Ondo battle of lawyers: How the candidates stand

The atmosphere in Ondo state is charged as citizens are ready to head to polling units to choose who will preside over their affairs in the next four years. Though campaigns have stopped on radio and television stations, political parties are still reaching out to the electorate as of Friday afternoon.

There are indications that the voting pattern has already been formed, but politicians are using the remaining hours to woo the people. 28 political parties fielded candidates in the poll, but the real battle is between three parties, which all experienced internal squabbles recently.

In the All Progressives Congress (APC), the emergence of Rotimi Akeredolu deepened the division within the ranks of the party leaders. In the Alliance for Democracy, Olusola Oke, who crossed over to the party after losing out in the APC primary, met a stiff resistance.

In the AD constitution, only those who have spent up to six months in the party are eligible to contest, except a candidate who is granted waiver.

In the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the ruling party in Ondo, the factional crisis at the national level, took its toll on the state.

All the major parties were able to find a way around their crisis, and they are now ready to go head to head.

The courts order, which reinstated Eyitayo Jegede as the PDP candidate, changed the political calculation in the dying minute. Prior to the court declarations, the race was between Akeredolu and Oke. Political analysts rated Jimoh Ibrahim as no match for the duo in the race to Government House, Alagbaka.

Whichever way the pendulum swings, one thing is certain, the next governor of Ondo will be a lawyer, as all the three leading candidates are legal practitioners.

EYITAYO JEGEDE

Jegede is from Akure in Ondo central senatorial district. In the history of the state, a native of Akure has not been elected governor, and the people of town, which has a huge voting population, are ready to assist their son make history.

The major strength of Jegede is having the backing of Olusegun Mimiko, the incumbent governor, who broke the jinx of one term limit in Ondo – Mimiko will be rounding off his second term in February. Iroko, as he is popularly called, has his structure in place. Jegede’s publicity materials are all over the state, and the PDP won all the seats in the last local government election.

A politician conversant with developments in Ondo politics told TheCable that Mimiko has mandated all local government councilors to deliver their wards.

Another factor working for Jegede is his choice of deputy. John Mafo, a former commissioner in the state, hails from the same local government with the AD candidate.

The people of Ondo south senatorial district are divided over which of their sons to support.

The main disadvantage working against Jegede is hailing from the same senatorial district with the incumbent governor.

Commenting on this, Saheed Ibrahim, who hails from Ondo central, said: “This is a very sensitive issue. Mimiko has spent eight years in power, people believe that other districts should have their turn, and that is a major factor in this election. But we will definitely fight to retain control of the government.

OLUSOLA OKE

Oke is the only candidate who has been a member of the three leading parties. He contested the last governorship election under the PDP, where he once served as national legal adviser. It is believed that he still has loyalists within the PDP circle. Oke has inherited the dynasty of Olusegun Agagu, the immediate past governor.

He came a distant third in the APC primary, and sought to realise his aspiration in Action Alliance (AA), but some influential politicians in the south-west persuaded him to defect to the AD, a party that is not new in the state. It produced Adebayo Adefarati, the first governor under the current democratic dispensation. Oke is also a grassroots’ man to the core. He is believed to enjoy the support of Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos state.

Tinubu, a master strategist, who was also elected under the platform of AD in 1999, is said to be using Oke’s candidacy to test the chances of the party in the region, ahead of the next election year.

His decision to pick Gani Dauda, as running mate is also a wise move, as Dauda hails from Akeredolu’s senatorial district. The AD also took cognizance of religion by picking a Muslim for the deputy governorship slot. The party is the only strong side with a Christian/ Muslim ticket.

One of his weak points is his inability to match the intelligence of his two rivals, both senior advocates of Nigeria (SANs). At the debate organised by Channels Television, Oke made some obvious grammatical blunders, which is capable of shrinking his support base among the elite class, but it is up to the voters, dominated by lower class of society, to determine his fate.

ROTIMI AKEREDOLU

Akeredolu, a former president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) is a SAN with a sound mind, according to his supporters. He was one of the legal luminaries behind the political Tsunami of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in its heyday. ACN won Osun and Edo states through the courts after losing out in the election.

Aketi, as he is known in political circles, contested the 2012 election under the ACN. Back then, Tinubu played a major role in his campaign, but the crisis, which followed his emergence this time around is yet to die down.

He enjoys the support of prominent personalities in the APC, including President Muhammadu Buhari, who came down to Akure to seek support for him. His party’s governors and ministers have also pumped money into his campaign.

Until 48 hours ago when the courts cleared Jegede, Aketi was enjoying huge support. Unconfirmed reports had it that Mimiko had agreed to transfer his base to the APC candidate.

Pictures of both men with Rochas Okorocha, governor of Imo state and chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum (the umbrella body of APC governors), were circulated on social media, though Mimiko denied entering into any pact with Akeredolu.

The APC candidate will garner majority of the votes in the north senatorial district, where he hails from.

However, the choice of Agboola Ajayi, who is his maternal cousin, as running mate, has also sent wrong signals to the electorate. Another factor likely to work against Aketi in the election is the performance of the APC at the federal level. The party came into office at a time when the expectations of Nigerians were high, but the current economic  situation has made the government of the day lose popularity.

In all, it is left for the over 1.6 million eligible voters to decide how things will go, for those who think any of the candidates (even the unpopular ones) can not pull a surprise, remember what Donald Trump did in the US.