Ondo: What Next For Akeredolu?

By Chuks Ekpeneru

With his emergence as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming Ondo State gubernatorial election, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu may have heaved a big sigh of relief.

It was a keenly contested fight that started with rejection of his candidacy by many of his party leaders.

The obstacle to Akeredolu started with the formation of the Unity Forum, headed by Alhaji Ali Olanusi, a former Deputy Governor.

The purpose of Unity Forum was to come together and push the governor out. But at the end the purpose was defeated due to the individual ambitions of the leaders.

There was also the perceived opposition to Akeredolu from the ousted APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole who was said to be working the script of the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. However, Tinubu came out to deny the claims saying he had no preferred aspirant in the contest.

The governor was also hit by the defection of his deputy, Hon. Agboola Ajayi. This was followed by the resignation of the Secretary to the Ondo State Government, Ifedayo Abegunde, who accused the Akeredolu-led administration of not looking into the welfare of the people of the state.

Abegunde had also alleged that APC and Akeredolu were rigged into the office during 2016 governorship election against the will of the Ondo state electorate, using the federal might.

The opposition to Akeredolu, however, crumbled with some of the aspirants dropping out to support him. Prominent among them is the man speculated to have the backing of Asiwaju Tinubu, Dr. Olusegun Abraham.

However, others like Hon Isaac Kekemeke held on to their opposition to the governor. Kekemeke even expressed loss of confidence in the primary conducted by the Yahaya Bello led committee.

Another aspirant that refused to bow is Chief Olusola Oke who polled 262 votes to Akeredolu’s 2458 votes. Oke was among those who resisted the adoption of indirect mode of primary for the Monday primary election, describing it as a subversion of the party’s constitution.

With the primary settled, the governor has a big task ahead, reconciling with the internal opposition to face whoever the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will present for the election.

One dread for Akeredolu is that Ajayi winning the PDP ticket may pose a big threat as he has the capacity to make APC members work for him in the main election.

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