Ahead of the November governorship election in Ondo State, HAKEEM GBADAMOSI examines the realignment and gale of defections across the major political parties in the state.
AS political activities gear up in Ondo State ahead of the November governorship election, the political environment is gradually heating up as political alignments and realignments have become the order of the day immediately after the primaries of all political parties participating in the election.
This manifested in the defections of some key political players and supporters while some have completely shifted political allegiances and camps to satisfy their interests ahead of the election.
This development confirms the age long maxim that in politics, there is no permanent friend, no permanent enemy. The only thing that is permanent in politics is interest and this is not unexpected, especially, in a place like the “Sunshine State”.
Though the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has listed 17 political parties to participate in the Ondo governorship election, only five of them out of these political parties are deemed dominant and they are the ones preparing hard for the election.
The five political parties include the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is the ruling political party; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the major opposition; Labour Party (LP) a minor opposition; Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).
It is instructive to note that, with the exception of the incumbent governor of the state, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, all other candidates representing the parties are all of PDP extraction. While former deputy governor of the state, Agboola Ajayi, is the standard-bearer of PDP, Bamidele Akingboye is that of SDP and Sola Ebiseni, candidate of the LP. The unveiling of Ebiseni as the LP candidate has generated ruckus and appears to be tearing the party apart in the state.
An aspirant of the APC, former chairman of OSOPADEC, Gbenga Edema, has also dumped the APC to realise his governorship ambition in the NNPP after the controversial primary that produced Aiyedatiwa.
However, all has not been well with the main opposition PDP ahead of the election. The party has experienced a gale of defections and internal implosions in recent times. Many had thought the leaders of the party would have put their differences aside after the party’s primary, but this has not been the case as the party continues to be disjointed.
Political observers have predicted that in its current disunited state, it would be difficult for PDP to regain the governorship seat it lost over seven years ago to the APC. Many of its members have expressed their discontent about the running of the party causing some of them to either defect to the APC or SDP and LP. They noted that the defection of party’s members had silenced the party and can no longer offer credible fight to the APC in the election.
Notably, among those who have dumped the party in recent times is Akingboye, who lost to Ajayi in the PDP party’s primary. After his defection from the PDP, he emerged as the candidate of SDP. He said his ambition to achieve his dreams of creating wealth for the citizens of the state made him resign his membership.
Ebiseni also dumped PDP to emerge as the LP governorship candidate, while a member of the caretaker committee of the PDP, Dayo Awude, who defected along with him, is now his running mate.
Though Ebiseni’s emergence has been causing uproar in the party, he downplayed the crisis, describing it as mere family affairs that would be resolved through internal mechanisms.
As if this was not enough to bring the opposition PDP to its knees, the party was again hit with defection of some strong members of the party who resigned their memberships. Before this, rumours were rife that former governor of the state, Olusegun Mimiko, had concluded arrangements to dump the party on whose platform he was elected governor.
Mimiko, however, has remained silent over the defection rumour. But the recent defection of some of his foot soldiers had given more fuel to the rumour fire that Mimiko was merely bidding his time. The joining of the ruling APC by 29 of his associates is seen by observers as a not too good development.
The defectors, who served with Mimiko as governor included former chairman of the PDP, Ebenezer Alabi; former commissioners: Jide Adejuyigbe, Gboye Adegbenro, Tunde Atere, Ajani Oladipupo and Chief Yele Ogundipe, among others.
The defectors said that they joined the APC because of the need to help Aiyedatiwa win the forthcoming governorship election and to key into the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The departure of these political bigwigs from PDP, according to political pundits, is a big blow to the leadership of the party, estimating that these defectors may likely pull other members out of the party which will invariably affect the fortune of PDP in the November election.
But the leadership of PDP was quick to acknowledge the defectors as strong members of the party in the state but said they had exited the party long ago with no political relevance. The party maintained that their exit would not affect the party’s chances to win the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
Lending voice to this, the PDP candidate, Ajayi said their defection to rival APC will not affect the performance and victory of PDP in the November governorship election in the state, saying the buck stops at the table of the electorate once candidates have emerged.
Ajayi noted that “the defectors have ceased to be relevant to developments within the party and completely detached from our preparations for the election, and had remained redundant within the party for a considerable length of time, as such.
“Their leaving cannot be described as a loss to the PDP. They were excess baggage waiting to be shed.”
The state PDP, while also reacting to the defection, said there is nothing about the celebrated defections and did not reflect the reality on the ground.
The PDP in a statement signed by PDP Publicity Secretary, Kennedy Peretei, said those who left the party were only hiding under the name of the former governor who is still a member of the PDP.
Peretei said, “Those defecting used his name as cover, which has attracted the most scathing attacks and uncomplimentary remarks on the personality of Mimiko at least in the social media.
“I just wonder, why they did not use their own names, since they claimed to be big names, instead of bringing the former governor into this controversy.
“More importantly, while some of these defectors have never contested any election before, others are serial election losers. So, how can they help an Aiyedatiwa to win in November? This is the flip side of the celebration about the defections.”
