Ondo guber poll: Akeredolu locks horn with Eyitayo Jegede again.
– Steve Ovirih.
Come 10th October 2020, Governorship election will hold in Ondo State, South West Nigeria. In the build up to the poll, major political parties in the state have conducted their party primaries and flag bearers have emerged. While it is obvious that the titanic battle for Alagbaka, Government House is between two major political parties, as it is usually done in the Nigerian political space, there are other parties that will also run in the election ( pardon my play on words and bluntness!) Give or take, between ten to fifteen political parties will fly their kite and present Governorship candidates from which only one “victor” will evolve. With the benefit of hindsight and without bias to the chances and skill of the other party candidates to throw an unexpected political surprises , a battle royale seems to have been restaged between the All Progressives Congress flag bearer, His. Excellency, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, Ondo State Governor and second term hopeful, and the Peoples Democratic party Governorship candidate, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the
administration of the immediate past Government of Dr. Olusegun Rahman Mimiko.
It will be recalled that in 2016 fate balanced Oluwarotimi Akeredolu against Eyitayo Jegede in a Governorship contest that saw Akeredolu emerged winner with Eyitayo Jegede tagging behind him, having spent more of his campaign time in the law court than on the campaign field. At that time, Barr.Jimoh Ibrahim camp of the Ondo State PDP led by Mr. Biyi Bill Poroye squared up with both the then state Governor, Dr. Mimiko and Eyitayo Jegede and led them on in a litigation that made the duo of the state Governor and the PDP candidate, Jegede had a field day at the Supreme Court while the APC candidate traversed the length and breadth of Ondo State campaigning and soliciting for massive votes.
The party primaries of both APC and PDP which held the same week in July was not only adjudged free and fair but also reckoned to have projected the best candidates of both parties. Needless to say that for both parties, it was a fight to the finish line as aspirants across party lines and of course very handful of them showed very beautiful pre primary campaign outing that made them reach out to Delegates scattered across the 18 local government areas of Ondo State.
For All Progressives Congress, it looked like the incumbent Governor was going to have to work on a tight rope if at all he would win the party’s primaries as contenders in the party were gladiators in their own right. But on the eve of the Primaries, three aspirants, Jimi Odimayo, Segun Abraham and Ife Oyedele made a 360 degrees reverse and resolved to work for Gov. Akeredolu rather than going ahead with their political aspiration to trade tackles with the Governor at the primary. The rest as they say is history as Governor Akeredolu beat his closest rival, Chief Olusola Oke (SAN) who polled 262, while he (Akeredolu) had a convenient lead with 2458 votes. The State Governor had since winning the party’s primary been working towards reconciling the different forces within Ondo State APC .
The Peoples Democratic party’s primaries in Ondo State was more dramatic as five aspirants showed up from the Southern senatorial district, giving the indication that the district was poised to clinch the ticket of the party. Particularly significant was the ‘late hour’ entry of Ondo State Deputy Governor, Hon Agboola Ajayi into the PDP contest. While he was considered an underdog , he pulled a surprise as he beat all the other contestants and was only stopped from carrying the trophy by the total leading votes of Eyitayo Jegede, who polled 888 votes. It goes without saying that a lot of bickering and mudslinging were the attendant features in the build up to the primary, but eventually, Jegede snatched the victory from the Ondo South aspirants who could not present a formidable concessus candidate.
A sense of de javu, one is tempted to say, is in the air as Odunayo Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, APC Governorship candidate will be slugging it out again with Eyitayo Jegede, the PDP flag bearer. While the former is from the northern senatorial district, the latter is from the central senatorial district.
The October 10th poll is set to record another historical milestone as it will reflect the party that will hold sway in Alagbaka for another four years. Who wins the contest and govern Ondo State are facts hemmed in the womb of time.
