Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of All Progressives Congress (APC) recently dissolved the cabinet he inherited and retained his only two appointees. BABATOPE OKEOWO analyses the tasks that the governor would face when he assumes office on February 24
The tenure of late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and Hon Lucky Aiyedatiwa that started in February 2021 will end on February 24, paving way for the new tenure of Aiyedatiwa and Dr Olaiyide Adelami. Sequel to the death of Akeredolu on December 27, 2023, the erstwhile Deputy Governor, Aiyedatiwa was sworn in as the substantive governor while Adelami, a retired technocrat from Owo, the hometown of the former governor was made the Deputy Governor.
In the run-up to the APC primaries, Aiyedatiwa defeated other aspirants to emerge as candidate. He eventually defeated candidates of other political parties including Hon Agboola Ajayi of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Abbass Mimiko of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Otunba Bamidele Akingboye of Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Hon Olugbenga Edema of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) to emerge as the winner.
Albatross of victory
One of the reasons Aiyedatiwa won the election was the backing of the presidency, governors of the party and the national leadership of APC. Since Aiyedatiwa belongs to the party in power at the center, he was availed with the federal might. The power of incumbency from time immemorial has always been a nightmare for any arch rival. In other words, as an incumbent governor, he had enough resources to fund his election because it is widely believed that any aspirant, who wishes to succeed in any contest, must have the wherewithal, party structure as well as proven integrity.
Aiyedatiwa has the funds that he deployed in his favour. But this was not enough and he had to seek support from other leaders. Shortly before the election, he appointed about 400 people as Senior Special Assistants and Assistants. These individuals served as canvassers during the election.
About 48 hours to the election, governors elected on the platform of APC stormed the state to give financial and moral support to their colleague in the state. For instance, Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State met with indigenes of the state living in Ondo State and wooed them for Aiyedatiwa. Similarly, Governor Hyacinth of Benue State met with his kinsmen in Ondo State and directed them to vote for Aiyedatiwa. Babagana Zulum of Borno State was in the mosque on Friday preceding the Election Day to donate money and sought Muslims’ support for his colleague in Ondo State running for election.
The factors that aided the election would be his albatross after he must have been sworn in as the seventh elected governor of the state as the governors and party leaders at the national level who supported him would want to have input into his cabinet. The members of the State Executive Council inherited from late Akeredolu had been dissolved a few weeks before his inauguration.
He however left Commissioner for Finance, Omowunmi Isaac and the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr Kayode Ajulo SAN; the two new commissioners he appointed after he became governor after the demise of his former boss. The jostle for juicy appointments and contracts from party leaders who supported him during the primaries and the election would be a major challenge after he must have been sworn in on February 24. What he does with the hundreds of SSAs and SA after February 24 would shape the government.
Post-election reconciliation and consolidation
Prior to the primary that produced Aiyedatiwa as the candidate of the APC, top members of the party who were interested in the ticket included Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, Chief Olusola Oke SAN, Hon Wale Akinterinwa, Hon Olugbenga Edema and Hon Jimi Odimayo among others. After his emergence as the candidate, many of the aspirants were embittered. One of them, Ibrahim filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja to challenge the party primaries. The major grouse of the Senator representing Ondo South was the non-conduct of the primary by the APC. It took the intervention of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the senator to withdraw the suit.
Despite the withdrawal of the suit, the top aspirants stayed away from the campaigns of the candidate. Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu who was the chairman of the National Campaign Council for all the aspirants with the exemption of Edema stepped in to get them to sheath their swords and join the campaign train of the party’s candidate. The details of the working arrangement between the candidate and erstwhile aspirants were not disclosed to the media. However, all the aspirants collapsed their structures and supported Aiyedatiwa who won the election landslide. Fulfilling his side of the agreement would be a major challenge after the inauguration of next month.
Vendetta against hitherto hostile lawmakers
Before his death, late Akeredolu through the House of Assembly had commenced impeachment move against his erstwhile Deputy. The impeachment move was spearheaded by the Speaker and Majority Leader, Hon Olamide Oladiji and Oluwole Ogunmolasuyi. Virtually all the members of the Assembly had signed the impeachment notice against Aiyedatiwa. The Impeachment Notice read by the Clerk of the Assembly, Mr Benjamin Jayeoba, and signed by members of the Assembly accused the then embattled Deputy Governor of offence contrary to the provision of the 1999 constitution. Aiyedatiwa ran from one court to another to halt the move. Again it took the intervention of President Tinubu for him to be sworn in as Acting Governor. The death of Akeredolu eventually paved the way for the emergence of Aiyedatiwa as substantive governor.
Although the lawmakers who wanted to impeach him have since become his ardent supporters, it is however difficult to know if Governor Aiyedatiwa has forgiven them for his harrowing experiences when he battled the impeachment move. Some of the lawmakers especially those of the APC would need his support for the party’s ticket and the election. It remains to be seen if Aiyedatiwa would be magnanimous to overlook those who once wanted to cut short his political career through impeachment.
