touchaheart Nigeria reports that Political fluctuations in Oyo State can always be predicted based on the local climate. Goodluck Jonathan and Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) were the front-runners in both the 2011 and 2015 presidential elections, thus it is not surprising that they prevailed. Seyi Makinde is unquestionably the name on everyone’s lips ahead of Saturday’s gubernatorial vote, just as Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was two weeks ago when the presidential vote was place.
If unsure, take a motorbike, taxi, or tricycle ride. In fact, the enthusiasm among voters for Makinde’s reelection as governor of the Pacesetter State is so contagious that you begin to question if there are any other contenders. The intriguing thing is that some of the other contenders, who are huffing and puffing at the possibilities of inevitable defeat on Saturday, genuinely have a future to dream about, assuming they don’t derail themselves through dishonorable behavior and enter political oblivion. They understand that Makinde will win reelection.
The Oyo people are aware of who will be their next governor, therefore there is no need for the main opposition in the state to be in disarray before of Saturday’s poll, as several pro-president-elect organisations have thrown their support behind Makinde’s re-election campaign. And the man in Agodi right now is in charge. A tyrannical political warlord may incite a mob that is led by its muscles rather than its intellect, but he will never depose a record-breaking, methodical, humble, and kind leader who has lifted the populace out of the pit of despair and into a state of hope and glow. The Oyo people have a strong dislike for political rogues and warmongers with no agenda.
Members of the Yoruba Campaign for BAT, the Southern for Tinubu BAT Democracy, and the Tinubu Campaign Movement are not competing in a noise-making contest; their preference is based on fact. They have made it clear to anyone who would listen that their support for Makinde is based on his excellent performance and that they cannot, in good conscience, sing praises for someone who is only average. It is simple English. “Our grassroots mobilizers are presently on a house-to-house campaign for the re-election of the governor,” say the groups’ national coordinator, Mr. Adebayo Moronsole, and public relations officer/director of strategy, Mr. Emmanuel Adesanya. Peace and security in the state are just two of the many positive things that Makinde’s government has accomplished.
The Omituntun Initiative in the Diaspora, a group of Nigerian professionals, then appears. They are located, among other places, in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, China, Malaysia, Brazil, Republic of Ireland, Germany, Israel, Hungary, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Botswana, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa. The group claims that Makinde merits a sizable vote from the good people of Oyo State in order to continue his re-engineering programs for the socio-political and economic stability of the state as a pacesetter based on an outstanding record of achievements and the execution of excellent trailblazing projects in all sectors. Nigerians abroad are proud of Makinde as a dynamic and innovative leader whose government has achieved success, according to a statement from the organisation signed by its spokesperson, Ayotomiwa Adebayo.
Makinde has changed the status quo of governance, promoted unity, and reignited hope for the potential of a better future,” it was written in the statement. In fact, Oyo State is presently enjoying unheard-of economic growth and a generational shift from terrible leadership and bad governance to good government. The viability of Omituntun 2.0, a sustainable socioeconomic development and growth strategy for his second term tenure, is supported by these admirable accomplishments.
Adebayo emphasized that the decent people of Oyo State, comprising professional bodies, unions, pensioners, public employees, teachers, students, farmers, artisans, youths, traders, among others, would never again permit avaricious political godfathers and their henchmen to come to power this year.
Teslim Folarin, the candidate of a party that just two weeks ago easily won three seats in the Senate and nine seats in the House of Representatives, is not in a strong position to win Saturday’s election. This is something that only people who are unfamiliar with the dynamics of politics in Oyo State would find surprising. The election of one of its own as president simply served to boost the party’s popularity, and the vote on February 25 does not in any way represent a support for Makinde’s political opponents. Given the governor’s choice for a southern president after eight years of northern administration, it goes without saying that the people merely acted on his wish, enraged by
In any case, the opposition in Oyo State is exactly where the People’s Democratic Party and the Labour Party were before the presidential and National Assembly elections. The PDP would have won with one of the most stunning landslides ever if Peter Obi had been handed the presidential nomination and the party had entered the election as a single house.
The field has been created for Makinde to win handily because the Oyo All Progressives Congress split into Adebayo Adelabu’s Accord Party and Folarin’s APC. A similar situation occurred in the 2015 election that elected President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd). President Jonathan of the PDP received 303,376 votes in Oyo State, while Buhari garnered 528,620 votes. The incumbent governor, Abiola Ajimobi, defeated previous governors Rashidi Ladoja of the Accord Party, Adebayo Alao-Akala of the Labour Party, Folarin of the PDP, and Makinde of the SDP to win the governorship race despite the fact that the opposition won the seats in the National Assembly. Nonetheless, due to the fact that Makinde’s support system is considerably more sophisticated now than it was in the past.
Makinde won 28 local government areas (LGAs) in the state in 2019, compared to Adelabu’s (APC) victory in just five LGAs. He is guaranteed to beat out all other candidates this time around based on his past performance.
Being Nigeria’s first Deserving Authority, he is actually very well-liked. It is pointless to hope that the same students who helped Nigerians remember Gani Fawehinmi’s Senior Advocate of the Masses (SAM) days will turn their backs on the man who, after years of suffering, brought an end to the LAUTECH conflict by appointing political pirates in his place. It is also unrealistic to expect pensioners and teachers, who receive their paychecks on the 25th of each month, to choose between two candidates who are only blowing in the wind.
The situation gets even more favorable when the majority of the 18 political parties and people who are not politically partisan back Makinde.
One intriguing aspect of this race is that lawmakers from both parties who are vying for the position of governor in four years are reportedly more at ease with Makinde, whose final term ends in 2027. Such ambitious people will unquestionably get a bloody nose when the time comes from a new person. And everyone is aware of this.
