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Although more than 20 candidates have lined up for the June 21, governorship election in Ekiti, South-West Nigeria, political pundits say the contest has been narrowed to a race between three major political parties in the state
| By Anayo Ezugwu | Jun. 23, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT
THE June 21, governorship election in Ekiti State is not a race for the faint-hearted. It is a contest in which the people of the state would elect a governor to preside over the affairs of the state for the next four years. More than 20 candidates representing various political parties are juggling for the position. Among them there are three front-runners from three of the major political parties operating in the state. They are Kayode Fayemi, the incumbent state governors, who is contesting the election on the ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Ayodele Fayose, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Opeyemi Bamidele, a serving member of the House of Representatives who is flying the flag of the Labour Party, LP.
The candidates have, in the last couple of weeks, traversed the nooks and crannies of Ekiti, canvassing for votes. Each of the political parties has tried to project its candidate as the best choice for the people in the three-horse race. This is evident in the mammoth crowd that gathers at every political rally to listen to what the candidates have in stock for the people if voted if voted into power. The crowd was also evidence that their candidates have proved themselves to be men who have a lot of followers and the capacity to win the number one seat in the state.
At different points the political parties in the state have shown how important the election is to them and that its outcome would directly and indirectly affect the forthcoming governorship election in Osun State in August. The Osun governorship election, they argue, would also determine whether there would be power shift in the south-west during the 2015 general elections.
Also, the election is important because, unlike the 1999, 2003 and 2007 elections, this would be the first time, in the history of Ekiti State, that an incumbent governor, seeking re-election, has strong contenders. With all these, the political class sees the Ekiti gubernatorial election, as very interesting considering their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and chances of each of the candidates.
John Kayode Fayemi
He remains a candidate to beat and has been telling whoever cares to hear that he is the only candidate that can offer Ekiti people the best governance at the moment and prepare the state for a better future with his eight-point agenda. He has been telling voters as well not to support charlatans, who would mess up the political process, loot the treasury and bring the state back to the era of one-week, one-trouble.
A lot of factors seem to favour Governor Fayemi in his quest to return to power for another four years. These include the reconstruction of roads in the state, payment of N5,000 monthly to the aged as social security allowance, donation of latest Ford cars and Jeeps to all Ekiti monarchs, development of infrastructure and other achievements in the last three and a half years of his administration.
He has 24 out of the 26 members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly and all members of the National Assembly, except Bamidele, on his side and besides, his total control of the APC machinery are added advantage. It is also obvious that the governor is scientific in his approach to governance and very strategic in planning and execution of his programmes, so much that he has penetrated the leadership of all the unions and associations in the state. All these have added up to brighten his chance of re-election.
Also, the decision to complete projects his predecessor left at about 70 percent completion stage as well as others he initiated and completed during his tenure have further given a boost to his achievements. He takes glory for what the former governor started. Fayemi’s academic standard and his oratorical prowess are other added advantages for the gap-toothed governor.
Apart from the power of incumbency which makes him have access to enough funds for the campaign, the state machinery of power at his disposal as the chief security officer of the state, put the incumbent governor at advantage. Also, the presence of governors from the South-West and other parts of the country at his mega rallies, has contributed immensely in shaping public opinion in Fayemi’s favour.
Another opportunity Fayemi has is the fact that no governorship candidate comes from his Ekiti North Senatorial District among the top contestants, while Fayose and Bamidele are from Ekiti Central Senatorial District, where Fayemi’s running mate, comes from. That means he is likely to get more votes from Ekiti North, shares votes from Ekiti Central with his two opponents, who would have divided them from their home senatorial district and also share votes from Ekiti South, where his two main opponents picked their running mates.
In spite of all his achievements, Governor Fayemi has weaknesses that might work against him come June 21. One of the major weaknesses is lack of sufficient political tolerance for the opposition. His critics are not relenting in accusing him and his party of pulling down and destroying billboards and posters of the opposition parties after all financial requirements have been paid. This may force the electorate to give sympathy votes to the opposition. But his campaign organisation has refuted the insinuation explaining that opposition candidates have a way of instigating violence and other demeanour and turning round to accuse the APC loyalists of the offences they themselves committed.
The major threat to his re-election is the campaign, going on that the payment of pecuniary allowances to teachers he just approved a few weeks ago and began to pay in May was a mere political gimmick to get votes of the teachers. He had explained to Ekiti people, during the ‘Meet-Your-Governor’ programme on EKTV that his government was paying the allowance now because the state could afford it. The teachers, however, appear not to be convinced, as they are wondering why he did not approve the largesse the same time he donated Sport Utility Vehicles, SUVs, to Obas last year.
The Teachers Development Assessment Need, TDNA, which the state, had introduced, is another threat to Fayemi’s ambition, as teachers believe that the government has never liked them, but only pretending now that the election is near. They say that although the government has suspended the assessment exercise, it would still come back to it after getting their votes.
