Among others, those who have obtained expression of interest and nomination forms for the governorship election in Ondo State are Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, Hon Gbenga Edema, former member of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) , Hon. Wale Akinterinwa, (former Finance Commissioner) former People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Governorship candidate, Chief Olusola Oke SAN, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, a two-term member of House of Representatives and former Deputy Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon Mayowa Akinfolarin….READ FULL ARTICLE
Others are Engr. Ife Oyedele, former Executive Director, Niger Delta Power Holding, a United Kingdom-based APC chieftain, Dr. Soji Ehinlanwo, South-West National Vice Chairman of APC, Hon. Duerimini Isaacs Kekemeke, a member of House of Representatives, Hon Jimi Odimayo, former President, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Prof. Dayo Faduyile, former member of National Population Commission (NPC), Prince Diran Iyantan, and retired Brigadier Gen Olamide Ohunyeye Among these aspirants are pretenders who are out to negotiate for appointments either at the federal or state levels.
Some are also out to seek relevance ahead of 2027 general elections when they would be negotiating for National Assembly tickets. Some are out to seize the opportunity to raise money to boost their businesses.
There are serious contenders that are out to wrest the ticket of the ruling APC. The Contenders are Lucky Aiyedatiwa Hon Wale Akinterinwa Mayowa Akinfolarin; Hon Olugbenga Edema Senator Jimoh Ibrahim Prince Diran Iyantan Chief Olusola Oke SAN.
Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa
Lucky Aiyedatiwa is a man of circumstance. He succeeded his boss, former Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, who died of prostate cancer on December 27, 2023. In the beginning, Governor Akeredolu brought in Aiyedatiwa to replace Chief Agboola Ajayi as deputy governor, saying at every turn that he is his anointed successor.
But the relationship took a turn for the worse when Aketi took ill and Aiyedatiwa seemed to be in too much of a hurry to succeed him. Today, Aiyedatiwa knows that if his boss, Akeredolu, were to be alive, he would stand no chance in hell to succeed him.
The late Governor Akeredolu was also alleged to be reconsidering his stand on his deputy, reportedly arguing that Aiyedatiwa as the APC candidate would give the opposition an advantage coming from Ilaje, a local government in Ondo South.
Today, the then deputy is the governor. He has dissolved the cabinet and he holds the purse of the state. As the incumbent governor of the state, he has access to the treasury of the state to fund his ambition.
He also has the platform of the Governors’ Forum to use to help him approach the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the national leadership of the party to prevail on them to give him the ticket of the party. But the leadership of the party has many shortcomings of the governor to contend with if the party is not ready to lose the governorship election to the opposition.
Aiyedatiwa had claimed he wrote his O’level certificate examination in a secondary school at Ikosi Ketu in Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos State when the school was just two years old. He has since defended the certificate. Besides, some believe that his election will shortchange the South Senatorial Zone, because he is constitutionally barred from seeking a second term, having served out his predecessor’s second term.
If the party picks him as its candidate for the election, it would amount to working for the opposition which will surely go to court to challenge the authenticity of the governor’s certificate.
Wale Akinterinwa
Mr. Wale Akinterinwa is the immediate past Commissioner for Finance in the state. It is no doubt that Akinterinwa is an ally of the late Governor Akeredolu. He enjoyed the confidence of his boss till the end. No wonder the former governor nominated him for a ministerial appointment in President Tinubu’s cabinet.
Akinterinwa is also known as a true progressive and shares a political pedigree in AC and ACN with President Tinubu. He claims Governor Akeredolu anointed him as his successor before his death.
Coming from Ile-Oluji in Oke-Igbo/ Ile-Oluji LGA of the state, alleged to be a fringe part of Ondo South, may be his Achilles heel in the race. No doubt, this personality is brilliant and has enticing qualities that would attract anyone who wants the state to be placed in a strong pedestal that would make it compete with a comity of states before long.
Mayowa Akinfolarin
A member of the Ninth National Assembly is a popular personality among the federal lawmakers when he was there. It is a known fact that he is supported by members of the ninth Assembly among who is the Chief of Staff to President Tinubu, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and the current Interior Minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo. His acceptability at his home front is in question as he is being accused of neglecting the people after completing his tenure at the assembly.
Olugbenga Edema
Edema had his early stint in politics in 1998 as a member of the Peoples Solidarity Party, one of the many political associations aspiring for registration under the General Ibrahim Babangida transitional programme.
He moved to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), one of the two political parties created by the Babangida administration where he held a number of significant positions including Delegate to its National Convention before the abolition of the two parties by General Sanni Abacha in 1993.
A former chairman of OSOPADEC, and later member of NDDC Board representing Ondo State, Olugbenga Edema was also a former member of the state House of Assembly. His performances at OSOPADEC revealed him as an outstanding administrator and manager of the people’s patrimony.
Edema, a barrister at Law, has been tested by his people and could be given the responsibility of running the affairs of the people of the state. But he would have to work with the leadership of the party at the national level because the President and the national secretariat of the party would be interested in who becomes the standard bearer of the party in the forthcoming election in the state.
