ADEBAYO WAHEED writes on the realignment of forces ahead of the gubernatorial and House of Assembly election in Oyo State, as the race to the Agodi Government House goes to the wire
The people of Oyo State received the result of the presidential and National Assembly elections, which gave the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, an edge over the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, albeit with little margin, with mixed feeling.
While some of the people believed that the PDP will defeat the APC in the March 9 governorship and state House of Assembly elections, many others are of the belief that with strong support from the Ogbomoso axis of the state, which is the political stronghold of former Governor Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala, the APC will defeat the PDP with a wide margin.
The belief is that Oyo State, being the political capital of the South West geopolitical zone, the people cannot afford to be in the opposition while the rest of the Yoruba states are in the mainstream.
As a result, these set of people believed with the support from Alao-Akala, who is the governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Party, ADP, in Saturday’s governorship election, there is no doubt that the election of AbdulWaheed Adebayo Adelabu as the governor of the Pacesetter State would bring many advantages to the state.
There is no doubt that as permutations and realignment among political parties in the state gather momentum ahead of the governorship election, it has become very clear that Alao-Akala, holds the ace to determine the next occupier of the Agodi Gate Government House.
Consequently, the former governor may want to see himself as the ‘beautiful bride’ being sought after, in the mould of Senator Iyiola Omisore, a former deputy governor of Osun State, who turned out to be the ace in Osun State during the September, 2018 rerun governorship election in the state.
Like Omisore who, politically, controls the Ife axis of Osun State, Alao-Akala is also believed to be in control of Ogbomoso, which implies that anybody he supports in the election will win the votes of Ogbomoso axis of the state.
In the Osun gubernatorial rerun election, Omisore pitched his tent with the APC and its candidate and thus handed victory to Gboyega Oyetola in the election.
Alao-Akala may want to do same and align with the party that controls the power at the center, because it may likely be more beneficial to him than supporting another candidate who will be in opposition to the Federal Government. Besides, he may see himself as more or less a family member of the APC, having just decamped from the party late last year, in the run up to the primary election.
Recently, during an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, Yoruba Service, Alao-Akala, gave yet another reason why an alliance with the PDP for the purpose of the gubernatorial election may not see the light of the day, as he appeared disgusted when confronted with the speculation that he was planning to work for the PDP governorship candidate, Engr. Seyi Makinde.
He declared in the interview, “I am working for no one! At my age, it will be foolhardy if I don’t know what I’m doing. Who is he (Seyi Makinde)? What is his pedigree in politics? He has never occupied any councillorship position, chairmanship position, senatorial seat or House of Representatives seat. Now, he wants to do what we call ‘hop, step and jump’. They cannot even associate me with (Olufemi) Lanlehin, who has even been a senator. Insinuating that I am supporting Makinde is an insult on me.
“I am not working for Makinde of the PDP or any candidate from any party. I told them already. Those spreading the rumour only want to use our name. If they want to be associated with us, they should join our party, the ADP.
“In Oyo State politics, who is Makinde? In fact, if we are to make a ranking, Makinde cannot even make the top 20. Politics is not all about money.”
But making a veiled response to Alao-Akala’s tirades, Makinde said, “I don’t need Alao-Akala to win. He is inconsequential. I don’t ß him to defeat the APC candidate, Adelabu.”
Makinde at a parley with traders and artisans said he can go it alone, adding that with the support of Alhaji Abubakar Atiku and the PDP family at large, he can move mountains in Oyo State.
A credible source, who pleaded anonymity, suggested to LEADERSHIP that part of the deal that the APC and its candidate, Adebayo Adelabu, may put on the table to win Alao-Akala’s support is the possibility of returning the former governor’s son, Olamiju Alao-Akala, to his seat as Chairman of Ogbomoso North Local Government Area.
Meanwhile, LEADERSHIP gathered that Alao-Akala’s party, the ADP, is fully in talks with other parties like the African Democratic Congress, ADC; Zenith Labour Party, ZLP and even the PDP, with the hope of forming a strong and formidable alliance against the APC on March 9. However, the talks have produced no positive result yet but political watchers in the Pacesetter State are keeping their fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, there are indications that the former governor of Oyo State, Alao-Akala may have jettisoned his ambition and make a return to the APC ahead of next Saturday’s gubernatorial election.
It was scooped that the former governor held a final meeting with his followers in Ibadan last Tuesday evening during which they all agreed to move to the APC with him.
Alao-Akala, who dumped the PDP to make an abode with APC was the gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the 2015 gubernatorial election in Oyo State.
