INEC Timetable: Frenzy Activities In Ekiti, Osun

INEC Timetable: Frenzy Activities In Ekiti, Osun

The release of the electoral timetable by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has brought with it a new wave of renewed frenzy of activities in Ekiti and Osun State. OLAOLU OLADIPO in this piece looks at the political parties and their aspirants.
After hours of marathon meetings, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released the timetable for the 2015. This has set in motion, a chain of frenzy political activities.
The commission had in a statement issued by its Secretary, Mrs. Augusta Ogakwu in Abuja late Friday night announced that it has fixed the Presidential and National Assembly polls for February 14, 2015. In the same release, the commission stated that assembly and governorship elections will hold on February 28.
But unlike others, the governorship polls for both Ekiti and Osun states are expected to take place on June 21, 2014 and August 9, 2014 respectively. She stated that the timetable resulted from the outcome of a retreat of the commission held in Kaduna recently.
According to her, the release is in accordance with the powers conferred on the commission by both the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act (2010) as amended. The move has spurred up reactions from the various political quarters in the nation’s spectrum.
With the release of the timetable, a renewed spur has begun in the two affected states where the polls are expected to be held during the year with the two main political parties expressing their readiness to square up in the electoral contest.
Chairman of the Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Adelowo Adebiyi, described the announcement as a welcome development, stressing that the party was confident of victory at the polls.
“I wish that all things like voter register, movement of personnel and logistic would be right because we don’t want a repeat of what happened in Anambra State. We are ready for the polls; we have mobilised and enlightened our people. By the grace of God, we are winning.”
His PDP counterpart, Alhaji Gani Olaoluwa, also expressed the same enthusiasm of readiness for the polls saying; “Now, the days of the Osun APC in government are numbered. We are happy that we can at last begin the countdown to our legitimate return to power.
“The PDP is winning the election resoundingly because the APC has betrayed the expectations of the masses. Go to all the nooks and crannies of Osun State, you will see that the people are earnestly desirous of PDP’s return.”
On his part, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Sunday Akere, said: “Every day for us, is like an election day; this is why we have always been working round the clock daily, breaking new grounds for our people, expanding the frontiers of development and restoring hope.
“We are always prepared, ever ready and the people are happy with our government. One good term, deserves another. We have confidence and trust in God that the people will return Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola for second term.”
The Publicity Director of the APC in the South-West, Chief Ayo Afolabi, said the “overwhelming achievements of Aregbesola will ensure the re-election of the APC in Osun,” adding that “Osun people will show their appreciation for the landmark infrastructural development of Osun through massive votes.”
His former counterpart in the PDP, Taiwo Akeju, said, “The people are yearning for PDP’s return in Osun. Even if the election is tomorrow, we are prepared and ready. There was no crisis in Osun schools when we were in power. Indeed, we established the Osun State University, which has remained an enduring legacy.”
In Ekiti, the same frenzy is also spreading like wildfire with the chief press secretary to the governor, Mr. Yinka Oyebode, saying both the governor and the teeming supporters of the part have been fully mobilized and prepared for the election.
“The election is going to determine whether the state is going to move forward or backward; we know that the people of the state desire forward movement and that they appreciate the immense contributions of the governor to the development of the state.
Like Adelowo, he also expressed the desire that INEC must do everything needed to ensure a free, fair and credible election. Though, nothing has been heard from the camp of the PDP as a party, some of its chieftains have been commenting on the issue.
One of such is a governorship aspirant, Prince Adedayo Adeyeye who like others, predicted the victory for his party in the forthcoming election, saying; “we need to liberate the state from the plundering APC.
“I’m personally very prepared. The party is united and has agreed that whosoever is picked as candidate will be supported by all the other aspirants.”
Behind this initial show of approval for INEC’s move are series of activities within the three major political parties in the state with the array of aspirants jostling for the ticket of their respective political parties.
In both Osun and Ekiti states, the ticket of the ruling APC seems reserved for the incumbent governors, Rauf Aregbesola and Kayode Fayemi respectively but gladiators in both the PDP and the Labour Party are currently in battles of wits to pick the flags of their parties.
In Osun State, the PDP has narrowed down the choice amongst Senator Iyiola Omisore, a former deputy governor of the state and former chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation. He is expected to square up against a former Minister for Youth Development and a former lawmaker at the upper chambers of the National Assembly, Senator Olasunkanmi Akinlabi.
The last of the gladiators jostling for the PDP’s governorship ticket is Honourable Wole Oke, also a former federal lawmaker and erstwhile chairman of the House Committee on Defence in the last session of the House of Representatives.
Though the jostling by the trio was subdued initially, the release of the timetable which seems to have brought forward the period for the conduct of the primaries that would produce the flag-bearers seems to have heightened the tempo a little bit with all the three oiling their machineries ahead of the epic battle.
Already, numerous pseudo groups have been springing up, all drumming support for their preferred candidates ahead of the polls while series of consultations have also been going on with the aim of wining relevant stakeholders to their side in the ensuing battle.
Of the three in PDP, Omisore seems to tower above all with his intimidating credentials in terms of political accomplishments. To his credit is the fact that he holds the best credentials amongst the lot just as watchers of trends in the state credit to him, the fact that he has a firm grasp of the grassroots with his formidable machinery cutting across the 30 local governments making up the state.
