As residents of Oyo State look ahead for the 2023 governorship election, permutations and speculations on which candidate can defeat the incumbent Governor Seyi Makinde have been rife.
But while such postulations are not unexpected in an election season, whether they would manifest is another matter, considering Nigeria’s fickle political space.
After the primaries, six political parties; namely the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressives Congress (APC), Accord Party (AC), Labour Party (LP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and Action Peoples Party (APP) elected candidates who later choose their running mates ahead the much-anticipated election.
The key candidates are Governor Seyi Makinde (PDP); Adebayo Adelabu (Accord Party); Alhaja Modinat Adesope (NNPP); Akinwale Akintayo (Labour Party), and Dr. Yinus Kazeem Abidoye (Action Peoples Party).
All eyes are expected on the incumbent, Makinde of the PDP, who is seeking to get a second term in office. He seeks to follow in the steps of his predecessor, late Sen Abiola Ajimobi, who remains the only governor to have served two terms in the state. But can Makinde achieve this feat, time will tell.
But for watchers he seems to have created his own record. In the history of the South West, no sitting governor had ever transferred power to his deputy when embarking on vacation.
Makinde set a precedence in August 2022 by transferring full power and authority to his deputy, Barrister Bayo Lawal. This is more so that he just oversaw the impeachment of his previous deputy governor, Rauf Olaniyan by the State House of Assembly, following a rift.
Many considered this move daring especially in an election year. Others await to see what impact it would have during the election.
Also, as a close associate of Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, Makinde’s politics seems quite antagonistic towards the national leadership, a bit of which came to the fore during the Osun governorship election.
Many thought that as the PDP leader in the zone, he would be physically present for the campaigns and voting proper. Although he was said to have also contributed logistics in the course of the campaigns, the fact that PDP won the election in Osun without the full weight of his influence is insightful for some pundits.
However, the governor, in his last month’s newsletter, said he had learnt many lessons during his vacation period, adding that some steps would be taken upon his arrival from his vacation which will influence the 2023 general elections especially as the campaign gets underway.
Interestingly, he is a key member of the aggrieved PDP governors who met with their party’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party candidate Peter Obi and allegedly with APC candidate, Bola Tinubu in London.
Nevertheless, he returned last week and the expectations are high. Already he has made some comments on the state of affairs of the party at the national level during his commissioning of projects in Rivers State.
The questions on the lips of some political observers now is what direction, step or decision will Makinde take as he resumes office.
For some pundits however, he is not likely to negotiate his second term ambition to work for the opposition party’s presidential candidate in the election.
But as incumbent, he would be running for a second term on his performance in office as well as his politics. How well he has fared on these fronts will be key.
According to a political analyst, Oladele Ogunsola, Makinde has performed well in office, he has laudable projects to campaign with across the state. He added, “A clear conscience fears no allegations”.
He however said the governor needs to make more appointments especially those that worked assiduously for his victory in 2019 but were yet to be compensated, provided they were still in the PDP, to rejig his team (appointees) flush out those who were not adding values to his administration.
Odunsola stressed the need for the governor to expand his campaign council ahead of the official inauguration of members.
Reacting also, the PDP public relations officer, Dr. Akeem Olatunji declared that the interest of governor Seyi Makinde in the party’s crisis was not personal but for the progress and development of the party, especially at the poll.
He said the crisis became necessary for the party’s success at the 2023 general elections, noting that it was not an APC matter. He said there was no way Wike and Makinde could be working for the interest of the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
According to him, the crisis is targeted at strengthening the party’s chances by blocking all loopholes and other means through which the opposition can defeat the party.
Olatunji, who noted that major political positions were zone to the north, stressed the need to balance the positions with the southern zone with a view to garner support from the electorate in the south.
He argued that this would be beneficial not only to the party’s presidential candidate, Abubakar Atiku but all the contestants on the platform of the party and enhance its chances at the polls.
The task for the APC candidate, Sen Telekom Folarin, is also clear. APC primaries left the party factionalized in the state. APC was the ruling party barely four years ago.
Still, the post primaries crisis was so bad that the APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu, had in June, advised Folarin to bring back aggrieved members of the party if he wants to win the election.
However, only two weeks ago, an APC chieftain in Oyo State, Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN) disclosed that the party would lose the 2023 governorship election in the state, saying there was no end to the crisis rocking party in sight.
Akintola referred to Folarin’s emergence as the gubernatorial candidate of the party in the state at the heart of the crisis.
The APC spokesman, Olawale Sadare is confident that APC will reclaim the state, regardless.
Sadare, who described the report that Tinubu might be working for the second term of Makinde as insinuation, said the party’s presidential candidate was a party man to the core.
He said Tinubu will not work for Makinde unless other parties would be willing to support his presidential ambition.
Sadare added that Tinubu was not only working for the party at the poll but all contestants under the platform of the party.
On their part, the Accord Party, expectedly, believes it has what it takes to win. The national secretary and House of Representative candidate of the party for Ibadan North East/ South East Federal Constituency, Hon. (Mrs) Abiola Adebukola Ajaja said the party’s governorship candidate, Oloye Adebayo Adelabu will not use and dump people working for him to win the election unlike how Makinde reportedly did.
According to Ajaja, Adelabu is a sellable candidate having garnered experience as banker and businessman coupled with his grandfather’s legacy in Ibadan and Oyo State in general.
She said: “The Accord Party is number one on the ballot paper and in Oyo State. We have candidates in all elective positions across the state – 32 House of Assembly, 14 House of Reps, 3 senate and one governorship candidate.
“Adelabu is a sellable candidate and people love him out of pity that he contested in 2019 and what APC did for him. He promises to win the 2023 governorship election because people have a soft spot for him. We wooed him into my party because of his qualities in him and as a sellable candidate. He is a successful banker, businessman and highly intelligent.
“All these coupled with the political legacy of his grandfather, Adegoke Adelabu (Penkelemesi) in Oyo State and in Ibadan in particular, Adebayo Adelabu will surely win. We heard the story of Seyi Makinde using and dumping people who worked for him to win the 2019 governorship election. I promise that Adelabu is a trustworthy person who won’t do that and that was a reason large numbers of his supporters followed him from APC to join Accord Party.
“Accord is a formidable and good political platform capable of winning elections. We have done it in the past in 2011, we won four House of Rep seats and House of Assembly seats. And we were able to touch lives and made impacts with the elective positions,” she declared.
