Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun announcement of his intention to contest for a senate seat from his Ogun central senatorial constituency district today in Abeokuta further heighten the palpable tension among the eighteen aspirants in his party the All Progressives Congress(APC), who are jostling to fly the party’s flag in next years election in the state.
While the stakeholders who gathered at a meeting today in the state capital after series of other meetings between aspirants and stakeholders on the mode of election and who will step into his shoes were eagerly expecting to decode his ultimate body language on the matter,he instead shift the goal post further and kept political pundits within and without the party guessing when he instead told the rather bemused audience of his intention to go back to seek election to the upper legislative chamber.
Governor Amosun it will be recalled, emerged the Senator representing Ogun central in 2003 after having defeated Senator Femi Okunrounmu of the then Alliance for Democracy(AD), the party which won the seat in 1999 when the nation returned to politics.
Since the past six months, todays announcement by Governor Amosun had been whispered in muffled tones by close political observers who are always quick to assume that the state governor would not likely deviate from the practise of many of his colleagues who always scheme and plot to retire to the upper legislative chamber after serving their two terms as Governor.
But more than anything else the seventeen governorship aspirants who have been consulting all over the state to seek support to carry the parties flag were all expectant about today’s stakeholders meeting called by the party to determine the mode of the election to pick the parties candidate but which was yesterday been conceded to Governor Amosun to decide by both the state exco and party leaders.
The anxiety among the 18 aspirants eleven of which are from the Ogun west senatorial district, the district yet to produce a governor since the states creation in 1976, heightened yet no direct clue as to the mind of the Governor.To many,he appears mercurial in the strategy to unveil who succeeds him.
It would be recalled that the Ogun West Elders forum who have had several meetings and made the eleven aspirants to sign an undertaking to support whoever of them emerged as the governorship candidate.The Ogun west elders, Newdawnngr.com learnt that names of three candidates have been sent to Governor Amosun for consideration since he had repeatedly declared his preference for a candidate of Ogun west extraction to succeed him.
Governor Amosun had often told a bewildered stakeholders that the person who would succeed him may not be a party member but rather, a young business whiz kid who will surpass him in administration.
But the real test of the strength of tomorrow’s decision will be the attitude of the six aspirants from Ogun east who are angling to take the slot with the argument that it is the turn of the zone.
This argument according to them, is based on their conviction that the Ogun west lost their chance with the election of Governor Amosun in 2011 having defeated the candidate of incumbent Governor Gbenga Daniel of the then Peoples Democratic Party(PDP).
Newdawn sources revealed that the Ogun West Elders Forum have pruned down the list of eleven aspirants to two and made their position known only to the Governor.
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Among the list which came after months of political horse trading among stake holders and screening is Omo Oba Aderibigbe Adeleke Tella from Ilaro headquarters of Yewa South and Abiodun Ogunlade a member of the house of representatives. Another aspirant from the zone is incumbent speaker Suraju Adekunbi from Yewa North. But it is doubtful whether he made the final list of two sent to the governor last week.
However, the candidature of the chief of staff to the Governor, Chief Tolu Odebiyi, son of the first republic minister and late Senator is unsettling not quite a few considering the closeness to the Governor and the probability of his wanting to select somebody who has worked closely with him for some years both for political and administrative exigencies.
Yet, Govenor Amosun would also consider the seeming popularity of the aspirant from the stable of the African Democratic Congress(ADC), Mr Gboyega Nasir Isiaka who came second to him during the 2015 election and who is also from Yewa in deciding who he picks to succeed him.Today, GNI as he is being called is relatively popular more than many aspirants from the Ogun west.
Yet, another scenario to consider is whether the other seven candidates from Ogun east led by Mr Jimi Lawal and one of Amosun commissioners, Mr Bimbo Ashiru will willingly accept the governors decision in the party primaries and be a good party men by staying put in the to support the governors choice.
Whatever decision Governor Amosun has in the past seven years changed the infrastructural landscape of the state than all the previous government who have ruled the state combined take, will go a long way in determining the shape of politics to come in the next few months and ultimately who rules the Gateway state considering the rising influence of other parties like the PDP and ADC and the generality of the people known for their political sophistication .
