The Ekiti election is here at last. After four years at the helm, the people of Ekiti will elect a governor to replace Ayodele Fayose, the incumbent.
Thirty five political parties are fielding candidates, but the contest is seen as a direct face-off between the two major political parties in the state – the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Out of the 913,334 eligible voters in the state, only 646,000 have collected their Permanent Voters CArd (PVC) and would decide the next governor.
Other key contestants in the race are former deputy governors Sikiru Lawal of the Labour Party, Bisi Omoyeni of the Mega Party of Nigeria and Biodun Aluko of the Accord Party.
The governor, Ayodele Fayose, has adopted his deputy, Prof Kolapo Olusola Eleka as his successor and he is doing all in his power to ensure that the PDP wins. The opposition too, are determined to ensure that Fayose does not return through proxy and they are putting their hopes on Fayemi who is seeking a second term after suffering the worst ever defeat for an incumbent governor in the history of the country. He lost in all 16 local government areas (including his own) in that 2014 election.
The impression in that last election was that Fayose used the federal might, since his party, the PDP, was the party leading in Abuja at the time, to swing things in his favour. There are allegations that APC is poised to do same on Saturday.
Incumbency factor is however in the PDP’s favour. Fayose is believed to have performed moderately in the face of dwindling revenues to the state. He has a strong connection with the grassroots which is expected to count in his favour.
The defections which followed the PDP primary may negatively affect the party’s chances. Politicians like Senator Ayo Arise; former Minister of Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye; former Speaker, Hon. Dele Olugbemi; former Commissioners, Barr. Owoseeni Ajayi and Deji Adesua; PDP Majority Leader in the Assembly, Hon. Ebenezer Alagbada and Chief Whip, Hon. Sunday Akinniyi; former Special Adviser on Tourism, Demola Bello; former Senior Special Assistant on Finance, Mr. Cyril Fasuyi and other bigwigs to mention but a few havwe now pitched their tents with the APC.
On the APC side, although there were no defections, some politicians like former governor Segun Oni and political adviser to the vice president, Babafemi Ojodu, are not too keen to see a victory for Fayemi. In fact, Oni is currently challenging Fayemi’s primary win in court.
The PDP has the more youthful ticket. Olusola who is 50 years old chose 39 year old Deji Ogunsakin as his deputy. However the 53 year old Fayemi chose a 74 year old Bisi Elegbeyi as his deputy. The two deputies hail from Ado-Ekiti – the largest council in the state – and are both former chairmen of the local council but Elegbeyi held that position when Ogunsakin was just a teenager.
In terms of resources, the PDP may be at a disadvantage despite being the ruling party in the state. Ekiti is believed to be cash-strapped but the APC has federal backing behind it.
Another strong factor that may determine the election is the issue of zoning. The PDP candidate hails from Ikere, the second most populous council in the state and from the southern Senatorial zone in the state. That zone is yet to produce a governor since the state was created out of the Old Ondo state. The duo of Fayemi and Segun Oni (former governors) were from the North, while Fayose and Adebayo (also a former governor) are from the Central Senatorial District. People from the south feel they deserve the right to produce the next governor. This gives Olusola an advantage and informs why Fayose dumped other aspirants and embraced Olusola. However the defection of a strong PDP governorship aspirant from the South, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, to the APC might have strengthened the APC’s hands.
There is some agreement that Fayose has performed reasonably considering the little federal allocation to the state. He has been able to put up some legacy structures such as flyover, new Oja Oba and a new complex for the State High Court among others. However, the non-payment of salary, pension and allowances may affect the PDP’s popularity and chances among civil servants. The core civil servants in the state are being owed six months salary, while LG workers nine months and other allowances.
The governor, who has pledged to pay off salaries owed before leaving office, or have them paid by his party’s candidate, if he wins the Saturday’s contest, has been holding series of meeting with civil servants, teachers, okada riders, commercial vehicle drivers, and local government workers in order to curry their votes.
Fayemi, the APC candidate, has been reminding voters of how he jacked up workers’ salaries during his time and released other incentives like running grants, loans and special allowances as and when due during his time as a governor. All these benefits were abolished under the present governor. Fayemi was explicit that the highly vexatious and controversial Teachers’ Development Needs Assessment, which pitted him against the
civil servants would not be revisited. He has also dismissed claims by the outgoing governor that he plans to ban okada if elected.
This election seems to be a departure from the past. It is hard to predict who will be the next occupant of Oke Bareke Government House few days to election. In 1999, people already knew one month to election that Otunba Niyi Adebayo of the Alliance for Democracy(AD) would win. In 2003, it was clear and palpable two weeks to election that Mr. Ayodele Fayose would emerge the governor. The case was similar in the 2007 and 2014 elections which the duo of Fayemi and the present governor had won.
There is a lot of anxiety in the state. However, security operatives and the Independent National Electoral Commission have assured the people of a peaceful poll.
Ostensibly to ensure the credibility of the poll, the Deputy Inspector General of Police(DIG) in charge of Operations, Habilal Joshak, has said security details of all important personalities in the state including those of Fayose and Fayemi, will be withdrawn on Saturday. He added that he would work with one Assistant Inspector General of Police(AIG), Mr. H.H. Karma and three other Commissioners of Police; Ali Janga, J.B. Kokumo and G.B. Umar, who will man each of the senatorial districts in the state.
Joshak urged his men not to work for any political party, saying any police officer found exhibiting such will have himself to blame.
“Those who want to create posts where votes are going to be bought will be disappointed. We are not going allow it. If you cast your votes, you can keep a distance and protect your votes, but if you snatch the ballot, we will cut off your hands, if you run with it, we will stop your legs,” he said.
The Police Force Headquarters had earlier said 30,000 security officials would be deployed in the state for the election.
Also, the Director General of National Youth Service Corps, Brig.Gen. Sulaiman Kazaure, advised corps members participating in the Saturday’s governorship election as ad-hoc staff to be neutral.
“Be security conscious and i want to inform you that security agencies have assured us of your safety before,during and after the election. All you need to do is to follow the guideline given to you by INEC. You will be given allowance by INEC so, don’t be moved by politicians and money,” Kazaure said.
