Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan

Over 20 governorship aspirants are working strenuously to unseat Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State

Politicians seeking to contest the 2015 governorship election from various political parties in Oyo State are already having sleepless nights trying to put in place various gimmicks to realise their dream. They are not leaving any stone unturned to have a taste of the governor’s office and government house, both located in Agodi area of Ibadan, capital of Oyo State. But Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Action Congress Party, APC, is unrelenting in drumming it to the ears of his political comrades that the number one position will not be vacant until 2019, reiterating his intention to be the first governor to win a second term in office in the state.

As at today, about 20 aspirants have signified interest, with no less than 12 aspirants from Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Among the PDP aspirants is the immediate past governor of the state, Otunba Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala, whose friends have picked nomination form of N3m for him and staged a mega rally attended by the party’s big wigs, where he publicly declared his intention. Others are: two former federal ministers, Elder Wole Oyelese and Professor Taoheed Adedoja; the immediate past chairman of the Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, Professor Soji Adejumo; former deputy governor, Alhaji Azeem Gbolarumi; former senate leader, Teslim Folarin; former commissioner for health in the state, Dr. Owolabi Babalola; former local council caretaker chairman and chief press secretary, CPS, to late governor Lam Adesina, Alhaji Kehinde Olaosebikan; owner of Jogor, an Ibadan-based event centre, Engr. Femi Babalola; a former deputy governor and serving ambassador in Iraq, Alhaji Taofeek Oladejo Arapaja; Ayodele Olabode, Dr. Azeez Popoola Adeduntan, and Engr. Seyi Makinde.

Jostling for the ticket in All Progressives Party, APC, are: Governor Abiola Ajimobi, former state commissioner for Justice, Adebayo Shittu, and Dr. Ayobami Lam-Adesina.

•Abiola Ajimobi, APC

Other contenders are: Senator Rasheed Ladoja of Accord Party; former secretary, Nigeria Union of Teachers in the state, Comrade Olu Elijah Abiala; former secretary to the state government, SSG, and past chairman of Oodua Group, Alhaji Sarafadeen Ali; and Chief Akinyo Nurudeen Owolabi, all of Labour Party, LP. Significantly, two of the aspirants––Senator Ladoja and Alao-Akala––were once governors in the state.

•Senator Rasheed Ladoja, Accord Party

Otunba Alao-Akala, born on 3 June, 1950, in Ogbomoso, is a retired policeman and an astute grassroots politician. He came into the limelight in 2003 as deputy to then governor, Ladoja; a position he held until he got involved in the civilian coup that ousted his boss. As a result, the man who spearheaded the coup, late Lamidi Adedibu, in conjunction with the Federal Government led by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, eventually imposed him on the state as the governor, the position he held till 2006 when the courts sacked him and reinstated his boss. He went back to his original position of the deputy governor. However, in his brief spell as governor, he had perfected plans for his party to give him the governorship ticket to run for 2007 and all the efforts of his boss to take the ticket from him to run for a second term proved abortive because the party leadership wanted him out at all cost. Alao-Akala contested for governorship position and won. He governed the state between 2007 and 2011 but he lost his second term bid to Ajimobi.

•Adebayo Alao-Akala, PDP

Engr. Makinde is the group managing director of Makon Group of Companies in Nigeria. He had formerly aspired for the Oyo South senatorial and governorship seats under the All Nigeria Peoples Party and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 2007 and 2011, respectively but could not make it. He has submitted his form of Expression of Interest and promised that if given a chance, he would turn around the state for the better.

•Seyi Makinde, PDP

Elder Wole Oyelese and Professor Taoheed Adedoja are both scholars, former federal ministers and chieftains of PDP. Over the years, they have been aspiring but they never moved beyond that stage.

•Wole Oyelese, PDP

Prof. Soji Adejumo, a university don and past chairman of Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, is among the inconsequential aspirants.

•Soji Adejumo, PDP