Senator Jimoh Ibrahim
Jimoh Ibrahim was the governorship candidate of All Nigeria People Party (ANPP) in 2003. He contested against the late Adebayo Adefarati and Dr. Olusegun Agagu in the election that produced Agagu as the governor.
He has remained in the political firmament of the state playing different roles during the successive governorship elections in the state. Many people are of the thought that he played spoiler’s role in PDP during the governorship election that produced Akeredolu as governor in 2016.
He emerged as senatorial candidate of APC in 2023 general election and defeated the immediate past Deputy Governor of the state, Chief Agboola Ajayi to emerge as the senator for Ondo South senatorial district. Jimoh Ibrahim is a prominent businessman and serving Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He has huge resources to deploy in the contest and he is already taking the state by storm, buying the front pages of prominent newspapers and distributing to the people what he called ‘Kadi Aseyori.’. Ibrahim from Igbotako in Okitipupa has loads of political razzmatazz.
Some fear he may not go far in the race. He is a billionaire and has the fund to play with to get the attention of the leadership of the party at national level. His political antecedent would to a great extent work against him.
He is known for reneging on agreements and betraying the trust of the party’s leadership. His victory in the last senatorial election was due to the influence of Bola Tinubu whose election was held same day as that of the National Assembly. He is not loved by the people because of his arrogance.
Chief Olusola Oke
Former National Legal Adviser of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and a veteran governorship aspirant, Chief Olusola Oke is widely seen today as the most popular among the aspirants.
This is due to a number of reasons. Oke’s name is a household name in Ondo. He is the most astute politically and a unifier of sort. Oke is the most experienced among the aspirants having contested the top seat for three times.
Chief Oke hails from Ilowo, a coastal town in Ilaje LGA and he is said to have established himself in most of the local governments in the state long before now, having structures across all the 18 LGs of the state.
He was also said to enjoy the support of Mrs. Betty Akeredolu, the late Governor Akeredolu’s wife because of his wife, Nkem, who is of Igbo extraction. But this has also remained the albatross of the aspirant due to the unpalatable attitude of Akeredolu’s wife.
However, Oke is from the riverine area of Ondo South Senatorial District, whether he will be acceptable to the powers-that-be in Abuja remains the big question. His major albatross is jumping from one party to another. He was in PDP, later Alliance for Democracy{AD} and back to APC. He is not politically stable as he may dump the party if not given the ticket as he did in 2016 election.
Hon. Jimi Odimayo
Odimayo is a young and vibrant businessman who is flourishing in his career. As a blue blood and Chairman Population Committee of the House of Representatives, Odimayo is highly influential and capable of creating an upset in the race. However, he is a green horn in Ondo State politics.
Prince Diran Iyantan
He came to the political circle when he was appointed as the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs by former Governor Olusegun Mimiko. He has also served as the Commissioner representing Ondo State on the Board of National Population Commission {NPC}.
His greatest strength is his affinity with the pioneer Chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande, a known associate of President Tinubu. His weakness is that he is politically naïve and has not stood for any election before. Iyantan is also not known beyond his Okitipupa Local Government.
Dr Soji Ehinlanwo
An alumnus of Ekiti State University, AdoEkiti (EKSU) and the chairman of its Endowment Fund, Dr. Ehinlanwo was the governorship candidate of the defunct Congress for Political Change (CPC) in 2012. The APC chieftain is the son of a two-term senator for Ondo South senatorial district. The technocrat cum politician has thrown his hat into the governorship ring in the state.
Isaacs Kekemeke
D.I, as fondly called by his admirers, got elected into the House of Assembly in the old Ondo State in 1992 at 29 years old and became the Minority leader in that Assembly. He was a member of the constitution drafting committee of the PDP in 1998 and became the pioneer Secretary of the Ondo State PDP.
He was appointed the pioneer Chairman of National Examination Council (NECO) by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2000. He was appointed the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Ondo State in 2003, Commissioner for works, lands, housing and public infrastructure Ondo State in 2005.
He was the Secretary to the Government of Ondo State in 2007. He was the pioneer Chairman of APC in the State 2014 and currently the National Vice Chairman, Southwest APC.
Engr. Ife Oyedele
Oyedele came into political limelight in the buildup to the 2015 presidential election which Gen Buhari won. As one of the strong members of the CPC, he was made the Executive Director of Niger Delta Power Holding.
He may not be taken seriously by the people as he stepped down for Akeredolu in 2020 governorship race before the party’s primary having negotiated with Akeredolu that he would retain his appointment as the Executive Director in Niger Delta Power Holding.
He is presumed to be playing the field as many observers believe she will back down again from the race if offered a juicy appointment by the leading contender just before the party’s primary.
All the aspirants have less than three weeks to know their fate as the primaries would be conducted to produce a candidate for the ruling party in the state. Whoever emerges will face the PDP counterpart.