Battle for party’s structure
There is no doubt that the APC structure at the state and local government levels are firmly in the hands of those loyal to late Akeredolu. The Chairman of the party, Engr. Ade Adetimehin and members of the State Executive Council were installed by Akeredolu. The governor would need the structures of the party in order to install his loyalists as candidates of the party in the 2027 general elections.
Observers once said an attempt to hijack the party’s structure by suspected loyalists of the governor failed shortly after the victory of the November 16 governorship election. Some party members have sealed the secretariat of the party with palm fronts and fetish objects. They also demanded the removal of Adetimehin as the Chairman of the party. However, the coup failed due to the intervention of national leaders of the party.
Since the attempt to remove Adetimehin through illegal means failed, the battle for the control of the party’s structures would wait until later in the year during the state congress of the party. Already, Aiyedatiwa has started the control of grassroots politics with the conduct of primaries to elect 18 chairmanship and 203 councillors candidates of the party. With the emergence of his supporters as leaders at the grassroots, it would not be difficult for him to take over the structures of the party during the congress of the party. The governor would be able to use the party structures to determine those who would get the ticket of his party for the contest. He would also use it to determine his successor in the future governorship election.
Dividends of democracy
Aiyedatiwa during the inauguration of the national campaign council, said his administration’s interventions justified his quest for reelection. He said his administration was deliberately focused on Infrastructural Development, Public Utilities Renewal, Agricultural Production increment, Entrepreneurship and Youth Development, Job Creation and Security. He said the administration has focused on strengthening governance institutions through fiscal discipline, improved healthcare, access to quality education and responsible citizenship.
However, these achievements were legacies of late Akeredolu. He would love to leave personal legacies for the future generation. Some of the decisions jointly taken when Akeredolu was in the saddle would be rescinded. For instance, the cement barricades at Oba-Adesida Road have been removed for an iron barricade designed by the new sheriff in town. Aiyedatiwa would want to have structures that would be named after him. By the time he would be sworn in next month, he must have left the shadow of Akeredolu and would be fully in charge.
Mimiko factor
Few weeks to the November 16 governorship election, about 5,000 political associates of Dr Olusegun Mimiko, former governor of the state were received into the APC. The leaders of different political parties, including former House of Representatives members, Commissioners, Special Advisers, and Assistants in the state government during Mimiko’s era, announced their intention to ditch the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and team up with APC.
Leading the new members into the APC were two-term members of the House of Representatives and former Labour leader, Hon Akinlaja Joseph, Hon Lad Alaba Ojomo, Hon Jumoke Akindele, Hon Victor Akinjo, and Hon Gboluga Ikengboju. They said they have since moved their commitment to the cause of the APC, Ondo State people, and Nigeria. Speaking on behalf of other defectors, Akinlaja said they joined the APC mostly from the PDP to contribute their quota to the seamless victory of Governor Aiyedatiwa and the APC in the forthcoming election.
With the victory at the polls, how to compensate for the deluge of Mimiko’s political family would be a herculean task after his inauguration. Some of them would need the APC’s ticket to contest election while others would seek appointments into different offices. Mimiko as the only living former governor would need placement for his supporters while those who stood by Aiyedatiwa during the crisis of Akeredolu and impeachment saga would want to control the chunk of the political pie. Those who have remained in APC and served the party meritoriously would want compensation. The governor would need the wisdom of Biblical Solomon to balance the situation among the contending forces.
Lessons from history
One of the major pitfalls of governors in the state had always been the rift between them and their deputies. The rift between late Chief Adekunle Ajasin and Akin Omoboriowo of Second Republic was a reference point in Nigeria political history. Governor Olusegun Mimiko got his Deputy, Alhaji Ali Olanusi impeached in 2015. Attempts by late Akeredolu to impeach his deputies, Hon Agboola Alfred Ajayi and Aiyedatiwa failed. What usually start as cordial relationships usually end in bitter separation. The relationship between Aiyedatiwa and Adelami is still cordial, but for how long?
The task ahead
Although the incoming administration is Aiyedatiwa’s, he would need to work hard to win the confidence of the diehard supporters of late Akeredolu who have accused him of abandoning his predecessor’s legacies. Another challenge is who would manage the first lady’s office, since Mrs. Seun Aiyedatiwa has not been seen near the governor’s office since her husband became governor.
Setting agenda for the governor, Senator Nicholas Tofowomo, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who represented Ondo South in the 9th Senate, said “Now, it is time for him to sit back, and think, identify five projects- education, rural development, healthcare, good transportation network, put it right and welfare of civil servants. If he can put those things right, that is enough for him to write his name in gold.”
