Ondo 2020: It’s Time For Ilaje To Produce Next Governor

By Olumide Akinrinlola

From the creation of Ondo state, the emergence of gubernatorial candidates for any governorship elections being produced by various political parties are being considered rotationally within the three senatorial districts of the state.

Though, the gentle man arrangement is not known to any law of the land. But ever since it started in 1999, it has become a tradition adopted by various political parties to produce their gubernatorial candidates without any truncation.

In 1999, late governor Adebayo Adefarati was produced from the northern part of the state as the executive governor of Ondo-state. He was not so lucky when he sought re-election in 2003, he was defeated by late governor Olusegun Agagu from Ondo South.

Agagu too was not lucky when he sought re-election in 2007. Though he was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) but he was removed by the court after spending two years in office.

On that note, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko was declared winner and duly elected governor of the state by the law court. He took over from Agagu as the governor of Ondo-state after he was sworn in 2009 based on the court judgment.

The Ondo born politician, Mimiko, who is from Ondo Central, went on to win re-election in 2012, beating his closest challenger, Olusola Oke of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), thereby, breaking the record to become the first governor of Ondo- State who spent 8 years in office.

However, luck ran against him when he attempted to truncate the aged long political zoning arrangement in 2016 in his plan to produce a successor by imposing Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) from Ondo Central senatorial district as the gubernatorial candidate of PDP against the wishes of party leaders and followers in the other two senatorial districts of the state.

The defilement of this traditional zoning arrangement by Mimiko did not go down well with some notable leaders of the party in Ondo North and Ondo South.

This led to a serious political gang up and conspiracy by party leaders who were sufficiently aggrieved that the other two senatorial districts were shortchanged by the former governor.

Aggrieved leaders like chief Jimoh Ibrahim and many political appointees under Mimiko sabotaged and frustrated Jegede through the court and anti-party activities.

Many PDP leaders, members of the party, and the electorates in Ondo South and North voted against Jegede. They did not vote against him because he wasn’t qualify for the job but he was rejected by the electorates because he was from thesame Ondo Central with the then governor Segun Mimiko, who already spent 8 years as the governor of the state.

That was the major reason Jegede of the PDP lost the election to the present incumbent governor of the state, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) because the people of Ondo South and North cannot wait for another likely 8 years before they could produce the governor despite the obvious that both senatorial districts suffered a major set back of infrastructural developments that took place under Mimiko which was believed to have been over-concentrated in Ondo Central.

With Akeredolu as the incumbent governor now, the seat of power has returned back to Ondo North. It means, Akeredolu will complete the 8 years the late governor Adefarati from Ondo North could not complete.

Meanwhile, the governor is also likely to seek re-election as it stands. But that will be determined by his party, APC.

Having said this, we must not shy away from the fact that the agitations by the people of Ondo South and Central to produce the next governor in 2020 have begun.

The people of Ondo South have started the agitations on social media, saying it is their turn to produce the next governor for the sake of fairness, justice and equity especially to balance the political equation in view of the aged long political arrangement in the state.

But some people from Ondo Central were of the views that Jegede must be allowed to contest again to try his luck for the second time. They argued that Akure city, the state capital, where Jegede hails from, has never produced the governor since the return of democracy.

Though, reactions gathered across the three Senatorial districts from the peoples of the state indicate that the above argument is baseless.

Majority argued that candidates are not being produced anywhere in Nigeria based on the factor mentioned above. They said it’s either the position is zoned to any of the senatorial districts or a primary election is conducted by political parties involved in the race.

The popular opinions were of the view that if sentiments were removed, and the aged long arrangement respected, Ondo South is the right senatorial district to produce the next governor of the state.

To avoid a repeat of failure, I join the well-meaning citizens of Ondo-State to take a position that the next governor of the state must be produced by Ondo South most especially under the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

And the best local government to produce the governor under Ondo South is ILAJE LOCAL GOVERNMENT of the state.

Apart from the fact that Ilaje Local Government contributed 60% of the total revenues of Ondo State government, we must remind ourselves of the fact that the incumbent senator in Ondo South is from Irele Local government. The incoming Senator is from Ileoluji-Okeigbo local government, the current deputy governor is from Ese Odo Local government. Our current federal minister is from Okitipupa Local government, thesame local government with the late former governor Olusegun Agagu, while Odigbo Local government seems not to show interest in the race as at now. And any local government that does not take action cannot see God and the people in action.

So, I stand with ILaje local government in view of Ondo 2020.

Ilaje Local government is a goal oooo..

Olumide Akinrinlola is from Okitipupa Local government of Ondo - State.

Ilage should be ceded to their Edo brothers. They aren't Yoruba

Ilaje are minority in ondo state, it will be very very hard.

Excaperx:
Ilage should be ceded to their Edo brothers. They aren't Yoruba

says who? And what would you say of the akoko-Edo people and the etsako west( a semi ibira region) where oshiomohle hails from? Should they also be ceded to ondo and kogi respectively? Moreover, the ijaws in laje-ese odo area originate from bayelsa and parts of delta and rivers states, not edo. If they deserve to govern, they should give it to them in the spirit of fairness

NFFGG:
Ondo 2020: It’s Time For Ilaje To Produce Next Governor

By Olumide Akinrinlola

From the creation of Ondo state, the emergence of gubernatorial candidates for any governorship elections being produced by various political parties are being considered rotationally within the three senatorial districts of the state.

Though, the gentle man arrangement is not known to any law of the land. But ever since it started in 1999, it has become a tradition adopted by various political parties to produce their gubernatorial candidates without any truncation.

In 1999, late governor Adebayo Adefarati was produced from the northern part of the state as the executive governor of Ondo-state. He was not so lucky when he sought re-election in 2003, he was defeated by late governor Olusegun Agagu from Ondo South.

