2015: The candidate Oyo needs against Ajimobi to win

As political activities begin to gather momentum across Oyo State ahead of the 2015 governorship election, the question on the lips of many residents of the state is, who will the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) present as its candidate to confront at the polls the incumbent Senator Abiola Ajimobi who is increasingly becoming so unpopular to the extent that he is virtually ripe for the picking.

While four dominant parties will likely slug it out in the Oyo State governorship election (APC with Ajimobi as its obvious candidate, Labour Party with Sharafadeen Alli, Accord with Senator Rashidi Ladoja and PDP which has yet has no candidate), the general expectation is that PDP with its well financed nationwide structure and as the ruling party at the centre is the best poised to rout Ajimobi from power.

As it were, there are about a dozen strong aspirants jostling for the PDP ticket. But it is generally agreed that if the contest were to be based on combined factors of grassroots popularity, crossover appeal, character and experience in government alone, Alhaji Kehinde Olaosebikan, a journalist and former Oluyole local government chairman from Ibadan, the sprawling capital of Oyo State which boasts of 11 out of 33 local governments in the state has what it takes to sweep the struggling Ajimobi out of Agodi Government House.

But what Olaosebikan lacks, which some of the aspirants have is financial muscle. There is however no doubt that PDP, which in any case has the financial resources to back any of its candidates, need to pick someone with the mass appeal of Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State whose rapport with the Ekiti masses is widely known.

Because while it may be true that Ajimobi with his anti-poor programmes is probably too weak to win a second term, it is necessary for the PDP decision makers to choose a candidate with the right qualities who can give the party a sweeping, non-controversial victory like what was recently witnessed in Ekiti State where Fayose trounced Kayode Fayemi the incumbent in what has been widely described as one of the freest election since the historical June 12, 1993 presidential election. Even Fayemi publicly agreed that Ekiti people had spoken, an unprecedented phenomenon in Nigeria where no one accepts defeat.

Neither former governor, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala nor Senator Teslim Folarin have what it takes to give PDP what Fayose gave the party in Ekiti. They are simply too controversial and divisive to ensure a clear victory in the 2015 gubernatorial polls. It is no secret that if Akala were to be picked as the party’s choice, his political ambition would be sabotaged by his sworn enemies in PDP who are determined to undermine him again just like they did in 2011. Ajimobi rather than PDP is therefore likely to be the beneficiary of Akala’s candidacy.

What holds for Akala also holds for Folarin who despite serving two terms in the Senate is just incapable of being the party’s rallying point. That explains why the party needs a candidate who appeals to the wide spectrum of the party and has the connection with the poor masses of Oyo State who are fed up with the draconian Ajimobi government

*Ogunmola wrote this piece from Ibadan.