for the PDP to pick its candidate from the north.
Alternatively, those who are left in APC in the south also lacked the political muscles to match the arrays of political gladiators from the PDP. They noted that the last general election exposed the lapses of Oke, who is now regarded as the leader of the party in the area that people voted for PDP and not Oke’s personality.
Among those speculated to be interested in the race in the PDP from the south senatorial district are former Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Hon Kingsley Kuku , Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim , the Director General, National Aids Corps,  Dr Pius Osunyikanmi, Dr Olu Agunloye and a commissioner in Mimiko’s administration, Chief Sola Ebiseni. However others may indicate their interest in the race in future.
Of the four mentioned above, Kuku and Ebiseni are highly favored while Osunyikanmi, who hailed from Ile-Oluji, Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Local Government Aarea is seen to be more of Ondo origin in terms of culture, language and location.   Jimoh Ibrahim is not seen as a serious contender as far as the next governorship race is concerned in the state as he is neither here nor there and he has been exhibiting the “siddon look” attitude after the fusion of LP and PDP in the state. ALSO, Ibrahim is believed not to be in the good book of Governor Mimiko who is said to be the one to determine who his party, the PDP picks for the election.
Looking at the six sub ethnic divisions in the state which include, the Akoko, the Owo, Akure which encompasses Ifedore and the two Akure local government areas, Ondo speaking of Ondo, Ile Oluji and Idanre, Ilaje speaking nation, the Ikale and the Ijaw speaking, it is only Akure, Ilaje and Ijaw ethnic groups that have not produced a Governor in the state.
The Akoko had it in Adefarati, the Owo had it in Ajasin, the Ondo have it in Mimiko and the Ikale speaking group had it in Agagu. The two other politicians speculated to be interested in the race, Kuku and Ebiseni are regarded as serious contenders, who understand the politics of the state and have great influence with financial resources to tackle the race. They have been relevant in the politics of the state, though they belong to different political groups until last October when the LP and PDP came together in the state. Kuku came to limelight through his involvement in the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) before he was elected as a Member of the Ondo State
House of Assembly where he served as Chairman of the House Committee on Information for four years.  He was appointed Special Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan on the Niger Delta and he was the Chairman Niger Delta Presidential Amnesty Programme.
The rumour making the rounds is that Kuku may be favoured by the political class in the PDP, given that he has offered leadership inspiration in the party in the past and had attracted many followers in the party in the state. He is also said to be enjoying the full support of the political leadership in the state cutting across various political divides.
If that permutation is anything to go by, then there could be hope for the PDP in the future politics of the state.
Ebiseni, a lawyer, a former chairman of the old Ilaje/Ese-Odo LocalGovernment Area and currently the commissioner for Environment in the state is not a stranger in the politics of the state. He is believed to command a positive influence among the people of the southern district too. He knows the intricacies of the local politics being a grassroots mobilizer and he has endeared to himself a mature leadership before becoming commissioner in the state. He is also said to have displayed a high sense of leadership in the management of affairs as Commissioner for Environment and could do better if given the opportunity as a governor.
However, the state Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr Banji Okunomo, said the party had policy and agenda as to where the next candidate of the party would emerge, and assured that the party will ensure a level play ground for all interested aspirants.
Okunomo said “As to which zone to be favored or where the candidate would emerge, it is early to say now. In politics there is no formula that is constant and whatever is going to happen will depend on the prevailing circumstances which must be essentially based on winning chances.”
The PDP Leader however said that the party will not give room for factors that can limit its opportunity to sustain its status as a ruling party in the state, saying the party will continue to dominate politically in the state.
He said “We want to continue to be relevant and continue to rule but we will not give chance to failure. What is sacrosanct is that there will be a level playing ground for all aspirants” Political analysts, watchers and even party followers have continued to argue that Mimiko’s successor can come from any of the three senatorial districts, emphasizing that what really matters is having a political leader, who is ready to make a difference and deliver the dividend of democracy
“What we need now is a grassroots political leader with a compassionate heart to connect with the citizens and the under-privileged; a youthful and vibrant politician, who will reach out to the teeming youngsters seeking hope for tomorrow; and will be experienced enough to wisely dissect the counsel of the elderly in the political class, and popular nationally to attract economic investments to Ondo state,” he added.
And for APC, winning the state may remain a herculean task if the party looks toward the north for its candidate. Although the party is deeply rooted in the north but the voting population will be an hindrance in winning the state. Picking a candidate may further tear the party apart as many strong politicians, who joined the party lately joined the “change” train to actualize their dreams of ruling the state.
The state Chairman of the APC, Hon Isaac Kekemeke declared that the party will conduct a transparent primary election for all its aspirants in the state, adding that the APC has a good chance to win the next Governorship election in the state.
He said the APC was determined to take over the reins of government  from the PDP led government of Dr Mimiko, stressing that “the people of the state are desirous of change and only the APC has the needed change Ondo people want.
Kekemeke who hinted that the APC in the state has set machinery in
motion ahead of the next year’s Governorship poll, said the party has
not anointed any candidate as its flag bearer for the Governorship
election, and did not zone the Governorship position to any zone.
He said the people of the state are tired of the Mimiko’s
administration as according to him Mimiko’s government could no longer
deliver the needed change the people want.
However, whichever senatorial district the pendulum swings, both
parties will want to make a mark, either to prove their weight or to
show that grassroots politicians still hold the ace and national
politics is different from local politics.

Cc: lalasticlala

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PDP is dead

Yes the people of Ondo State are tired of Gov Mimiko because of his deceitful tendencies but the truth is the battle in 2016 is not just between PDP and APC but between Iroko's political future in limelight or political oblivion, I don't see Dr Mimiko escaping jail after his terms as governor ends but we all know that his party man at the government house may bring in a lot of soft land for him and Iroko as a master in political skillmanship suggests that its going to be a do or die battle in 2016, nevertheless with the present disposition of Ondo State citizenry to the governor especially his attitude to workers salary, creation of a medical university in his Ondo hometown when the one created by his predecessor in Okitipupa is dying gradually under the watchful eyes of the governor and several other misdoings that borders on taking the people for granted, I don't see Iroko being able to install a successor from PDP, good morning!