OYO 2023: Between the achievement of Makinde and the dashboard of Folarin
According to the final list released recently by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of candidates and political parties that will contest the gubernatorial election scheduled for March 11, 2023 in Oyo State, 16 flag bearers and parties have been authorized and certified to participate in the competition. But of this number, three are considered to be exceptional and can have a significant influence while two specifically are considered the main contenders. The first is the incumbent Governor of Oyo State, Engineer Seyi Makinde, who is running for a second term on the platform of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) and his closest candidate is the candidate of the major opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Teslim Folarin, who currently represents Oyo Central in the upper house of the National Assembly.
But there is also the Accord Party candidate, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, who is also the APC candidate in the 2019 gubernatorial election in the state. Adelabu lost the 2019 gubernatorial ballot to Makinde, while he also lost the 2023 APC gubernatorial ticket to Folarin before defecting to take the Accord Party ticket. The remaining 13 candidates are seen as mere participants likely to form alliances with one of the main parties - PDP or APC. A visit to all the secretariats and/or headquarters of these 13 political parties revealed no serious political activity taking place, which could show that they are really in the running for governance. But the two main contenders, Makinde and Folarin, will bet on three critical factors that will make one of them win or lose the race. While Makinde will build on his achievements over the past four years in office to solicit votes among the Oyo electorate, Folarin will project his dash as a 12-year-old senator representing Oyo Central to woo voters to his side.
>Adelabu, for his part, may wish to project his experience as a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank and what he may have attracted to Oyo in terms of federal government projects while he was in service. He can also project himself as having the economic and administrative knowledge and experience necessary to bail out the state economically if elected.
Indeed, only Makinde and Folarin can claim to have records of achievements in the service of the state to project into their campaigns. But they can probably handle the challenges of character baggage. For now, Makinde is labeled as a traitor who can no longer be trusted as an ally, especially since he allegedly treated those who helped him rise to power as soon as he became governor. in 2019, while Folarin carries the baggage of "wild and weird person". ', who belongs to the political class of the late Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, who used to throw Oyo into some kind of chaos during the general elections.
The duo can also draw on the strength of their parties' presidential candidates, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC and former vice-president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the PDP. Recall that the CENI calendar for the 2023 general elections called for the presidential election on February 25, about two weeks before the gubernatorial elections.
There will likely be a ripple effect on the Oyo Governor election for whichever party and candidate wins the February 25 presidential poll between Tinubu and Atiku. Another factor that can play between Makinde and Folarin is the elite and masses factor. A former leader of the PDP, who later joined the New Nigeria People's Party (NNPP), Alhaji Bisi Olopooeyan told the Guardian that at present there are no notable politicians in Oyo who are members of the elite who is with Makinde. He said many of Oyo's elite were indifferent to Makinde's re-election, but his argument was based on the premise that more than 41 notable traditional leaders across the state had recently endorsed the incumbent's re-election. But the APC candidate is working tirelessly in all 33 local councils, senatorial districts and all wards not only to project himself but also to explain why Tinubu must be elected president to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023 and he is elected Governor of Oyo. for the benefit of the state.
The complication for the two leading candidates is therefore whether the electorate in Oyo would prefer to vote APC on February 25 and return to vote for Makinde of the PDP on March 11 next year. A survey by The Guardian indicated that grassroots voters in the state are not yet educated and informed enough to make different choices in two weeks between the presidential and gubernatorial candidates of the APC and the DPP. It is therefore likely that whichever party and/or candidate wins the presidential election can transfer the euphoria of victory to the gubernatorial ballot to Oyo.
Makinde is in pain...
According to the final list released recently by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of candidates and political parties that will contest the gubernatorial election scheduled for March 11, 2023 in Oyo State, 16 flag bearers and parties have been authorized and certified to participate in the competition. But of this number, three are considered to be exceptional and can have a significant influence while two specifically are considered the main contenders. The first is the incumbent Governor of Oyo State, Engineer Seyi Makinde, who is running for a second term on the platform of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) and his closest candidate is the candidate of the major opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Teslim Folarin, who currently represents Oyo Central in the upper house of the National Assembly.
But there is also the Accord Party candidate, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, who is also the APC candidate in the 2019 gubernatorial election in the state. Adelabu lost the 2019 gubernatorial ballot to Makinde, while he also lost the 2023 APC gubernatorial ticket to Folarin before defecting to take the Accord Party ticket. The remaining 13 candidates are seen as mere participants likely to form alliances with one of the main parties - PDP or APC. A visit to all the secretariats and/or headquarters of these 13 political parties revealed no serious political activity taking place, which could show that they are really in the running for governance. But the two main contenders, Makinde and Folarin, will bet on three critical factors that will make one of them win or lose the race. While Makinde will build on his achievements over the past four years in office to solicit votes among the Oyo electorate, Folarin will project his dash as a 12-year-old senator representing Oyo Central to woo voters to his side.
>Adelabu, for his part, may wish to project his experience as a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank and what he may have attracted to Oyo in terms of federal government projects while he was in service. He can also project himself as having the economic and administrative knowledge and experience necessary to bail out the state economically if elected.
Indeed, only Makinde and Folarin can claim to have records of achievements in the service of the state to project into their campaigns. But they can probably handle the challenges of character baggage. For now, Makinde is labeled as a traitor who can no longer be trusted as an ally, especially since he allegedly treated those who helped him rise to power as soon as he became governor. in 2019, while Folarin carries the baggage of "wild and weird person". ', who belongs to the political class of the late Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, who used to throw Oyo into some kind of chaos during the general elections.
The duo can also draw on the strength of their parties' presidential candidates, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC and former vice-president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the PDP. Recall that the CENI calendar for the 2023 general elections called for the presidential election on February 25, about two weeks before the gubernatorial elections.
There will likely be a ripple effect on the Oyo Governor election for whichever party and candidate wins the February 25 presidential poll between Tinubu and Atiku. Another factor that can play between Makinde and Folarin is the elite and masses factor. A former leader of the PDP, who later joined the New Nigeria People's Party (NNPP), Alhaji Bisi Olopooeyan told the Guardian that at present there are no notable politicians in Oyo who are members of the elite who is with Makinde. He said many of Oyo's elite were indifferent to Makinde's re-election, but his argument was based on the premise that more than 41 notable traditional leaders across the state had recently endorsed the incumbent's re-election. But the APC candidate is working tirelessly in all 33 local councils, senatorial districts and all wards not only to project himself but also to explain why Tinubu must be elected president to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023 and he is elected Governor of Oyo. for the benefit of the state.
The complication for the two leading candidates is therefore whether the electorate in Oyo would prefer to vote APC on February 25 and return to vote for Makinde of the PDP on March 11 next year. A survey by The Guardian indicated that grassroots voters in the state are not yet educated and informed enough to make different choices in two weeks between the presidential and gubernatorial candidates of the APC and the DPP. It is therefore likely that whichever party and/or candidate wins the presidential election can transfer the euphoria of victory to the gubernatorial ballot to Oyo.
Makinde is in pain...
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