October 22, (THEWILL) – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that the Ondo State Governorship Election will be held on Saturday, November 16, 2024.
The National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, INEC, Sam Olumekun, in a statement explained that the release of the time-table and schedule of activities became imperative, considering the fact that the tenure of the Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, would end on February 23, 2025.
The commission said, as provided in Section 178 (2) of the Nigerian Constitution, that election into the said offices would hold, not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days, before the expiration of the tenure of the last holder of the office.
It added, “The latest date for Election to the office of Governor of Ondo State is 24th January 2025 adding that similarly, Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022 requires the Commission to publish Notice for the Election not later than 360 days before the date of the election.”
INEC therefore stressed that the Ondo governorship election would hold “on Saturday, November 16, 2024.”
It added that party primaries would take place between April 6 and 27, 2024, while the submission of the list of nominated candidates via the online portal would start at 9.00am on April 29, 2024 and close at 6.00pm on May 20, 2024.
It noted that the final list of candidates would be published on June 18, 2024, while campaign in public by political parties commences on June 19, 2024 and ends 24 hours prior to Election Day on November 14, 2024.
The commission revealed that a detailed time-table and schedule of activities for the election have been uploaded to its website and social media platforms.
It has therefore urged the political parties and candidates to note the activities in the time-table for strict compliance.
Following the release of the election time-table by the INEC, political parties have started putting their houses in order and setting their machinery in motion for the forthcoming election.
The parties have also started mobilising their members for the all-important election to replace Governor Akeredolu who is rounding up his second and last term in office.
Except Ondo experiences a repeat of the 2007 governorship election when former governor Olusegun Mimiko won the election on the platform of a relatively unknown party, the Labour Party (LP) and took over power from the then ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the next year’s governorship election will be a two-horse race between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
What makes next year’s governorship election more important for the people of Ondo State is the apprehension that trails the continuous absence of Governor Akeredolu not only from office but also from the state for almost four months now.
Akeredolu, who travelled abroad for medical treatment in June this year, had the medical leave extended on doctor’s advice. He returned to the country from Germany after his three months sick leave on September 7, 2023, but instead of returning to Akure, the state capital, he returned to his home in Ibadan. Up till now, the governor has not resumed office.
The PDP has even declared him ‘wanted’ as the party said the whereabouts of the governor is unknown.
The leaders of the APC and the PDP may have agreed in principle that the next governor of the state should come from the Ondo South Senatorial District. This is because Ondo Central and Ondo North have had their own terms of eight years in Government House.
Political gladiators in the state have started mobilising for the election starting with their parties’ primary elections.
Intrigue in APC as aspirants await for Akeredolu’s nod
In the APC, the present health status of Governor Akeredolu and his recent medical trip abroad has created some vacuum within his party, thereby slowing down some aspirants from coming out fully to declare their interest in the plum job.
The present situation is that the APC has remained in the forefront in terms of preparation for the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
There is little or no activity on the part of the PDP concerning the election except one or two aspirants who just addressed the media on their intention, but with no sign of being ready for the race.
THEWILL recalls that when receiving some PDP defectors in Akure recently, the Chairman of the APC in Ondo State, Engr. Ade Adetimehin, boasted that with the defection of hundreds of PDP members to APC, the opposition party has been crippled in the state.
He said, “We have been managing the party well. Some parties have collapsed because there is disagreement between the chairman and state governors, but since I came on board, more people have been joining the party.
“We have more or less a one-party system in Ondo State now; we will use the advantage to the fullest. The next election in Ondo State will be a walkover for the APC.”
Although prominent members of the APC have shown interest in succeeding Akeredolu, majority of them are cautious and waiting for the direction the governor will point to before spending on grassroots campaigns, ahead of the party primaries.
Prominent among the names that are interested in the governorship race and therefore, involved in the intrigue for power is the Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa; Chief Olusola Oke; Commissioner for Finance, Wale Akinterinwa; the lawmaker-elect for Ondo South, Jimoh Ibrahim; running mate to Akeredolu in the 2012 governorship election, Paul Akintelure; National Vice Chairman, APC South-West zone, Isaac Kekemeke, among others.
One of the consequences of this political intrigues and scheming for power is the current travail of the Deputy Governor, Aiyedatiwa who is currently facing impeachment threat from the State House of Assembly.
What is halting his impeachment is the order he got from Akure and Abuja Courts, as well as the intervention by the national leaders of the APC led by its Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje.
Aiyedatiwa’s offence, according to some insiders, is his scheming to be acting governor in the absence of the governor and an alleged attempt to hijack the control of government in Governor Akeredolu’s absence.
THEWILL recalls that on his return from the medical trip abroad, Governor Akeredolu sacked the entire media crew of the deputy governor, in what is perceived by political analysts as a sign of crack in the relationship between the deputy governor and his principal.
This development and the continuous absence of the governor in public space has watered down the struggle for the governorship election coming up next year in the ruling party.
THEWILL gathered that most of the aspirants have turned Akeredolu’s Ibadan home to a Mecca of sorts, while seeking his nod for their ambition to succeed him.
Political analysts and watchers of political developments believe that two personalities will determine who carries the party’s banner in the next election.
The personalities are Akeredolu and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Analysts believe that President Tinubu will play a big role in who carries the APC’s flag and who will eventually win next year’s governorship election, bearing in mind that he has made several efforts in the past to have his candidate installed in the state, which has not been successful.
Tinubu may favour Oke, who is also seen as the aspirant being backed by another strong power broker and First lady of the state, Betty-Anyanwu Akeredolu and Babajide, the governor’s son.
THEWILL recalls that in 2008, 2012 and 2016, efforts by President Tinubu to install a protégé as governor of the Sunshine State proved abortive.
THEWILL gathered that Tinubu, couldn’t achieve his aim despite making a huge investment and he will be desperate to get one of his men in control of Ondo now that he is the president.
Unluckily for Tinubu, though he ‘invested’ heavily in the legal battle that eventually brought former governor, Olusegun Mimiko of the then Labour Party (LP) into office. Tinubu and Mimiko later fell apart.
Another factor that may guide the election is the zoning formula, which all the political parties in the state have noted may favour Ondo South. This is likely to aggravate intrigues in the ruling party, in addition to what played out in the last three months during Akeredolu’s absence.
Party stalwarts from Ondo South Senatorial zone, the area that may likely produce the next governor in 2024, if the zoning arrangement is strictly upheld, were principally involved in the intrigue. These stakeholders are from different parts of Ondo South and are said to be nursing ambitions to succeed the governor next year
Lull in PDP
In the PDP there is little activity on ground towards the coming governorship election.
However, an aspirant, Adeolu Akinwumi, recently addressed a press conference and said that the ruling APC in the state would be chased out in 2024 for its abysmal performance.
Akinwumi, who is a chieftain of the PDP in Ondo, called on the major opposition party in the state to look towards the Ondo South Senatorial District in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
Akinwumi who said it is the turn of the zone to produce Akeredolu’s successor, noted that Ondo South must have the right of first refusal before other aspirants from other zones show interest in the governorship position.
Speaking with THEWILL, the state publicity secretary of the PDP, Mr Kennedy Ikantu Peretei, said the party is preparing silently. “You know we are not in government. It is a matter of strategy and we do not owe the public any apology for keeping our strategy to our chest,” he said.
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
