Ondo South group demands governorship position in 2017

DESPITE the rotational arrangement in the politics of Ondo State since the 1999 advent of current democratic dispensation, which seems to have been, at least in the public expectations, conceded this time around, to the North, the South Senatorial District has again laid claims to succeeding Governor Olusegun Mimiko in February 2017.

The Coalition of Southern Socio-political Groups (CSSG) has advocated for a special consideration to produce the next governor of the state from their area next year’s gubernatorial election.

The southern district had recorded huge successes for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in all the elections held in the area since 1999 and the new agitation is that now is the payback time for the party.

Though there have been agitations from other districts, especially among the Akure people, who are from the central district and claimed that they are the only division in the old Ondo State, which has not yet produced a governor, the southern agitation is getting strident by the day.

Speaking on behalf of the Akure people in a recent interview, Professor Olu Aderounmu, the Vice President of Akure Division Renewal Group, said his people have been marginalised politically since the creation of the state in 1976.

Aderounmu, a former Provost of Ondo State College of Education, noted that despite the previous disunity among them in the past, “this time around Akure people in the four local governments want to speak with one voice by saying unequivocally that Akure division must produce the next governor.”

But the people of the south, who inhabit the six local councils of Ilaje, Ese-Odo, Okitipupa, Irele, Odigbo and Ile-Oluji/Oke-Igbo would not have anything to do with the postulations of Aderohunmu.

The Coordinator of CSSG, Adewunmi Adebisi argued that there is need to put an end to the socio-political imbalance and deliberate marginalisation of the southern senatorial district.

The group, which is an umbrella body of all the socio – political groups in the area, claimed the 2016 election in Ondo State must redress the anomaly by ensuring that a governor of the southern extraction takes the reins of next government.

His words: “In order not to jettison the principle of fairness, egalitarianism, social balance, justice and equity needed for harmonious political relationship of all the constituents in the state, the successor of Governor Mimiko must come from the south.”

Adewunmi stressed that the southern senatorial district is the economic bedrock of the state and must not continue to be short-changed in the scheme of things politically.

Stressing, “He who pays the piper dictates the tune,” the CSSG leader emphasized that the economic power of the southern people should give them special considerations in the politics of the state.

He added that the zone is endowed with a pool of seasoned technocrats, astute administrators, political savvy and development-oriented individuals needed in the state.

The coordinator who stated that the group is rooting for the sustenance of democratic values, maintained that to preserve the impressive legacies of past government, “it is imperative to sensitize the people on some historical perspectives on why the next Governor should be from the southern senatorial zone.”

He explained that the two governors, who ruled the state before Ekiti State was carved out in 1996, were from the northern senatorial district of the then Ondo State.
While explaining further, Adewunmi said, “in 1999, late Chief Adebayo Adefarati was also from the same district: thus the northern senatorial district has produced the elected governor of the state for three consecutive dispensations.

“The incumbent Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, is from the central senatorial district and was re-elected for second term in 2012; meanwhile, Commodore Bamidele Otiko, who governed the state as a military administrator, hailed from the old Akure division and the same central senatorial district with the incumbent governor.

“Thus, the south senatorial district has only produced one governor, who served one term, unlike other two senatorial districts. This indisputable fact and reality must constitute the nexus for all analysis and considerations in the choice of the next governor.”

Adewunmi also argued that no indigene of Ondo south senatorial district has ever been appointed an ambassador of Nigeria to any country, while the central senatorial district has produced two in recent times and the northern senatorial district one.

Among the contenders for the top office from the zone in the PDP are Chief Sola Ebiseeni, a legal practitioner and incumbent Commissioner for Environment, an office he is occupying for the second term. He is from the oil-producing Ilaje local council.

Also in the race for the PDP is the former Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta Affaira and Chairman of the Amnesty Office of the Federal Government, Kingsley Kuku, who hails from the minority Ijaw-speaking Arogbo section of Ese-Odo local council.

Although it is not yet confirmed whether he would dump the PDP as it is being speculated in the public space, another serious contender for the governorship seat is Dr. Pius Olakunle Osunyikanmi, an extremely brilliant Director-General of the Directorate of the Technical Aids corps, a Federal Government agency that deploys Nigerian personnel to provide assistance for needy African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

Osunyikanmi, from Ile-Oluji/Oke-Igbo local council, where he has the firm grip of local politics, is believed to have a very strong support base that cut across all strata of the Ondo society especially among the youths and public servants.

Among aspirants in the All Progressive Congress (APC) from the area is Chief Olusola Oke, arguably the most popular politician in the southern district who contested the governorship position with the incumbent in 2012 on the platform of the PDP.

Oke, who commands tremendous following across the district, is from Ilaje local council and his defection to the APC has depleted the membership of the PDP in the area.

The nomination of Cladius Omoleye Daramola, a Professor of Sociology from Ode-Aye, Okitipupa local council, by President Muhammadu Buhari as a minister, may have however pointed to the fact that the APC could be looking up north for its gubernatorial candidate.