Ajimobi breaks re-election jinx in Oyo

. Alao-Akala congratulates governor

Governor Abiola Ajimobi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State is on the threshold of history as he appears set to break the re-election jinx in the political capital of the Southwest region. Since its existence, no governor has been re-elected.

From the old Oyo State, the late Chief Bola Ige’s bid to return for the second term under the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) was frustrated as Chief Omololu Olunloyo of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) defeated him to assume the governorship position on October 1 to December 31, 1983 when the military seized power.

The late Chief Kolapo Ishola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) came to power on January2, 1992 till November 7, 1993.

The return of democratic rule in 1999 brought in the late Alhaji Lam Adesina of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) but his second term bid was thwarted by Rashidi Ladoja who won under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He was also defeated in 2007 by his estranged deputy, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala who was elected in his stead under the PDP.

Ajimobi defeated the duo of Ladoja and Alao-Akala in 2011 to assume power under the defunct Action Congress (AC).

The failure of successive governments in the state to win re-election was seen by many as an unwritten norm, so when Ajimobi signified his interest to seek re-election, not only the opposition saw this as a ‘taboo’ but Ajimobi, exhuming confidence said that he would be the first person to break the jinx, if there was anything like that in the first place.

And so with the results of the election, the APC candidate won in 20 out of the 33 local government councils while his arch rival, Ladoja of Accord Party (AP) won in seven and Alao-Akala of Labour Party (LP), six.

The PDP and Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidates, Senator Teslim Folarin and Seyi Makinde did not win in any local government.

In the state House of Assembly election, the APC won in 18 state constituencies, Accord won eight seats while the LP won five seats. Meanwhile, Otunba Alao-Akala has congratulated Ajimobi.

According to a statement by Alao-Akala’s director of public affairs, Oludare Ogunlana, the former governor was said to have called Ajimobi after being informed about the situation of things by his agents at the collation centre. He was said to have called before the result was announced.

He said that his decision to congratulate ‎the governor was borne out of the need to respect the people’s wish and in order for the state to be moved forward. He advised the governor to be magnanimous in victory and devise ways of taking the state to higher heights.

He reaffirmed that he did not see himself as a loser as he heeded the people’s call to serve.

Emphasizing the need to run a masses-oriented government, he said: “At this point in time, all governmental policies must reflect the yearnings and aspirations of the people. The governor, should as a matter, deploy all resources at his disposal for the overall development of the state, not leaving any region behind.”

Alao-Akala, however, thanked those who voted for him and other lawmakers-elect, saying, “defeat makes people stronger. We will go back to the drawing board to see where we went wrong and readjust for future aspiration. Our supporters should not be sad; rather they should be happy that a party they joined few months ago is able to make a good showing at the poll.”