The election for the governor of Osun state on the 22nd of September is certainly not a run of the mill contest as in the usual APC vs PDP. It is a contested four way split between APC, PDP and SDP with some other “fringe” parties snapping at the heels. In recent times it reminds one of the 2015 governorship race in Oyo state in which the incumbent governor Abiola Ajumobi was re-elected with just 37% of the overall votes cast since he met the requirements of spread which is obtaining 25% of the votes cast in two – thirds of the local governments. Personality perception could therefore tilt the balance in a close contest. I will advance the personal front here. Osun voters who will read this, can be informed of the choices presented.
Adegboyega Oyetola (APC)
Oyetola is Governor Rauf Aregbesola Chief of Staff and heir apparent, straddles the public and private sector and has the best intellectual preparation in a dismal field. With a background in financial services before becoming the chief of staff, he is best equipped to handle the debilitating fiscal climate on ground which is the product of a lopsided, dysfunctional quasi federalism. Oyetola suffers a drawback – he must accept collective responsibility for any perceived acts of omissions and commissions by the outgoing administration. Nevertheless, he has the highest acceptability ratings of the candidates and a fragmentation of the votes is in favor as the APC is the only formation with the structure to get 38 – 40% of the votes and the spread.
Ademola Adeleke (PDP)
PDP shot themselves by choosing this man-child of entitlement and entertainment over the savvy highly rated technocrat, Akin Ogunbiyi. It is difficult to shake off the near comic relief toga arising from his lack of school certificate controversy. He has been unable to turn the sympathy votes with which he won his charismatic late brother ‘s Senate seat into a notable trajectory. Adeleke has no track record of doing anything apart from living on family wealth. He was once a non-executive board member of a publicly quoted company, but that is precisely non-executive. Dancing away the night does not give the impression of his ability to read, let alone interpret a balance sheet. He has hinted on a reliance on “stomach infrastructure”, the caveat is that, the structure of poverty in Osun state is different than it is in Ekiti state. Also, Ekiti is homogeneous in composition, whereas Osun is divided between Osun and Oyo components. Lacking the demagogic appeal of Fayose, Ademola Adeleke to paraphrase Karl Marx is a grotesque reincarnation of his late charismatic older brother and it is an insult to have presented him. Osun is not a dynastic rotten borough like Kwara State.
Iyiola Omisore (SDP)
Starting with his HND, Omisore is now very boastful of his PH.D. COREN, might have divergent opinions about his proficiency as a chartered engineer. Whatever, Omisore is a product of the military induced militician class. This is a contractocracy based on wheeling, dealing and goody bag politics as opposed to production. He is perennially mired in controversy, Ghana must go level budget padding escalated when he was a member of Senate appropriation committee. He represents just another throwback to the wheeling and dealing past based on a clientilism, which reinforces the structure of poverty through the erection of a dependency syndrome rather than tackling the fundamental roots of poverty. Unfortunately, much as he poses, he is not actually a managerialist type politician such as Fashola and Ambode.
Moshood Adeoti (ADP)
Adeoti was secretary to the government under Aregbesola. He is a dour party apparatchik. Has a grip on the grassroots without the cash, vigour or imagination to turn it into votes. The campaign is woven around the case for the western senatorial district to produce the next governor. Adeoti has solid education, but no chutzpah. He will probably make a half decent governor. Trouble is in the words of George W Bush -” Where is the beef?” He will inflict some damage on the APC electoral calculus in the Osun west.