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He was one the four political heavyweights who slugged it out with Governor Abiola Ajimobi in the April 2015 polls. Others were former Governor Rashidi Ladoja of the Accord Party, A; Senator Teslim Folarin who flew the flag of the PDP and Engr. Makinde, who was Social Democratic Party, SDP, standard bearer.
Meanwhile, the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Alao-Akala, are said to have met over a possible partnership ahead of the governorship election in Oyo State on March 9.
Confirming this development, the former governor said, “It is true. Both of us have been meeting and we will continue to meet.”
LEADERSHIP gathered that Tinubu initiated the meeting after the PDP presidential candidate, Abubakar, won the presidential election in the state, just as the PDP candidate for Oyo South senatorial district, Dr Kola Balogun, defeated Governor Ajimobi, who contested the senatorial seat on the platform of the APC.
A source said the thinking in the APC was that Ajimobi’s defeat showed that the people of Oyo State could vote against the APC candidate, Adelabu.
The source, who pleaded anonymity said, “Tinubu and Alao-Akala met on Tuesday. Tinubu asked Alao-Akala, who has many supporters in Ogbomoso, to collapse his structure into that of Adelabu. We know that if Alao-Akala was in our camp, there was no way Atiku would have had such a good outing in Oyo State, especially in Ogbomoso.
“The PDP governorship candidate, Makinde, is popular and he is also an Ibadan guy like Adelabu, which means that they will both split the votes in Ibadan. The APC will need to forge an alliance with elements in Ogbomoso to get an advantage.”
When asked why the APC did not forge an alliance with Alao-Akala before now, the source said they would have done so but Governor Ajimobi told them that there was no need to worry.
He said, “We knew that the people were not too happy with the governor as far back as June 2018 when the PDP candidate, Adebo Ogundoyin, won Ibarapa-East state constituency by-election which was held to fill the vacant position created by the death of former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Michael Adeyemo.
“We knew that Alao-Akala and Ajimobi had met last year before Alao-Akala joined the ADP. He had made some demands, but Ajimobi did not play the politics right. Also, Ajimobi’s decision to convert some chiefs to full monarchs was unpopular among many people.”
The source said that the Jagaban of Borgu was elated to see and meet with Akala, adding “In fact, Jagaban sent his private jet to fly Alao-Akala to Abuja.”
Asked what was discussed, the source said, “Oyo State APC’s poor showing in the presidential election was discussed. Otunba Alao-Akala was mandated to lead a strong campaign to deliver all APC candidates in the gubernatorial and House of Assembly election on March 9.
“Alao-Akala was mandated to sideline the incumbent governor of Oyo State, Ajimobi, if his dwindling image would affect the success of the mandate given to Akala.”
The source also hinted that the funding of the project was taken care of, although he said he didn’t know the exact amount involved, adding that Alao-Akala is expected back in the Bourdillion, Ikoyi home of Tinubu before the elections.
There is no doubt that Alao-Akala is well respected as far as politics of Oyo State is concerned because of his good will, however, there is the need for him to learn from the case of Senator Omisore in Osun.
For over 20 years, Omisore had Ife in his palm and he takes them to any where he wished, but in the February 23 election, they taught him a big lesson by voting for the PDP massively to the extent of winning House of Representatives seats, as well as a senatorial seat.
Analysts are of the opinion too that it is high time the people of Ogbomoso decided where they wanted to go, just like Ife people did upper Saturday. What happened to Omisore in Osun State during the presidential election does not indicate that he is no longer in control of the Ife axis of the state, but was a signal that the people should be carried along in whatever decision their leaders are taking.
Some political observers in the state however believe that Makinde’s case was beyond politics. They believed that it is time to liberate Oyo State and it must be done with collective efforts.
An analyst said, “Enough of negotiations here and there. Since Alao-Akala knew that his chance of winning is slim, I expect him to call a broad meeting of his followers and seek their opinions and follow their wish. Then he would be relevant in politics for life.”
Meanwhile, Governor Ajimobi has called on the people of Oyo State to vote for the APC candidates in the March 9 elections. While congratulating president Buhari on hios re-election for a second term, Ajimobi declared that there was the need for the people of the state to leverage on the APC victory at the centre.
He said, “The interest and development of Oyo State will be guaranteed when we remain with the party at the centre, judging from past experience. I’m therefore appealing to the people of the state to entrust the APC with their mandate to continue the unprecedented legacy projects.
“My appeal to the good people of Oyo State is to please cast their vote for the APC in next Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly elections. This will enable us to leverage on the party’s victory at the centre. Oyo State cannot afford to fall into the hands of the opposition. We have laid a solid foundation for the rapid socio-economic development of our state and we should not wittingly take steps that will halt the momentum.
“We should all be concerned about the leadership position of our state. We should all work towards our state remaining in the mainstream of Nigerian politics.”