This followership had been cultivated over time when in the early 1990s he sought to become the governor of the state under the umbrella of the defunct United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) in the short-lived late General Sani Abacha transition programme. He was almost coasting home to victory until the death of the former leader in July 1998.
Since then, the machinery had remained portent until it dissolved into the Alliance for Democracy (AD), the platform upon which he was elected the deputy to Chief Adebisi Akande in 1998 when the military decided to hand over to democratically elected government led by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
The not too comfy relationship between him and his former boss became bloody consuming the life of a former Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Chief Bola Ige, whose death was linked to him. His subsequent arraignment and acquittal generated heat and might likely be resurrected in the next few months when electioneering peaks.
Though he was discharged and acquitted of the charge, the aftermath of the trial is still being used to skew the odds against him but his immediate handlers believe such will not fly in the upcoming contest.
“It will amount to resurrecting an issue that has been laid to rest, everybody knows that he has acquitted of the charge. It will be silly to hand something that has been proven not to have been linked to him on him. Well! I know the incumbent rudderless government will want to use it but we have our counter strategies.” A source close to the former lawmaker told LEADERSHIP.
For Oke, his solid base within his Ijesaland seems unassailable to other contestants owing to the numerous patronages that he attracted to the area during his eight years sojourn in the lower legislative chambers.
Though many people state that Omisore has enough resources amongst the gladiators to confront the incumbent if the PDP is to snatch the state from the APC but he and the party will need to work on the collateral damage that his alleged involvement in the Bola Ige death has created for him.
Those who should know opined that he did a lot to assist many youths in the area and particularly Osun State in general to secure employment to government agencies at the federal level. He is also credited with the fact that he also helped in no small way to bring developmental amenities to the state.
“This will count for us when we start our campaign,” said one of his aides who also declined to be identified since he is not officially designated to speak for the campaign organization. The source also stated that another unique selling point of the former lawmaker was the fact he is far younger than others contesting.
For Akinlabi, his major trump card is his acceptability to the broad spectrum of the leadership of the party which perceives him as level headed enough to manage the affairs of the state which many consider as somewhat volatile politically.
This virtue though formidable, is just one of such that would guarantee his emergence in the fight ahead. Though the former minister is said to have appreciable structure on ground, his acceptance by top shots of the party is said to be his joker.
For now, Fatai Akinade Akinbade is the main contestant for the slot of the LP in Osun. Akinbade is said to have huge following in the state by virtue of the fact that he is well embedded in the grassroots as a consummate mobiliser of repute. He is a two time commissioner in the state and the immediate past secretary to the state government during the governorship of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
The incumbent governor, Aregbesola has two factors going for him, one being the incumbency factor and that of performance which seems to have endeared him to a broad section of the state. Aregbesola’s drawback might not be unconnected his relationship with the Christian community in the state.
Some of the policies of the state government have been received with mix feelings by that section of the state and how that will affect the outcome of the polls, only time will tell.
In the neighbouring Ekiti state, Governor Fayemi seems to be having a roller coaster run in his quest to win the ticket of the APC, the only major contestant being a member of the House of Representatives from the state, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele who has since found his way to the LP.
Like Aregbesola, Fayemi has the factor of incumbency working for him but observers argue that the exit of Bamidele might rub off negatively on the fortune of the party as the lawmaker may have left the APC with a sizeable chunk of party members to the LP.
Bamidele on his part is banking on the outcome of the schism that arose from his exit from the APC to make an appreciable showing at the polls. His defection to the LP has created another form of crisis with old members accusing him of trying to hijack the structure of the party from them.
In the PDP, there are many gladiators but the party has reduced the number of aspirants to nine from 29. Those to vie for the ticket after the initial screening include a former spokesman for the pan-Yaruba socio-cultural organization, Afenifere Prince Adedayo Adeyeye; a former governor of the state, Mr. Ayo Fayose; a former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Femi Bamisile.
Others include a former federal lawmaker, Senator Ayo Arise, a former diplomat, Ambassador Dare Bejide, two former deputy governor of the state, Chief Abiodun Aluko, Chief Bisi Omoyeni and another former lawmaker, Senator Gbenga Aluko.
Also in the race is the current Minister for Police Affairs, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade (rtd), Mr. Ropo Ogunbolude, Otunba Segun Olanrewaju, Dr. Peter Obafemi, Bimbo Owolabi, Bodunde Adeyanju, Abiodun Olujimi, Senator Bode Olowoporoku, Davies Olaosebikan and Otunba Reuben Famuyibo.
Of the lots, Fayose, Adeyeye, Olubolade are said to be the leading contenders with their own unique and peculiar strength and weaknesses. For Fayose, his foray as the former governor coupled with his machinery is said to be formidable but a cross section of the Ekiti society are somewhat skeptical about his return owing to the controversial way he administered the state.
For Adeyeye, his appeal to the traditional institution and his affinity to the cultural centre in the state remains his unique selling point. He is relying on the structure built by former Governor Segun Oni to win the ticket.
For Olubolade, his connection to the national leadership of the party seems to be his trump card but residents of the state see him as not too grassroots-connected to be able to win appreciable support since he has been outside the state for some long before his being made a minister.
No doubt, the next few months would prove to be interesting in the politics of the two states with the political parties and their array of candidates angling for dominance in the race for the two respective state houses.