Akeredolu, Ajayi, Jegede In The Court of Ondo Electorate
As three lawyers, including two Senior Advocates of Nigeria, and other governorship contestants, having canvassed their manifestoes in the Ondo State political and public opinion court, await the verdict of the state’s electorate on October 10, 2020; the questions on the minds of many people are: Will the incumbent Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, who is the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) get the verdict of the people for a second term of governance in the ‘Sunshine State’ from among the 17 political parties on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ballot paper for the election?
Will he make history by becoming the second person, after Olusegun Mimiko, to be reelected in the state which has a land area of about 15,500kms (6,000sq.ml) and according to the 2006 census, a population of 3,441,924 people.
Mimiko, popularly called Iroko, served as governor of the state from 2009 to 2017.
Will Akeredolu’s deputy, Agboola Ajayi, who is the governorship flagbearer of the Zenith Labour Party, (ZLP) democratically oust his estranged boss?
Or will
who is the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), outsmart Akeredolu and Ajayi, who both piloted the governance of the state for over three years before things fell apart between them and the centre could not hold?
Will the election be peaceful or will there be a reenactment of the violence which nearly consumed the state in 1983 as a result of the people’s revolt when the election was rigged for Chief Akinwole Micheal Omoboriowo against Chief Adekunle Ajasin?
Ajasin, who lived between 28 November 1908 and 3 October, 1997 was elected Ondo State governor between October 1979 and October 1983 on the platform of the Unity Party of Nigeria. (UPN).
Omoboriowo, an Awoist, who lived between 12 January, 1932 and 10 April, 2012 was a lawyer and the then Deputy Governor to Ajasin on the platform of the UPN. He later fell out with Ajasin as the governor failed to swear him into power as acting governor when Ajasin was to be away from Ondo State.
Omoboriowo, later in 1983 contested under the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) against Ajasin of UPN. The Federal Electoral Commission’s announcement of Omoboriowo as the winner of the election on 16 August, 1983, sparked a deadly violence in the state which is believed to have precipitated the collapse of the Second Republic.
The ensuing riot was said to be the most violent in the post-independence Yoruba history, second only to operation ‘Wet e.’ Many lives were lost and properties burnt or destroyed while Omoboriowo had to be smuggled out of the town.
The current political contest spreads its tentacles across the three senatorial districts of the state.
Akeredolu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, (SAN) popularly called Aketi is from Owo in Owo Local Government Area in the Ondo North senatorial district and had served as a former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, which is one of the oil-producing states in Nigeria.
Jegede, another SAN, is from Akure, the capital city of the state in Ondo Central senatorial district and is also a former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the state that was created on February 3, 1976 from the defunct Western Region.
While Ajayi is from the South senatorial district, and a former councillor, local government chairman, member of the House of Representative and curiously still currently Akeredolu’s deputy. He defected from the APC to the PDP apparently eyeing the governorship candidacy of the party but when he lost, dumped the PDP and ran to ZLP where he manoeuvred his way to become the candidate of the party.
Normally, the INEC should have among its activities for the election, conducted fresh voter registration and distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) but the impact of the deadly Coronavirus pandemic, left its scare on the Ondo election as the electoral body could not conduct fresh voter registration and distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in the state. This made the state still have its electoral record as 1,478,460 electorates with PVCs out of 1,822,346 registered voters.
It also has 3,009 polling units from 203 wards, 26 members of the House of Assembly, eight members of the House of Representatives, three senatorial seats and 18 local government areas.
Ondo has an off-cycle, off-season governorship election and shares the status with Kogi, Edo, Bayelsa, Anambra, Ekiti and Osun. They are seven out of the 36 states that have off-cycle, off-season governorship elections.
Ondo joined the off-cycle, off-season governorship election state, as a result of the judicial verdict on the 2007 governorship election petition between the then candidate of the Labour Party, Olusegun Mimiko, and the candidate of the PDP, Olusegun Agagu. Mimiko won at the Court of Appeal in 2008, which was then the terminal court for governorship electoral petitions.
Many people are apprehensive that the 10 October, 2020, Ondo governorship election will not enjoy violence-free exercise.
Will the political actors and their supporters surprise cynics or will the prove them right? Saturday and Sunday will tell!
However, some pieces of advise from the leader of Pan Niger Delta Forum, Pa Edwin Clark, may be instructive for those who are planning to rig the election so as either to occupy or continue to occupy the Alagbaka Government House in Akure.
He pleaded with them to avoid the repeat of Omoboriowo/Ajasin saga.
According to him, they should take a cue from the September 19, 2020 governorship election in Edo State, which involved the incumbent governor, Godwin Obaseki, the candidate of the PDP and Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the APC governorship flag bearer.
He noted that the duo contested on behalf of their parties but that the will of the people of Edo State prevailed.
He cautioned against violence and outside interference.
The nonagenarian advised them to cast their ballots and do not be intimidated by security operatives.
He said, “Let them decide that they want peace in Ondo State. They should go for the governor of their choice, and ensure that their votes count. Violence brings nothing. Stealing of ballot papers is unnecessary. Whosoever steals ballot papers and boxes puts his life at risk. And that is what happened in Edo State.”
A retired security expert, Olusola Amore, urged security operatives, particularly police personnel, to adhere strictly to the rule of engagement and directives of the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu. He cautioned them to avoid moving around with politicians, including Very Important Persons, during the election.
Amore, who is a retired Commissioner of Police, said after voting, the electorate should not be allowed to roam, adding that most ballot box snatching happen when voters are allowed to roam after they have voted.
He lamented that the prohibition of police from carrying arms during election duties also gives room for thugs to perpetrate violence during an election.
He, however, said that since the Ondo election is not a national election, there should be enough security operatives, to ensure credible and a violent-free election.
According to him, there should be enough arm patrols to forestall the activities of thugs.
He stated that another strategy for the election to be peaceful is for security operatives to maintain neutrality and be non-partisan.
The Director, Centre for Democracy and Development, Idiyat Hassan, urged the Ondo electorate to go enmass and cast their ballots, according to their consciences, and avoid resorting to violence.
She advised them to abide by COVID-19 protocol to prevent a resurgence of coronavirus after the election.
She urged the governorship candidates to eschew violence and resort to court for redress if aggrieved.
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