Ex-Speaker, Dimeji Bankole Reignites Guber Ambition
race of who succeeds the incumbent governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, is already on, albeit silently. It was gathered that Dimeji Bankole is said to be the favoured candidate of the governor who will end his constitutional terms in 2027.
The game, as hinted, is hot underground, while it has also pitched the elders of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) against one another. Some of them, according to the source, are working for the emergence of Senator Olamilekan Solomon Adeola, otherwise known as Yayi. However, another source revealed that it is too early to conclude on this.
By Providence, Dimeji Bankole, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, once occupied an enviable position in the nation’s political circle. At 37, he emerged as the House of Representatives Speaker, following the removal of the former Speaker, Patricia Etteh, over an alleged financial malfeasance.
However, many years after his unceremonious exit from the National Assembly, he is still in quest of political relevance. First, he made an unsuccessful attempt to return to the House in 2011.
Then, he suffered a defeat when he contested for the number one job in Ogun under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). His ambition was truncated, as the party leaders seemed not to have any confidence in him. The popular choice then was Gboyega Nasir Isiaka.
Typical of an unrepentant optimist, he threw his hat into the ring for the number one job of the state and tried to slug it out with other gladiators in the state in 2019.
It was gathered that when he signified interest in the governorship race, the former Speaker of the Green Chamber became the anvil of criticisms in the political circle, as many in the state understood that he is no longer relevant, politically.
He was said to have spent so much money to realise his ambition. But to his chagrin, he scored less than 10,000 votes in the entire state.
Sadly, his inability to clinch the number one job in the state made him a subject of ridicule in some quarters.
The question on many lips is if he would be luckier this time around.