In Ondo, commoners hold the election ace

With the election timetable recently released by the INEC, it is glaring that come November 26, 2016, Ondo State will go to the poll to elect a new governor, who will take over from Dr. Olusegun Mimiko by February 23, 2017. Aspirants are springing up daily from all the political parties existing in the state, especially the PDP and APC.

The All Progressives Congress has become the new bride in the state, enjoying an overwhelming embrace, not just because it holds the power at the centre but also for the string of victories it is gathering in the state. No doubt, the result of the last general election where the party won two seats out of three in the Senate and six seats out of nine in the House of Representatives, has gone a long way to boost the party.

The PDP is not folding its arms either. The incumbent governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko is working assiduously to counter the heightening popularity of the APC with the principal aim of replacing himself with a faithful and cherished party man. But unpaid salaries owed the civil servants may constitute an impediment to the party’s chances at the poll. Civil servants form the bulk of the electorates. Ondo State is one of the 19 States out of 36 that received bailout funds from the Federal government last year to ease the payment of huge salary arrears owned workers.

Although all the aspirants seem well positioned and prepared to dislodge one another across the parties, the electorates’ their power should never be undermined when it comes to victory at the poll. The people of Ondo State are independently minded and are not easily pushed around with the gift of money or material things, when it comes to choosing their leaders.

Historically, the electorate in Ondo State identifies more with one of their own than with the so-called elites. Past leaders like late Chief Adekunle Ajasin, Chief Adebayo Adefarati and even the incumbent governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko rose to power through the mass movement and support of the civil servants and the middle-class people. Each of them was seen as a regular or everyday person, who could readily be accessed in and out of office. The erstwhile governor of the state, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, a fine gentleman with a good heart rose to power courtesy of the PDP tsunami that swept through the entire South-West States (save Lagos) in the 2003 general election. However, he could not make it through for a second tenure. The power play then brought in someone who the people saw as a grassroots politician.

During the 2012 governorship election in the state, the flag bearer for the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN lost to the incumbent governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour party because the people could not identify with the ACN candidate, who they alleged was not close to the ordinary people. The same scenario played out in Ekiti State in the last general election, where the civil servants, who were mainly teachers turned against the then incumbent governor, who also doubled as the APC flag bearer, which eventually resulted in the defeat of the APC candidate by the PDP contender, Dr. Ayodele Fayose. This is a clear pointer to the fact that the civil servants (teachers), common people, middle-class, artisans, market women and okada riders hold all the aces that determine the poll. That brings to affirmation the words of a US jurist and author, Felix Frankfurter, who said that; “In a democratic setting, the highest office is the office of the citizens”.

Advocates of power shift to the Northern part of the state have not erred in any way. Political analysts who opined that the power should shift to the Northern Senatorial District based their argument on the focal point that the new era started with the late Chief Adebayo Adefarati from the North, who served for four years before it shifted to the South with the late Dr. Olusegun Agagu, who served for about six years before finally it came to the turn of the Central, with the incumbent, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko who is serving out his eight years. Therefore, fairness require that power should return to the North. This step will reduce the number of aspirants in the APC platform from the ridiculous 52 to a manageable size of three strong aspirants.

With the electoral precept established by the last administration, which was midwifed by the Prof. Attahiru Jega-led INEC, it has become obvious that imposing candidates on the people or presenting moneybags/politicians with federal might (often referred to as Abuja politicians) as a party flag bearer is now the shortest route to encounter failure at the poll. Any politician who is not close to the ordinary people and is feasting in the euphoria of having a federal backing will certainly find himself in the waiting arms of failure. Victory in the forth coming gubernatorial poll will largely depend on the choice of candidate during primaries.

Logically, people would rather vote for someone who has affected their lives positively, possibly by ways of employment, poverty alleviation, community development projects, etc, than someone they cannot identify with. Osemeha, a Public Affairs Analyst wrote from Lagos.