Peretei stated further that “the electorate who have been pauperised and taken for granted over the years are wiser now. For a place like Ondo State with very enlightened minds, politicians can defect to wherever they want. When the election comes, the people will have to choose between their oppressors and those who wish to bring liberation.”
Some political watchers in the state said the PDP must urgently put its house in order to be able to muster any challenge in the governorship election, fearing more deflections in the party.
According to Oni Akinfe, a political analyst, “I won’t be surprised if more political gladiators follow Mimiko and leave the PDP ahead of the governorship. This may affect the dream of PDP to take over power in the state.
“The party needs no soothsayer to know that it would experience another round of defections to APC in the coming days if the party does not tidy up its home while electorate might feel disappointed as the party appears not too serious,” Akinfe said.
The NNPP candidate, Edema, was unfazed about the defection of Mimiko’s associates to APC labelling it as jumping into a sinking ship. He said the defectors had only exhibited high degree of ignorance about the status of APC, a party that never cared for the interest of the people of the state.
Edema said if the defectors had done their due diligence, they would have known that by virtue of the INEC report issued following the April 20, 2024 primary, and by the clear provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, the APC does not have a legitimate candidate for the November 16 gubernatorial election in Ondo State.
He said: “They would also have known that the people of Ondo State have rejected the party, and this regime judging from public opinions. The outcome of the #EndBadGovernance and end hunger protest is a clear manifestation of this fact, which is obvious even to the blind.
“The Almighty God himself has rejected this regime and has torn the Ayedatiwa’s government. God does not support an unrighteous government.”
Aside from this, a former woman leader of the PDP, Esther Ebiwonjumi, a former Chairman of the State Oil Producing Development Commission (OSOPADEC), Prince Debo Ajimuda and some members of the opposition also joined the ruling APC in an event held at Ilaje local government area of the state.
Defection in APC
Interestingly, in a reverse trend, the APC has also recorded its own waves of defections when some of its members crossed to the PDP. The defectors hinged their action on the outcome of the APC primary, which they described as a “huge charade” saying the APC lacks internal democracy.
Some of the APC defectors include, Mayowa Ajemoju Boboye, APC Ward 8 woman leader Deborah Owosusi, Ademola Ayonijebu, Oloro Alejo, and Azeez Ibrahim who led the Ebira group.
They said their action ended a cycle of deceit and deception which had continued to cause harm to their personal development as politicians, and dangerous for the entrenchment of internal democracy in a political party.
Also in the Ondo North senatorial district, the wife of Olukare of Ikare Akoko, Olori Muina Momoh, 18 traditional High Chiefs, led by Chief Adubiaro, Prince Sina Momoh, led hundreds of others APC members to PDP and openly declared their support for the PDP in Akoko Northeast Local Government area of the state.
The new entrants stated that they decided to shift their alliance to the PDP from the APC over the continued hardship in the land, saying that the APC has entrenched poverty and pains on the people.
“There is more hunger in the land and they have failed to attend to this. The popularity of the party in the state is waning gradually and we have to look back and return home to join forces with the PDP to rebuild the state.”
Sharing in the sentiment of likely return of PDP to power in Ondo State is Osun state governor, Ademola Adeleke. The Osun governor expressed optimism that PDP will recapture power in the state and said the people of the state would be the ultimate deciders of the November 16 governorship election, and said the winning template used in Osun State had been given to Ajayi, and he would win if he followed it.
Adeleke said the PDP is set to find solution to the hardship in the country, adding that PDP remains the only party in Nigeria that has been wiping away tears from the faces of the common man and said “all we need is commitment to our goal, pursuit of our goals selflessly, and victory shall be ours.
“I tell you Imole (light ) is here, and I am here to light my brother’s path to victory. I have told Governor Ayedatiwa that I am here in Ondo State to drive my party to victory and that Alagbaka is for PDP as from next year February.”
Although some political analysts agreed that disagreement has always been part of party politics, they averred that there is avenue for PDP members to settle their differences as there are still time to reorganise the party before the election. They suggested that leaders of the party in the state, who have adopted the “sit down and look” attitude should be approached to give direction. Some prominent leaders, like, Eyitayo Jegede, Mimiko and a few others have been noticed to be conspicuously missing in the build-up to the party’s campaign.
But in spite of the defection of some their members to rival parties, particularly the PDP, the Director General of Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organization and chairman of State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Victor Olabimtan, was optimistic of its party winning the governorship election.
The former Speaker of the state House of Assembly said APC will win the November governorship election with a wide margin following the unprecedented achievements of the party under the current administration.
He said: “There is no question that Aiyedatiwa is the main character in this election; others are mere pawns or supporting casts.
“Having done well in all sectors of the economy of the state, particularly in security, we’re very optimistic that it will encourage our people to turn out and compensate us with votes again.
“APC outstanding achievements in the state, which are visible, will speak and work for us, with the greatest of assurances that we will win overwhelmingly and continue the good work,” he enthused.
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