Special Correspondent, JULIUS ALABI, looks at 2015 general elections as possible barometer for gauging 2016 governorship election in Ondo.
Though Ondo State is not going for governorship contest in this year’s election, the exercise is however seen as a battle that will not only direct the course and content of governance in the state, but will also redefine the political relevance of some powerful men in it.
It is, for instance, argued that beyond the March 28 and April 11 polls is the underground battle for the governorship election in Ondo next year. The evolving clash, TheNiche gathered, has crystallised into a battle between the old Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the new PDP on the one hand and the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the other.
Emerging trends in 2015 election in the state remain interesting, as players try to outdo one another in visibility, perhaps in advertising themselves for the governorship election in the state. It is in this respect that analysts argue that the crisis in PDP in the state may not be about the party itself, but that of individuals over what they angle to gain from the party.
In fact, a member of the party’s reconciliation committee in the state, Alex Akinnadeju, had once argued in that respect, insisting that the crisis in its fold had nothing to do with the party.
According to him, the crisis in the party centres on who should be adopted as the party’s gubernatorial candidate and where the candidate should come from, between Ondo North Senatorial District and its Ondo South counterpart.
The governor, Olusegun Mimiko, is from Ondo Central. There are speculations that Mimiko is interested in picking the candidate that will succeed him from Ondo North, comprising Owo, Ose, Akoko North West, Akoko North East, Akoko South West and Akoko South East local government areas. But the old PDP is said to be fighting hard to pressure him to pick a particular popular candidate from Ondo South.
Given the situation, there has been face-off between Mimiko – known to be of the new PDP –and newspaper publisher, Jimoh Ibrahim, who belongs to the old PDP. The evolving battle appears, however, to have been postponed till after the 2015 general election. This is because the parties in the crisis seem to have realised that they cannot effectively go into the 2015 contest with a divided house. They also know that if they lose the presidential or National Assembly and House of Assembly election to the opposition parties in the state, their in-house fighting would amount to outright loss to them. Consequently, they are working hard to win the election for the party, and in the process downplaying their political differences.
TheNiche, for instance, gathered that what members of the old PDP are waiting for is for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare the PDP winner in all contesting positions in the state, then the group, which has already filed eight cases in court, will return to the court for it to determine candidates of which of the factions should occupy the seats.
Incidentally, even the APC is not left out in the internal crisis. The problem within the party, our reporter learnt, is essentially on imposition of candidates on the party members. Some of the aggrieved candidates have, thus, approached the court for redress. Example is the case for House of Representatives slot in Oke-Igbo/Ile-Oluji and Odigbo Federal constituency.
APC crisis is, however, not so pronounced as that of the PDP. This is also as the state chairman of the party, Isaacs Kekemeke, has denied that there is crisis in the party.
“What we witnessed was that some supporters were seen supporting a particular candidate or they wanted their candidate to emerge for a particular position or post. That was what people termed factionalisation. It is normal in politics, and now all members are back on the track to work hard for the success of the 2015 general elections.
“I had said before that our aim is to take over the state. What most of us are praying for is good governance and we have machinery in place now on how to sell our candidates for the elections across the state. I am confident that at the election and beyond, APC will win and enthrone good governance unlike what we are witnessing now. Just wait and see, you will see a new APC in Ondo State,” he said.
The approach adopted by the party is to have more members in National Assembly and Houses of Assembly during the general election, so that it would be easy for the party to approach next year’s governorship election with ease.