Before the real
election campaigns, parties and candidates had crises during primaries. Some of
these crises are likely to work against or favour some candidates in the
September 22 election. Across all the parties, most especially the All
Progressives Congress, the ruling party in the state and the People’s
Democratic Party, the party being considered by the electorate as the credible
opposition and likely to defeat APC’s candidate, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola,
pre-primary and primary crises nearly choked the parties.
Few hours to the
commencement of the APC’s primary election held in July, some aggrieved
aspirants of the party announced their withdrawal from the race, citing
perfecting of the process to favour a particular candidate. For the PDP, all
the aspirants contested but the outcome of the exercise received mixed
reactions, especially from the second winner, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi, who felt that
there were irregularities during the election. Other parties such as Action
Democratic Party, the party which former Secretary to the State Government,
Allahji Moshood Adeoti is using to realise his ambition after defecting from
the ruling party and Social Democratic Party, the party that chose former
Deputy Governor and Senator, Dr Iyiola Omisore as its candidates also have
their own share of intra-party crisis.
Since the defection of
the former SSG, reports have revealed that the ruling party in the state has
lost her key members mostly in the West region and some parts of Central and
Eastern region. In order to pacify aggrieved members and regions in the state,
some of the parties have chosen their deputy aspirants from the regions they
believe would enhance their chances in the September 22 election. For instance,
the ruling party strategically chose Benedict Olugboyega Alabi from Ikire, to
increase its chances of getting maximum votes from Osun West, the region which
has been clamoring for governorship candidate since 2017.
As the campaign
messages unfold, parties, candidates and their supporters are using different narratives
to set up their programmes to the electorate. Our observations have shown that
the four leading contenders -Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola; Senator Nurudeen Ademola
Adeleke; Senator Iyiola Omisore and Alhaji Moshood Adeoti - are being framed
differently particularly on social media platforms. Alhaji Oyetola is being
seen as a stranger (from Lagos State) who would serve the interest of Senator
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Leader of the APC. From the mass media to the
new media, Senator Adeleke is not being spared from the certificate scandal and
Adeleke dynasty narratives.
Throughout July and
some days in August, his secondary school certificate was a subject of
litigation. However, the outcome of the legal tussle said he qualifies to
contest. Meanwhile, PCI has found that electorate and public affairs analysts
in the state are not happy that a party could present a candidate without the
minimum qualification. Beyond, certificate issue, PDP’s candidate is being
portrayed as candidate for Adeleke’s dynasty.
Electorates and
analysts believe that there is no difference between the dynasty and liking
APC’s candidate with the APC’s National Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu. Senator
Iyiola Omisore might be on his last attempt to become the governor of the state
having contested against the outgoing governor in 2014. The narrative being
woven around him has to do with his renewed ambition to rule the state on the
new platform of Social Democratic Party (SDP).
For Alhaji Moshood
Adeoti, his last minute withdrawal from APC primaries having allegedly sensed
the party leaders’ move to skew the election to favour Gboyega Oyetola has
seemed to draw sympathy for him from some sections of the APC. He was the State
Chairman of the party before he was drafted into the outgoing Aregbesola-led
executive council. It is widely believed that recent defections witnessed in
the party results from the sympathy and support for Adeoti.
Indeed, electorates in
Osun have many issues to understand for them to make the right decisions in the
September 22 election. This is imperative because the state needs a governor
that would not only be able to sustain the current infrastructural development
witnessed in the two terms of the outgoing government, but that would also
possess the administrative dexterity to manage the humongous debt profile of
the state and fix the socio-economic challenges facing Osun in the last three
years.
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