BY Femi Owolabi
After the Osun All Progressives Congress (APC) held its governorship primary last month, the baton was handed over to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the major opposition, to unveil the candidate who would run against Gboyega Oyetola, the incumbent governor and APC flagbearer.
Since Olagunsoye Oyinlola’s reelection was nullified in November 2010 by a court of appeal ruling, the PDP has been pulling all the stops to regain control of the state.
The party’s desire to retake Osun was evident in how the 2018 election was closely contested — the PDP candidate polled 254,698 votes while the APC flagbearer had 254,345, leaving just a gap of 353 votes — but the exercise was declared inconclusive and a rerun held in some LGAs, with the PDP eventually losing.
The PDP now has another shot at fighting for the state, and this time, six governorship aspirants, including an ex-senator and a former secretary to the state government, have been cleared to contest the guber ticket on Tuesday, March 8.
Although the opposition party is not without its own internal troubles, there’s never been a better time for it to take advantage of the crisis rocking Osun APC.
Here are some of the major contenders for the primary.
Ademola Adeleke became a household name in 2017 when he succeeded Isiaka, his late brother, as senator representing Osun West. He was nicknamed “dancing senator” as soon as videos featuring him showing off his dancing skills started going viral.
“I was having fun during the campaign and enjoying my dance because my brother had done 70 percent of the job with his historical goodwill right from when he became an executive governor in 1991,” he had said upon winning the senatorial seat.
Adeleke is not a newcomer to the game. In 2018, he was the party’s flagbearer, and in fact, one of the most popular candidates in the election. Perhaps due to his popularity, there have been rumours that he may yet be adopted as a consensus candidate.
No doubt, Adeleke stands as one of the strongest contenders and over the past few months, he has been trying to get the support of the party’s stakeholders.
He has also called for peaceful resolution of internal disagreements, adding that his ambition is not a do or die affair.
“My ambition to govern Osun state is people-driven. We are not afraid to face the delegates at the primary and the people of Osun state at the general election,” he had said.
At the 2018 PDP primary, Adeleke won by a close margin, securing 1569 votes while Akin Ogunbiyi, his closest contender, had 1562.
How many votes will the 62 years old politician be able to pull this time?
What could have turned someone who, in 2018, was your leading strategist, into your rival in 2022? Only Bamidele and Adeleke, his uncle, can provide answers to this.
Dele, as he’s fondly called, was one of those leading the campaign for his uncle in the 2018 election, but in 2022, he desires the prize for himself.
“It is time for a generation of shift. It is time for those who are fit and able to deliver,” Dele said in a recent interview, adding that he would not step down for his uncle.
As expected, Dele’s ambition has now led to a family feud as seen in recent exchanges between the politician and Davido, the superstar singer who is his cousin.
The pair fell out after Dele declared his interest to run for the election on the platform of the PDP.
“Dele, I will stress you! We go meet for field,” Davido had threatened his cousin.
But Dele, responding in a softer tone, explained to his kinsman that they could have different interests and still be a happy family.
“I respect your decision and choice to support Uncle Demola and that is the beauty of democracy. It is possible we can all make our individual choices without rancour and bitterness. We can all follow different paths and still live as one big, happy family,” he had said.
It’s barely 24 hours to the primary election, and spectators are wondering if the former banker and his uncle would attempt a compromise.
Akin Ogunbiyi has been a major player in Osun PDP for some time, in fact, he placed a very close second in the 2018 primary election of the party.
The businessman is here again, competing with familiar opponents.
Like in 2018, rumours have been flying about the possibility of Ogunbiyi stepping down for Adeleke, but he continues to deny this.
Ogunbiyi’s campaign organisation had said the rumours being spread around “only indicates that Dr Ogunbiyi is the credible aspirant to beat in the forthcoming primaries”.
Ogunbiyi had also denied seeking any compensatory position or working with anyone to destroy the party.
Although his campaign group admitted there was an agreement in 2018, it added that the accord was not honoured by Adeleke’s camp.
“For the umpteenth time, we hereby affirm that there is no negotiation between the Dr Akin Ogunbiyi campaign organisation or sharing of positions with Senator Ademola Adeleke group. It is a sheer ineptitude to claim that Ogunbiyi group told Adeleke that they will destroy a party upon whose platform the business tycoon hopes to contest the governorship election,” Ogunbiyi’s camp had said.
Can Ogunbiyi capitalise on the Adeleke family feud to take the coveted prize?
Fatai Akinbade has been around since 2010 when he first aspired to be governor of the state. While he got support from some stakeholders at the time, the party leadership seemed to be in favour of Iyiola Omisore.
In 2018, Akinbade who defected from the PDP was the African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate.
At the time, ex-governor Oyinlola had described Akinbade as the best man with the required experience for the job.
“As far as I am concerned, Fatai Akinbade is the best among those currently vying for the governorship seat that can navigate the state out of its present logjam. I challenge anybody that says otherwise to give me a better candidate,” Oyinlola had said.
The 67-year-old politician and a former SSG is giving it another shot. Will he still get the support of Oyinlola who now heads a reconciliation panel for the party in the state?
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