ONDO 2024: Guber Aspirant(s) Under Any Political Party Outside Ondo South Is Merely Creating Awareness For 2028 – Sam Olorunfemi Jr
ONDO 2024: Guber Aspirant(s) Under Any Political Party Outside Ondo South Is Merely Creating Awareness For 2028 – Sam Olorunfemi Jr
It is now crystal clear that the political cloud in Ondo state has been gradually gathering momentum ahead of the next year’s governorship election, 2024, which will constitutionally end the eight(8) years of the administration of Governor Akeredolu, SAN, CON in office.
In 2016, the administration of Governor Akeredolu came on board under the political platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) after the constitutional eight(8) years of Dr Olusegun Mimiko.
Since the return of the Fourth Republic in 1999, the Ondo state governorship seat has been rotating across the three senatorial districts (Ondo North, Ondo South, and Ondo Central) by the principles of equity, fairness, justice, political sense of belonging, and senatorial inclusion as enshrined in section 14(3) of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution, as amended.
In 1999, Ondo North produced the first sitting governor, Late Chief Adebayo Adafarati from the Akoko side of the North senatorial district in which he served from 1999 to 2003 (single term) because he flunked to secure his second term bid under the defunct Alliance for Democracy(AD) after losing to Late Agagu in 2003.
In 2003, Ondo South produced the Late Dr. Olusegun Agagu under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as the governor, after defeating Baba Adefarati the incumbent in a kneeling contested election in the state.
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In 2007, Agagu seek a re-election bid from the same South under the PDP, in which his former Secretary to the State Government and former minister of Urban and Regional Planning, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko threw his political hat into the ring under the Labour Party (LP) and after the election, the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), declared Agagu of the PDP as the winner of the election and was sworn into the office for the second term, which his predecessor, Adafarati, was unable to actualized in 2003 but the candidate of the LP, Mimiko, legally rejected the outcome of the election and he went to the Schedule V of the Constitution, to challenge the result in court and 2019, the Court of Appeal sitting in Benin nullified Agagu’s victory in 2007, and announced Mimiko of the LP as the duly winner of the election but this came after barely two years. This made Agagu spend six(6) years in office as governor of Ondo state.
On February 2009, Ondo Central produced a governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko and after the completion of his constitutional four(4) years in office, he seek re-election office like his two predecessors (Adafarati and Agagu) and Mimiko was re-elected (2009–2017) served the longest term as governor, being elected twice to serve 8 years. Since the creation of the state in 1976, 18 people have served as governors, 12 military governors, and 6 civilian governors.
In 2017, the rotation returned to Ondo North where it started in 1999, but this time in Owo as Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, CON became the Governor of the state. In 2020 after his four(4) years in office, Akeredoku seek re-election like his predecessors (Adefarati, Agagu, and Mimiko) and fortunately for him, he won his re-election by winning 15 out of the 18 local government areas, which was declared unprecedented in the history of governorship elections in the state.
The completion of Akeredolu’s eight(8) years in office by 2025 will automatically pave the way for Ondo South to be the next senatorial district to produce the Governor of the state to maintain the status quo in order not to give room for the political marginalization and shenanigans playing out in Kogi state.
Recently, some gubernatorial aspirants have been parading themselves within the state to take over from Governor Akeredolu in 2025, and some aspirants outside the Ondo South have been nursing such political ambition as well.
Ostensibly, the next Senatorial District to produce the occupant of the seat is Ondo South without anybody Prophet telling us.
It must be noted those aspirants parading themselves outside the South are merely creating awareness for the 2028 governorship election.
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It is incontrovertible that by 2028, it will be a contest with the South from the Central, and if the governor then manages to win the re-election, that will be based on his/her acceptance by the electorates.
In 2028, Central will be allowed to vie for the governorship election. The first four(4) years in the only constitutional right but the second term is based on voters’ acceptance of the candidate or the political party in power.
The principal of governorship rotation in Ondo state has come to stay, and all political parties in the state must respect this rotation without any infraction.
“Aspirants outside Ondo south should forget any governorship ambition for now, till 2028”.
Sam Olorunfemi Jr
Journalist/Political Analyst