In another off-cycle election in Nigeria (similar to the recently held Edo State governorship polls), the people of Ondo State are set to visit the polls on Saturday in a hotly contested election that could see the arrival of a new governor in the state.
As officially announced in August, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) through its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr. Festus Okoye, said that 17 candidates from different political parties had been screened to participate in the upcoming Ondo state governorship elections.
In what has been described as a three-way race, it is either the electorate return incumbent Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of the APC or they vote from an opposition list that includes Eyitayo Jegede of the PDP and incumbent Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi, who is running on a ticket from the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Akeredolu was first elected governor of the state in 2016. He won the election, even as an opposition candidate, defeating Eyitayo Jegede who was the governorship candidate at the time under the ruling party, PDP.
He debuted his gubernatorial ambition in 2012 on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria. He only won in three of the 18 local council areas in the state, losing the election to the then incumbent governor, Olusegun Mimiko, who is the first person to have completed two terms of eight years as a democratically elected governor of the state.
The October 10 election will make it the third time Akeredolu will be seeking election for the governorship seat.
Eyitayo Jegede
Jegede has served as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice under the administration of the immediate past governor of the state, Olusegun Mimiko.
There were issues around his candidacy in 2016 until the courts finally resolved that he was the right candidate for the PDP, barely a few days to the election He is the candidate of the PDP. He was the candidate of the same party in 2016 but lost to the incumbent Governor Rotimi Akeredolu who was the opposition candidate at the time.
Agboola Ajayi
Ajayi is the incumbent Deputy Governor of Ondo State. He parted ways with his governor following political differences that eventually led him to the opposition party PDP. However, Ajayi left the PDP after spending less than a month with the party. His exit was motivated by his loss at the party’s primaries to Eyitayo Jegede.
Meanwhile, all attempts to impeach him by the State House of Assembly have so far proved abortive, just as the governor and his supporters continue to bash him over what they call an act of betrayal on the part of Ajayi.
He is currently running on a ticket from the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
This story is part of our new series on Nigeria where we analyse electoral and political reform in the country ahead of the next general elections in 2023.
