– Steve Ovirih.
Irele Okitipua Federal constituency was in the news late last week for reason that was as sensational as it was political. Of course Irele / Okitipupa Federal constituency has been in the news in the time past for all manners of reason
For instance, the Federal constituency had been without electricity for years and that was a bit of news, though a very sad one.
It will be recalled that Hon Michael Omogbeyin in conjunction with his brother Legislator from Ilaje / Ese Odo , Hon Victor Akinjo made frantic legislative efforts , calling the Legislative arm of government to the darkness in their constituencies which cut across the Ondo Southern senatorial district.
That was also some cheery news.
However, the narrative last week of Hon Omogbehin’s desertion of his first love political party was tsunamic in effect and reaction.
There had been rumours of such likelihood but the grass roots connect of Omogbehin as a Peoples Democratic Party man had made such likelihood of his defection quite impossible. But as they say in politics , a day is too long.
Thus, it goes into record book that in Okitipupa particularly, which over the years had been a veritable stronghold of PDP, a sitting House of Representative member did a cross over barely a month to the general poll.
Was this a joker the Federal Legislature had kept up his sleeve?
The few times this outfit had had cause to engage him, one had left with one strong impression: Hon Omogbehin is very particular about the development of his constituency.
He among his numerous intervention projects, had facilitated the construction of a modern UBEC Library at Idepe High school, Idepe Okitipupa and furnished the library to taste as the structure had been equipped with modern text books. He had embarked on empowerment programs along the length and breadth of his Federal constituency.
Polite they say is a game of interest, a game that thrives more on a symbiotic relationship between a politician and his party leadership on one hand as well as the electorate on the other hand.
Then there was the party’s primary keenly contested in which the sitting Representative lost gallantly to an Ilu titun rival, Ikengboju Gboluga, yet the former took his loss in good faith and continued to work for the success of the party until , as grapevine had it, some forces within the party in the state who were uncomfortable with Omogbehin’s rising profile began to scheme him out of relevance in a subtle gesture that saw the Federal Lawmaker being denied a juicy state position in the PDP Presidential campaign project.
In his defection notice to his ward secretary, Hon Omogbehin said emphatically that he was resigning his membership of the party because the party no longer serves the collective aspirations of his people. If he was made a Representative by the federal constituency’s electorate and the groundswell opinion of the electorate does not favour his continued stay in a party, he would be fool hardy to kick against his peoples’ political body language; so he moved and he has pitched his tent with the ruling All Progressives Congress , APC.
Talking about timing, it could be said that Michael Omogbehin has reached for the jugular of the PDP as the timing of his defection can strongly weigh in on the contrary for the PDP House of Representative candidate of the constituency in the poll that is barely four weeks from now.
As the Irele /Okitipupa Federal constituency stands now the ticket appears a three horse race among Albert Akintoye of APC, Ikengboju Gboluga of PDP and the youthful Soga Andrew Ogunsakin of ZLP.
Would Representative Omogbehin’s latter day defection from PDP to APC swing votes for Apc or would Gboluga Ikengboju zero in on his charisma and reliance on the long held opinion of old Ikale being a time tested strong old of PDP?
The permutations go on, yet the answer is in the belly of time.
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