ForEkiti,It’saTwo-horseRace!
Although there are a few other candidates from other political parties, who are equally on the ballot for the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti State, the battle is unarguably between Peoples Democratic Party’s Kolapo Olusola and All Progressives Con
On July 14, 2018, the Ekiti electorate will file out to elect a leader that will determine and manage their collective destiny for the next four years. The clash is going to be a game of ego and it will be highly exhilarating and intriguing, because many factors will come to play in shaping the outcome of the election. The incumbent governor, Ayodele Fayose, will be fighting two battles in this election. He will be grappling to make the People Democratic Party (PDP) exert its stranglehold on Ekiti under his continuity agenda. He would also fight to prevent a colossal crash into political oblivion after his eventful reign.
In a brisk manner, which suggests that Fayose was ready for the electoral rumble, he had seen his deputy, Prof Kolapo Olusola, through the throes of primary and his continuity agenda seems to have enjoyed a boost. The governor will also be striving hard to remain relevant after his exit from the exalted governorship seat, since his party is no longer in charge at the centre.
The aggregate of the foregoing makes the impending poll looks titanic and a must-win for Fayose, who had posed as the most vociferous critic of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government.
Again, the APC will also be fighting for reckoning. Former governor and Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, sees the poll as a veritable window to fight for space and relevance at home. By his body language, the minister may also take a pound of flesh, having suffered hypnotising defeat in his political trajectory in Fayose’s hands in 2014.
Most importantly, the outcome of the 2014 elicited dissenting views. Fayose was of the opinion that his electrifying popularity brought him the resounding triumph. On the other hand, Fayemi and his backers alleged that the PDP under President Goodluck Jonathan deployed federal might to rout the former governor in the election.
The APC had been resolute in its accusation that military and police were used to perpetrate electoral fraud. All these are issues that are waiting for resolution and the final verdict is being awaited with the results that will be declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
However, whichever way one perceives the election, it is going to be a two-horse race. It is going to be a straight fight between Fayemi of the APC and Olusola of the PDP. Though other parties are going to parade heavyweights for the polls, structures, people’s perspectives and antecedents of candidates as well as that of parties, are strong denominators in where the pendulum will swing this July.
The Labour Party is fielding a former deputy governor, Dr. Sikiru Lawal; the African Democratic Congress (ADC) may end up fielding former Nigeria’s Ambassador to Canada, Mr. Dare Bejide, while the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP) has Rev. Tunde Afe as its candidate.
These three candidates are grassroots politicians with sound records that can attract electoral fortunes. But the mind-set of Ekiti electorate, which records showed, were only attached to the two dominant parties since the advent of democracy in 1999, may impede them from making remarkable showings in this contest.
The manner in which Fayemi and Olusola emerged gave potent indications that no one can be underrated in politics. Putting it succinctly, the duo didn’t get their tickets on a platter. Fayemi as a serving minister controls APC structures in all the 177 wards being the major financier since 2014. Olusola, on the other hand, enjoys the backing of Fayose, an avowed grassroots politician with staggering retail attraction.
In spite of these factors, the twosome worked very tirelessly before they could get their tickets. While Fayemi found a strong runner up in former governor Segun Oni, ex- Minister of Works, Dayo Adeyeye, was a hard nut to crack for Olusola and his godfather, Fayose. All these attested to the fact that the next election seems unpredictable as of now.
The two sides have something good going for them and they also have their weaknesses. Fayemi, a scholar with overwhelming carriage and charisma, is a former governor, who performed creditably well while in the saddle of governance in Ekiti. During his years in Ekiti, he executed landmark projects that touched the lives of every citizen directly and this might put him in a vantage position.
Without exaggerating his prowess for exemplary leadership, the minister executed at least two projects in each of the 133 towns in the state. That was why it took many by surprise, when he failed in getting the much sought after second term. But he could bank on these projects to ease his re-election this time round.
Fayemi’s operation renovate all schools, where over 800 public schools were face-lifted, the social security scheme, where 25,000 indigent elderly were put in monthly safety net of N5,000 stipend, urban renewal in Ado Ekiti, 12,000 capacity state pavilion, five kilometre roads in all the 16 councils, the new governor’s lodge on Oke Ayoba Hill, the food bank programme, Youth in Agriculture (YCAD), Peace Corps and many others numerous to mention are still fresh in people’s memories and may be of immense help in marketing him for another term.
During Fayemi’s reign in Ekiti, he enjoyed good working relationship with international organisations like the African Development Bank (ADB), World Bank, British Department for International Development (DFID), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Rockley Feller Foundation, United Nations Educational and Socio Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and many others.
At various times, these organisations collaborated with the state government in the execution of multi-million dollar projects in the areas of agriculture, health, tourism and road constructions.
Despite being an opposition figure, Fayemi worked seamlessly with the Jonathan government. It was during his period that many federal projects like the ongoing Federal Secretariat Complex, the Federal High Court, Central Bank of Nigeria and many others were approved for Ekiti. He didn’t perceive governance from the prism of politics alone and that accounted for his legacy performance in the state.
Fayemi also networked with his friends within and outside Nigeria to expose several opportunities that were abound in Ekiti to the global scene. More than two occasions, Fayemi brought the then Ghanaian President, Dr. John Mahama, to deliver lectures at convocation ceremonies organised by Ekiti State University (EKSU).
This, according to him, was targeted at making the university to sign Memorandum of Understanding with other great ivory towers beyond the chores of the country for academic breakthrough. He also had hitch-free relationships with some Kenyan and Cuban experts in exposing the Ikogosi Warm Spring to global reckoning.
Also going for him is the fact that APC, which seems divided by the primary are gradually closing ranks. APC bigwigs and aspirants like Segun Oni, Opeyemi Bamidele, Bimbo Daramola, Kayode Ojo, Gbenga Aluko, Bamidele Faparusi, Femi Bamisile and other influential persons like Dr. Olusegun Osinkolu, Chief Jide Awe, Mrs. Kemi Olaleye, Hon Ife Arowosoge, Senator Tony Adeniyi, Hon Karounwi Oladapo and other top party hierarchy are already drumming supports for Fayemi.