Akinbade, who has some political strength, is considered one who could affect the population of voters in the exercise having gone through the stages to attain some prominence in the state politically. The other candidates include Babatunde Oralusi of the Action Alliance; Niyi Owolade of the Accord Party; Senator Sunday Fajimi of the Action for Democracy; Comrade Ojo Gabriel of the African Democratic Congress; Agboola Azeez of the All Progressive Alliance; Akintunde Adetunji of the All Progressives Grand Alliance; Rafiu Anifowose of the Citizen Popular Party; Babatunde Adetoro of the MPPP; Afolayanka Jimoh of the NCP; Prince Adefare Adegoke of the NNPP; Oludare Timothy Akinola of the Peoples Democratic Movement; Ganiyu Lawal of the PPA; Funsho Toyin Bunmi of the UDP; Adeoti Ibrahim Abiodun of the UPN, and Akinwusi Olusegun of the SDP.

Aregbesola maintains that he has no cause to fear concerning the election since his achievements are speaking for him. He told a group of journalists recently that he has touched every household in his state within four years. Long before the election, he said, he had concluded preparations to win if the exercise is free and fair and devoid of manipulations. “From the day I entered this office, I started campaigning. In Nigeria, how many governors walk the streets with their citizens? I have been doing that since the first month in office. How many governors created interactive fora in Nigeria before me? There is none. I was the first governor to devote close to 10 hours of continuous engagement on a quarterly basis with the citizens. The people ask any question in a no-holds-barred atmosphere. The Ogbeni Till Day Break is a worldwide engagement because we take feedbacks from social media,” he said during the interview.

Recently, the Progressive Youths Alliance, a group with sympathy for the ruling party in the state, itemised a list of Aregbesola’s achievements to include employment of 40,000 youths under the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme, O’Yes, and the training and empowerment of 5,000 youths in information communication technology. The governor also promised to double this number in his second term. According to the group, the governor is not found wanting in the area of road construction, beautification of the state, relationship with the private sector, as well as the development of schools in the state and encouragement to pupils and students.

One obvious evidence of Aregbesola’s passion for education is the Opon Imo, an electronic learning tool preloaded with 17 subjects, 54 textbooks, and past questions for JAMB, WAEC and NECO, for which he has won international laurels.

In Omisore’s case, analysts posit that he has a lot to contend with and some of these have to do with the reason he left the progressive movement which had thrown him up to prominence. Omisore was the deputy governor in the Bisi Akande administration. He had left the party with his eyes on the governor’s seat, which has refused to materialise. Omisore became a senator in 2003, enjoying two terms at the topmost legislative house in the country, but many still think not much was achieved in those eight years. To this set of residents, the PDP candidate is resting his back on the support of the Presidency, which has the financial shoulder for candidates of the ruling party at the centre to lean on.

In spite of this assumption, Omisore is not leaving anything to chances, even if it requires playing the role of a grassroots man if only to get the votes of the electorate. In the heat of the campaign, the internet soon became saturated with photographs of the former senator holding two ears of roasted corn, as if wondering which to eat first. In one other photograph, he sat on a commercial motorcycle, to the admiration of his onlookers. At least, that would show him as passionate about the suffering of the downtrodden in the state.

“I am doing a rigorous campaign. I have visited 332 wards in the state and my message to them is that they should vote peacefully on the day of the election and ensure that their votes count. I have appealed to people that there must be no violence, no thuggery and they must obey the constitution of the land; they must not compromise on any issue. I have also appealed to our people to comply with the Electoral Act,” he said in an interview with a national daily recently. Even with such effort to saway as many voters as possible, some indigenes and residents of the state have maintained that they cannot be won over by his antics.