Before the botched National Assembly elections last Saturday, candidates and political parties had closed their campaigns, awaiting the electorate’s verdict. They have adopted fresh strategies in the additional week. In this preview ahead of the August 9 race, BISI OLADELE examines the strength of the major candidates and hurdles before them.
In the next few days, voters in Oyo State will resolve the task of choosing a new set of political leaders who will steer the ship of the state for the next four years.
The contenders are as many as interests. For the major opposition party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Oyo State is perhaps the most important state to bring back to the fold, in addition to its next door neighbour, Ogun. For the party, the fall of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State frees the entire region and its people from the captivity of ‘mainstream’ which they lament time and again, brought backwardness to the region.
Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, is considered the epicenter of politics, commerce and trade in Yoruba land. It is home to many elder statesmen, professionals, researchers and notable academics who have recorded landmark achievements in their various fields.
Lined up as major candidates for the Senate in this April 9 election in the state are Senator Kamorudeen Adedibu, old and new faces who are working hard to win the support of voters.
In the PDP are incumbent Senator Kamorudeen Adedibu, Chief Jumoke Akinjide and Mr. Hosea Agboola for Oyo South, Central and North respectively.
They will contend with Chief Femi Lanlehin, Hon. Ayo Adeseun and Dr Wale Okediran in the CAN. Mr. Bayo Lawal, Chief Bisi Ilaka and Mr Ahmed Adedokunare candidates in Accord. These contenders will also face Mr Femi Olaore, Mr Suleiman Oyaremi and Chief Nathaniel Owoade in Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).
In the race for the House of Representatives, major candidates include Hon. Abiodun Awoleye of the ACN, Hon. Folake Olunloyo-Osinowo and Demola Omotoso of the Peoples Democratic Party. In Accord Party, a major candidate for the lower legislative chamber is Hon. Olayemi Taiwo, who is a serving member of the House. He was elected on the platform of PDP in 2007. Former Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Wale Adegoke, is contesting on the platform of Labour Party (LP).
The Senatorial Candidates
Oyo Central
This is the most keenly contested district in the state. The senator currently representing the district is the Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin. By the end of his current term, Folarin will have represented the district twice under the platform of the PDP.
The senator, who got the offer in 2003 via the fiat of the late Ibadan politician, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, lost the ticket to Chief Jumoke Akinjide last December. He was caught in the crossfire of the Factionalisation that has been the bane of the party since 2007.
Jumoke Akinjide, a brilliant lawyer, has Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala and his father, Chief Richard Akinjide who is a chieftain of the party, behind her. She owes her emergence as the candidate of the mainstream PDP in the state to the support of the governor.
Little is known about Jumoke’s ability as a politician. But it is believed that as a woman, she will toe a soft part while addressing issues in the constituency should she emerge the winner in the April 9 election.
She has come out clear on her laudable programmes for the district should she be given a chance to represent her constituents. She is one of those candidates who approached her campaign withvigour, determination and laudable focus. The gender factor may also work in her favour.
Ayo Adeseun
A two-time federal legislator, this is one astute politician who knows his onions. A native of Ogbomoso, the governor’s hometown and current chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Adeseun is one of those politicians who successfully stood against Alao-Akala in the town. He is known for his stable support for progressive ideals, has a large heart for the masses and enjoys goodwill and credibility among his people.
He is well loved by the people and maintains a formidable political structure across the district. He has undertaken several personal projects in the district thereby endearing him to many more people. He is expected to leverage on his acceptance and the popularity of the ACN to win the election.
Bisi Ilaka
A native of Oyo and a tax consultant. Ilaka, who was also a strong PDP member, defected to Accord recently when he lost the ticket to Adeseun in the ACN.
He is believed to enjoy the blessing of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi and some other traditional rulers in the district. Ilaka hopes to leverage on the influence of the traditional rulers as well as the call for a generational change in Nigeria’s political leadership.
Though, it can be said that the Ladilu of Oyo will benefit from the sympathy and goodwill enjoyed by the governorship candidate of his party, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, it may not be an easy task for the politician to ride on Ladoja’s back.
CPC candidate, Mr Sulaimon Oyaremi, is waiting to cash in on the strength of the party’s presidential candidate, Major Gen, Muhammadu Buhari and the growing profile of the party in Oyo State.
