- Governor confident of victory, declares ambition today
- Aspirants lobby First Lady, Gbajabiamila, Tunji-Ojo, Ganduje, Afenifere
Ahead of the November 16, 2024 governorship election in Ondo State, intense lobbying by the major contenders eyeing the coveted seat under the platform of the All Progressives Congress has kicked off within and outside the state.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has directed political parties in the state to hold their primaries between April 6 and 27, 2024.
The incumbent governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has concluded arrangements to officially declare his aspirations today (Tuesday).
Other aspirants, who include, Olusola Oke, Wale Akinterinwa, Gbenga Edema, Mayowa Akinfolarim and Jimoh Ibrahim have earlier declared their intentions to run.
It was gathered that Aiyedatiwa has weighed his chances before coming out to declare his aspirations after securing the backing of some members of the APC national leadership.
The Point learnt that the governor had tarried a while before throwing in his heart into the ring following the silence on the mode and date for the election by the APC.
The State Director of Information, Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation Foot Soldiers, Kayode Fasua, told The Point on Monday that all was set for the declaration by the governor.
“Yes, Governor Aiyedatiwa is declaring his governorship ambition officially tomorrow, at the Gani Fawehinmi Arcade in Akure. He is seeking the APC ticket at the primary election of the party scheduled for next month, and wants to be Governor for four years, come next November. The governor is upbeat on these aspirations and we are optimistic of his victory,” Fasua told The Point.
All the major contenders in the APC have reportedly activated their games ahead of the primary by lobbying cliques in the Presidency and President Bola Tinubu’s close associates.
The Point reliably gathered that overtures have been made by the aspirants to the First Lady, Remi Tinubu and the President’s daughter, Mrs. Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, national leader of the Pan Yoruba Socio-Political Group, Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti as well as the Umar Ganduje-led National Working Committee of the APC.
While Jimoh lbrahim is said to be leveraging his personal relationship with President Tinubu, the incumbent governor, Aiyedatiwa is banking on the support he had enjoyed from Ganduje during the impeachment crisis.
However, Ganduje was said to have informed Aiyedatiwa that the final decision on who the party would support lies with the President.
A reliable source hinted that the national leadership of the party may suggest to the President the need to support a candidate who “embodies the party’s values and can bring all factions together.”
According to Ganduje “the party is also considering a “neutral” candidate, someone who was not involved in the state’s recent political crisis prior to the death of late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.
It was gathered that a former Deputy Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Mayowa Akinfolarin, has the support of the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila and the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
Gbajabiamila, Akinfolarin, and Tunji-Ojo were all members of the Ninth Assembly in the House of Representatives.
Also, the family of the late governor Rotimi Akeredolu, led by his widow, Betty, is supporting the state’s former Finance Commissioner, Wale Akinterinwa.
Meanwhile, reports had it that President Tinubu has scheduled a political meeting with the state stakeholders in the first week of April before the primary election.
The meeting, it was gathered, will involve the party leaders including the governor, National and State Assembly members and other groups within the state.
It was learnt that topmost on the agenda would be the party’s flag bearer in the November governorship election.
The convener of the Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation Foot Soldiers, Oladipupo Okeyomi, at the weekend urged other governorship aspirants in the APC to withdraw from the race.
Okeyomi noted in a statement issued through Kayode Fasua that Aiyedatiwa deserved to be picked as a consensus candidate since his performance is top-rate before the masses of Ondo State.
“I will advise all the other aspirants to step down for Aiyedatiwa and allow the governor to continue his good work, by becoming the APC consensus candidate in the interest of good governance and unity of purpose,” he admonished.
Okeyomi who spoke in the aftermath of LACO-FS Campaign rallies in Odigbo, Akoko North East, Akoko South East, Ondo West, and Idanre Local Government Areas of the state, stressed the need for the APC to field its best hand, and noted that Aiyedatiwa as governor had amply demonstrated that he could shoulder such responsibility.
“Aiyedatiwa became governor by circumstances of fate, no doubt, but in less than three months in office, he has recorded jaw-dropping achievements.
“In assuming office, he cleared the backlog of workers’ salaries, approved payment of N35, 000 palliative to civil servants, and also mobilised road contractors back to site.
“Besides, he has started wooing foreign investors to Ondo State, knowing that there are many youths in need of jobs, and has equally released buses to provide transportation for school children to and fro, to ease the financial burden on their parents,” he stressed.
According to him, the APC in the state should not fritter away this golden opportunity as it should field the governor who is so much loved by the people, especially the masses.
While acknowledging the right of other aspirants to the governorship ticket, Okeyomi urged them to embrace the olive branch thrown by Aiyedatiwa and concede the ticket to the governor, assuring that Aiyedatiwa is already demonstrating that he is out for inclusive governance.
He said the LACO-FS had begun inaugurating its local council executive bodies across the 18 local government areas of the state, in demonstration of its firm belief in grassroots political engineering.
While complimenting him, the co-convener of the group, Biyi Poroye, and director-general, Saka Yusuf-Ogunleye, expressed satisfaction with the massive turn-out of APC members in the five local government areas so far covered, noting that in the campaigns, party members asked useful questions and got satisfactory answers.
However, one of the leading aspirants, Olugbenga Edema, has cautioned other aspirants to stop dropping names of President Tinubu and the cabals in the Presidency.
Edema said that “the leadership of the party at the state and national levels including the President has not endorsed any of the aspirants.
“Mr. President has not endorsed anybody. If he wants to select any one of us, he will call us to a meeting like he did when Ondo State was in crisis over the deputy governor and acting governor.
“The president would call the leadership of the party and hear them out.”
Edema advised other aspirants to go and prepare for the party’s primary election instead of looking for the endorsement of the president or the so called cabals in the Presidency.
