As preparations peak for the inauguration of Ondo state governor-elect, Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) to assume the mantle of leadership on the 24th of next month, there are divided opinions over what he may have in stock to move the state forward.
There are high expectations from some quarters that an All Progressives Congress (APC)-controlled Akeredolu’s administration would not disappoint the people compared to what the outgoing administration of governor Segun Mimiko has achieved.
While many APC adherents are expectant to see what the first one-year will offer, others are skeptical and would rather adopt a ‘wait-and-see’ attitude.
From the public service, social welfare to politics, there are seamless needs that await dire attentions; especially the eighth month salary debts, which the state will owe its workers by February 24, if Mimiko is unable to settle it before then.
The in-coming governor will have to contend with how to create jobs for the teeming the party faithful, who worked assiduously for the victory of the APC given the financial constraints and economic downturn in the country.
Besides, APC members are believed to be irritated by the purported decision of Akeredolu to retain the council executives that were elected in the April 2016 election, which was boycotted by the party.
Thus, observers argued, that the reality has dawned on the APC faithful in the state that the upcoming government is most likely going to be a frugal compact cabinet, which may eventually dashed their high hopes of everyone being accommodated by the government.
It is also expected that the State Assembly crisis that is brewing may explode any moment. From The Guardian findings, there is a last minute political maneuverings by politicians from the Central Senatorial District to ensure that they are not left out since the other two districts have got the governorship and deputy tickets in the coming administration.
However, the outgoing governor has assured the people of the state that his administration will leave legacies, which as admitted by Akeredolu, would take hard work to surpass.
Mimiko’s administration boasts of tremendous achievements in the health, education and urban-rural development sectors. It has also embarked on endless commissioning of projects across the three senatorial districts and recently; the Heads of Service (HoS) of the Federation and the South West converged to commission the Public Service Training Institute (PSTI), the first of its kind in the nation.
In a bid to ensure seamless transition, the transition committees established by the government and the APC, headed respectively by the Commissioner for Education, Arch. Jide Adejuyigbe and Chief Jamiu Ekungba are working harmoniously to make the handover a success.
Though Adejuyigbe had claimed that the Mimiko-led administration would conduct the “first civilian to civilian transition” in the state, it is on record that the first of its kind since the state was created in 1976, occurred in 2003, when late Dr. Olusegun Agagu took over from late Chief Adebayo Adefarati.
Aside the statutory duties of the governor to ensure good governance, a group of elderly statesmen under the aegis of Elders Assembly of the APC, implored Akeredolu to unite the party.
Nevertheless, mindful of the task ahead, Akeredolu has embarked on widespread consultations to ensure a successful administration in the state.
Sources indicated that that the in-coming government would adopt the Agagu’s governing style due to the considerable political advantages. The sources claimed that he gave the “Roadmap to Progress” credited to the 2003 – 2009 regime a thought, as his political framework and guide to a prosperous governance.