Oyo South
Femi Lanlehin
An ACN chieftain, Chief Lanlehin fought for the governorship ticket with impressive gusto but party leaders handed him the senatorial ticket instead. He is one politician with one of the most coordinated campaigns and focus. He demonstrated himself as a grassroots politician reminiscent of his father’s strides.
Having served as a member of the cabinet of the Bola Tinubu administration in Lagos and as a member, House of Representatives in the Third Republic, Lanlehin is sure to give the incumbent, Senator Kamoru Adedibu, a good fight.
The son of a major political associate of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Lanlehin has been going about his ambition in a way that dazzles many. He also hopes to leverage on the popularity of the ACN to win the election. He is the candidate to beat in the district. Yet, the PDP is not doing badly in some of the local government areas in the district in Ibadan as well as two local government areas in Ibarapa. The ACN candidate will have to work hard day and night to defeat the PDP in its strongholds across the district.
Kamoru Adedibu
The incumbent senator representing the district in the Senate, Adedibu relies solely on the structure left by his late father. He enjoys the support of the Governor Alao-Akala group because of his father’s role in enthroning the governor and his many foot soldiers in 2007.
Many PDP supporters however believes it may be difficult for the senator to return if the election is free and as they claim that he has been unable to justify his membership of the Senate in the past four years.
The PDP also seems to be losing credibility in the state due to the widespread violence allegedly being perpetrated by its supporters.
Bayo Lawal
A former Commissioner in the state, Lawal is an ardent supporter of Senator Ladoja. He is believed to enjoy some level of popularity among his people in the district unto which he hopes to add Ladoja’s goodwill to coast home in victory on April. It is however not so simple.
Oyo North
Of the four major candidates competing for the slot in this district, analysts believe that the contest is squarely between the ACN candidate, Dr Wale Okediran, and his PDP counterpart, Hon. Hosea Agboola.
Okediran is a former member, House of Representatives. He is well loved by his people in addition to the fact that Oke-Ogun people are predominantly progressives. But the popularity of Agboola, who is currently the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in the state, cannot be waved aside. Agboola also hopes to enjoy the support of the state PDP machinery to slug it out with Okediran in the area. A free and fair election will present a somehow dicey situation for the two candidates in the April 2 election but with Okediran’s chances looking brighter.
The two other major candidates, Mr Ahmed Adedokun (Accord Party) and Chief Nathaniel Owoade (CPC) are however pulling necessary strings to turn the tide in their favour.
House of Representatives
Here, the following major candidates are considered. Hon. Kamil Akinlabi (ACN), Hon. Wale Adegoke (LP), Hon. Abiodun Awoleye (ACN), Hoh. Demola Omotoso (PDP), Hon. Folake Olunloyo-Osinowo (PDP) and Hon. Taiwo Olayemi (Accord).
Kamil Akinlabi
Akinlabi, who represents Oyo Federal Constituency, is currently the Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Urban Development. He is an astute politician who enjoys full support of traditional rulers in his constituency as well as the support of other constituents.
Though he was elected on the platform of PDP in 2007, the quantity surveyor decamped to the ACN last year on which platform he won the ticket.
Akinlabi, in his four years as a federal legislator facilitated a number of federal projects including the N1.5 billion Erelu Waterworks, solar boreholes, street construction and a federal health centre in his Oyo constituency.
With a formidable political structure built through service in the various communities making up the constituency, Akinlabi stands tall as the candidate to beat in the April 2 election.
Giving reasons for his defection to the ACN, Akinlabi said the PDP has no policy direction, stressing that each governor and council chairman does what they like unlike the ACN which already has a blueprint of how to transform the state or local government as the case may be.
Wale Adegoke
A two- time legislator, Adegoke represents Egbeda/Ona Ara Federal Constituency in the lower legislative chamber. Though he was been serving under the canopy of the PDP in 2007, he is contesting this time as Labour Party candidate after he was shut out by the Akala faction.
A pharmacist, Adegoke was the chairman, House Committee on Appropriation. He has embarked on many constituency projects and empowered many youths in the constituency.
But the PDP and the ACN are set to stop his third term ambition.
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Oyo: Parties, candidates renew rivalry