ONDO 2016: Elders unanimously zone candidacy to Akoko-North.

After several months of consultations within themselves as touching the gubernatorial election in Ondo state and regarding the number of Akoko-indigent aspirants who have declared an interest, the revered forum of Akoko elders under the aegis of APC Akoko Elders Assembly, have finally signaled their informed readiness to embrace a uniform candidate who they believe will truly bring a turnaround to the econmic and social fortunes of Ondo state. To this end, they have zoned the gubernatorial candidacy to the Akoko North federal constituency of Ondo state.

Speaking on behalf of the elders in a meeting held on Thursday, 7th of June in Arigidi-Akoko, the Chairman of the assembly, Chief Felix Aiyegbusi, stated clearly that their decision to zone the candidacy to Akoko North was purely based on the order of equity and fairness to the federal constituency, which has not been given the opportunity to take up any position of responsibility in the past years, compared to other constituencies in Akokoland and by extension, the entire Ondo north senatorial district.

In his words, “We the APC Akoko Elders Forum have reached a decision at this stage of the campaign towards the gubernatorial election in Ondo, to zone the candidacy of to Akoko North federal constituency. This decision was made to maintain peace, unity, progress and statesmanship in Akokoland, as there is no reason to create confusion within ourselves”.

Aiyegbusi added, “This decision is unanimous, and we have thrown the challenge back to the Akoko North people and the gubernatorial aspirants that hail from there, to further consult within themselves and present one uniform viable candidate of their own choosing to us. That one candidate should be sure of our backing”.

The Akoko elders are sympathetic towards the progressive party, considering the undeniable failure of the PDP government in the state. Therefore, the crust of their discussions has been hinged on presenting a strong candidate, who is competent, loyal, and popular enough to outwit the incumbent administration, come the 26th of November.

The unity of Akoko has always being a paramount parameter in its politics. As vast as Akokoland is, the elders have always ensured in their wisdom to engage in thorough consultations and objective considerations to support a consensus for the sake of Akoko’s unity, especially in situations when more than one Akoko indigene have similar ambitions.

By the natural default of fairness and equity, not mere  ‘zoning’ as some political obeservers would say, it is quite agreeable that the district to produce the next Governor in the state is the Ondo North senatorial district. This is considering the fact that the present Governor, Dr. Mimiko, is from the Ondo Central district, and his predecessor, Dr. Olusegun Agagu from Ondo South. Some of the politically sound and savvy elites within the state, especially in the All Progressives Congress (APC) embrace this fact and actually work by it.

Out of the array of aspirants who hail from Akoko, which include Barrister Tunji Abayomi, Dr. Olusegun Abraham, Gani Dauda, Senator Ajayi Boroffice, and Hon. Victor Olabimtan, three amongst them have been seen as very strong contenders to presented as the consensus candidate to flag the party’s ticket.

According to an understanding secured from the discussions of the elders, one factor that guided their resolve is the fact that Akoko has two federal constituencies, Akoko South and Akoko North. At the moment, the Senator representing Ondo North is from the Akoko South part, and late Michael Adefarati, the Governor who served between 1999 to 2003 was also from Akoko South. In the natural order of fairness, the elders have largely mooted that Akoko North deserves the opportunity to produce the worthy consensus this time.

Thus, effectively pruning the figure to three major aspirants, namely, Olusegun Abraham from Ikare, Tunji Abayomi from Oke-Agbe and Gani Dauda from Irun-Akoko.