Agagu too was not lucky when he sought re-election in 2007. Though he was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) but he was removed by the court after spending two years in office.

On that note, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko was declared winner and duly elected governor of the state by the law court. He took over from Agagu as the governor of Ondo-state after he was sworn in 2009 based on the court judgment.

The Ondo born politician, Mimiko, who is from Ondo Central, went on to win re-election in 2012, beating his closest challenger, Olusola Oke of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), thereby, breaking the record to become the first governor of Ondo- State who spent 8 years in office.

However, luck ran against him when he attempted to truncate the aged long political zoning arrangement in 2016 in his plan to produce a successor by imposing Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) from Ondo Central senatorial district as the gubernatorial candidate of PDP against the wishes of party leaders and followers in the other two senatorial districts of the state.

The defilement of this traditional zoning arrangement by Mimiko did not go down well with some notable leaders of the party in Ondo North and Ondo South.

This led to a serious political gang up and conspiracy by party leaders who were sufficiently aggrieved that the other two senatorial districts were shortchanged by the former governor.

Aggrieved leaders like chief Jimoh Ibrahim and many political appointees under Mimiko sabotaged and frustrated Jegede through the court and anti-party activities.

Many PDP leaders, members of the party, and the electorates in Ondo South and North voted against Jegede. They did not vote against him because he wasn’t qualify for the job but he was rejected by the electorates because he was from thesame Ondo Central with the then governor Segun Mimiko, who already spent 8 years as the governor of the state.

That was the major reason Jegede of the PDP lost the election to the present incumbent governor of the state, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) because the people of Ondo South and North cannot wait for another likely 8 years before they could produce the governor despite the obvious that both senatorial districts suffered a major set back of infrastructural developments that took place under Mimiko which was believed to have been over-concentrated in Ondo Central.

With Akeredolu as the incumbent governor now, the seat of power has returned back to Ondo North. It means, Akeredolu will complete the 8 years the late governor Adefarati from Ondo North could not complete.

Meanwhile, the governor is also likely to seek re-election as it stands. But that will be determined by his party, APC.

Having said this, we must not shy away from the fact that the agitations by the people of Ondo South and Central to produce the next governor in 2020 have begun.

The people of Ondo South have started the agitations on social media, saying it is their turn to produce the next governor for the sake of fairness, justice and equity especially to balance the political equation in view of the aged long political arrangement in the state.

But some people from Ondo Central were of the views that Jegede must be allowed to contest again to try his luck for the second time. They argued that Akure city, the state capital, where Jegede hails from, has never produced the governor since the return of democracy.

Though, reactions gathered across the three Senatorial districts from the peoples of the state indicate that the above argument is baseless.

Majority argued that candidates are not being produced anywhere in Nigeria based on the factor mentioned above. They said it’s either the position is zoned to any of the senatorial districts or a primary election is conducted by political parties involved in the race.

The popular opinions were of the view that if sentiments were removed, and the aged long arrangement respected, Ondo South is the right senatorial district to produce the next governor of the state.

To avoid a repeat of failure, I join the well-meaning citizens of Ondo-State to take a position that the next governor of the state must be produced by Ondo South most especially under the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

And the best local government to produce the governor under Ondo South is ILAJE LOCAL GOVERNMENT of the state.

Apart from the fact that Ilaje Local Government contributed 60% of the total revenues of Ondo State government, we must remind ourselves of the fact that the incumbent senator in Ondo South is from Irele Local government. The incoming Senator is from Ileoluji-Okeigbo local government, the current deputy governor is from Ese Odo Local government. Our current federal minister is from Okitipupa Local government, thesame local government with the late former governor Olusegun Agagu, while Odigbo Local government seems not to show interest in the race as at now. And any local government that does not take action cannot see God and the people in action.

So, I stand with ILaje local government in view of Ondo 2020.

Ilaje Local government is a goal oooo..

Olumide Akinrinlola is from Okitipupa Local government of Ondo - State.

Are the ikale's same with the ilaje's? Kindly educate me.

awelekiti:
says who? And what would you say of the akoko-Edo people and the etsako west( a semi ibira region) where oshiomohle hails from? Should they also be ceded to ondo and kogi respectively? Moreover, the ijaws in laje-ese odo area originate from bayelsa and parts of delta and rivers states, not edo. If they deserve to govern, they should give it to them in the spirit of fairness

what's this one saying seff? Mtchew

Good write top.let Arakunri Akeredolu finish his 8 years tenure then power can shift to ondo south...... Minority not minority no withstanding. Ilaje can if they need it

Ilaje nah minority nah

Tomide007:
Are the ikale's same with the ilaje's? Kindly educate me.

ilaje is a name of a town and it's also a name of local government
Ikale is a name giving to someone from ilaje

amozo:
Good write top.let Arakunri Akeredolu finish his 8 years tenure then power can shift to ondo south...... Minority not minority no withstanding. Ilaje can if they need it

ilaje don produce Governor for Lagos

~Ambode

Sammy07:


ilaje is a name of a town and it's also a name of local government

Ikale is a name giving to someone from ilaje

you don't know what you are saying

So, what happens if crazy Aketi didn't get second term?

The next governor should from Akoko...that's fair enough

The next governor should come from Akoko...that's fair enough

Sammy07:


ilaje is a name of a town and it's also a name of local government

Ikale is a name giving to someone from ilaje

From my understanding Ikale means okitipupa. Ilaje tends to be arugbo-ijaw.

Twy:

From my understanding Ikale means okitipupa. Ilaje tends to be arugbo-ijaw.

Ilaje, Ikale & Ijaw are all distinct tribes in Ondo south senatorial district.

Chikena!