Ayodele Fayose
Fayose, candidate of the PDP, and a former governor of the state, from May 29, 2003 to October 16, 2006, made tremendous impact at the grassroots development during his tenure. He also made some mistakes, before he was forcefully removed with the declaration of a state of emergency by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. In this election, he is telling the people of Ekiti that he is seeking their mandate to enable him correct some past mistakes as well as serve the people better.
The former governor is a man of the people. From the day he emerged as candidate of the PDP, his popularity has soared. Political pundits describe him as a governor of the man-on-the –street. He is a grassroots politician, who understands the needs of the common man. He’s rich in native intelligence. His strong belief in what he calls ‘stomach infrastructure,’ which involves giving people in need quick relief rather than asking such person to follow due process puts him in the minds of the people. His popularity among the common people explains why he easily defeated the incumbent governor in 2003. In the election, Fayose polled 220, 906 votes as against the then Governor Adebayo’s 169, 191 votes.
One thing with Fayose is that he’s not afraid of any contest. He’s so sure of himself that he always insists on primary election for the emergence of the candidate. In 2003, he opposed the emergence of a handpicked consensus candidate, insisting that all aspirants should test their popularity with the party’s delegates. He easily won, to pick PDP’s ticket, after which he won the governorship election. This year also, he insisted that PDP held primary election for the nearly 30 aspirants, when others wanted consensus arrangement. According to him, “any aspirant who is afraid of going for primary can never win general elections; such a candidate will be afraid and only be relying on rigging to win.” At last, he won the PDP primary, and that has since affected the calculations of the APC, which hoped that he would never emerge as the party’s flag bearer.
Being in the PDP, which controls the centre, at a time the party is determined to break the backbone of the APC in the South-west gives Fayose a lot of opportunities to not only get financial support but also logistics support. When Fayose was governor, he recruited many people into Ekiti State civil service. For his benefactors, now is payback time, as these people are rooting for him. Also, his support for teachers, when he was governor, would produce positive support, as one good turn deserves another.
Fayose has some weaknesses which can ruin his electoral fortune. Among the weaknesses is his domineering attitude which some of his fellow party men are not comfortable with. When he gets annoyed, he may criticise anyone that crosses his way. In such situations, he will confront anybody without being diplomatic. His brushes with some traditional rulers in the state may constitute an impediment to his aspiration. Nobody can say for sure whether the monarchs in the state would be comfortable with his second coming back to power or not, as some of them were said to have missed deposition by the whiskers when he was in power. Again, the elite and powerful stakeholders in the state, on whose toes Fayose had stepped may not be comfortable with his return bid.
Another weakness of the ex-governor is his get-it-done-quickly attitude. His critics say he did a lot of things that were not properly documented during his tenure. They point to controversial poultry project and others which landed him in trouble. The major threat to Fayose’s return bid is the corruption suit instituted against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over the controversial poultry project, the death of Ayo Daramola and the circumstances surrounding his impeachment in 2006.
Michael Opeyemi Bamidele
Bamidele, who is flying the flag of the Labour Party in the election is an experienced politician and lawyer with more than 22 years of working experience. Contrary to an earlier impression that he had no political structures and that he just wanted to play the role of a spoiler in the election, the Iyin-Ekiti-born lawyer has proved himself to be in the race to win.
His long years of experience in the art of mobilising people, which started about 30 years ago when he was a campus politician at the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile-Ife, Osun State, where he contested for the position of Public Relations Officer, PRO, of the Students Union and won in 1984, is a plus for him. His position as the national director of publicity for the defunct Alliance for Democracy, AD, and later Action Congress, AC, as well as part of Bola Tinubu’s inner caucus, has given him a sound knowledge of how to win people and get votes.
Bamidele’s experience as a former Lagos State commissioner for youths, sports and social development, and later the commissioner for information and strategy, former chairman of House of Representatives Committee on information and currently the chairman of House Committee on Legislative Budgets and Research at the National Assembly, has prepared him fully for the challenges ahead.
His promises not to receive salary as governor if voted into power but to use the money to help the poor and the less privileged in the society as well as the promise to serve one term, has increased his acceptability. Also, the number of projects he has attracted to Ekiti State as a member of the House of Representatives, is another thing that has added value to his campaign for governorship.
His nomination of a Muslim woman, Mariam Bimbola Ogunlade, a retired director from Ekiti State civil service and somebody from Ekiti South Senatorial District, is also an added advantage. With this gesture, he would take advantage of religious sentiment in the state to win some votes. Besides, civil servants in the state are already tickled by the nomination of one of their own as his running mate. All these will play some significant roles on the day of the election. The Labour Party has promised to make education cheaper to enable the children of the poor to have access to university education, as is being done presently in Ondo State, where it is the ruling party. This has also endeared him to the electorate.
In spite of his promises, the elite in the state feel that Bamidele’s party doesn’t have enough financial muscles and moneybags, like the APC and PDP, to confront strong opposition. It is believed that the bulk of the money being spent is from him, as people are wondering if he can cope with the financial demands of electioneering campaigns.
Be that as it may, the question ahead of the election is: who will win among the trio? This is the question the voters are bound to answer on June 21. The election could surely produce surprising results that might lead to a run-off.
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