As the results of the election distill among the political class, the factors that framed the governor’s re-election are equally crystallising.
Iroko as Mimiko is popularly known in political circles, proved the cynics wrong that the he would be subsumed by the forces from the four South West governors that worked round the clock and coordinated by the Osun state governor Rauf Aregbesola to uproot him with a mere “broom”.
Mimiko: Laughs last
The result of the October 20 gubernatorial election has positioned Mimiko as the first governor of the new Ondo State to secure a second term mandate from the people of the state.
His re-election made nonsense of the campaign of the opposition A C N that the state needed to join other states in the region for proper regional economic integration, and that of the PDP that the state should join the mainstream politics by voting for its candidate.
Dr Mimiko scored a total 260,199 votes, Chief Olusola Oke of the PDP got a total 155,961 votes while the ACN’s Mr Rotimi Akeredolu got 143,512 votes.
The shape and structure of the victory
Critical analysis of the results indicated that Mimiko won in 13 local governments while the PDP won two local governments with higher votes than the ACN which won three local governments with lesser votes.
It was alleged that the defeat of Mimiko in Owo and Ilaje was a result of the agenda of some political office holders in the Mimiko administration who are from the area who allegedly succumbed to the temptation of helping their brother.
Mimiko scored over 25 percent of votes required in all the 18 council areas of the state including the five councils that he lost to both the ACN and PDP which is an indication that he is still a force to be reckoned with there.
Some surprises noticed in the results of the election showed that in Owo which is the hometown of the ACN candidate Akeredolu, Mimiko defeated him in his both the unit and ward levels though Akeredolu eventually won the local government.
It was gathered that some political appointees of the governor who are from that area sold out and worked against the governor in support of Akeredolu
Akeredolu polled 17,967 votes while Mimiko polled 14,870votes.
Also in Ilaje where the candidate of PDP Olusola Oke hails from, some political appointees in Mimiko government from the area also supported their son (Oke) leaving the governor in the lurch. Oke polled an impressive 19,281 votes while Mimiko scored 8,538votes
In Akoko Southwest local government, where governor Mimiko has a large number of political office holders, he still lost the council to the ACN and indeed came third in the council.
The loss of this council was attributed to the squabbles between the younger brother of the governor, Prof Femi Mimiko who is the Vice Chancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba-Akoko and stakeholders in the council. Interestingly, Mimiko’s deputy, Alhaji Ali Olanusi hails from the area alongside a commissioner, a member of the House of Assembly and a recent ambassador. All of them could not stop the moving machine of the ACN on that day.
Senator Ajayi Boroffice who is now in ACN and fighting to retain his seat following his defection from the LP, was believed to have partnered the family of the late Governor Adebayo Adefarati in checkmating Mimiko in the council. In fact in the council, the PDP came second to show the disdain of the people of the council for the governor whom they believed truncated Adefarati’s second term ambition.
The LP was equally roundly defeated in Odigbo, a council where the Speaker of the House of Assembly Hon. Samuel Adesina , the Secretary to the State Government Dr Rotimi Adelola and a host of other political appointees including a commissioner hail from.
It was gathered that the ACN was able to win the council because the area is populated by non-indigenes from both Oyo and Osun extractions. It was reasoned that the Oyo and Osun settlers in the area sought to show their support for the integration that their home governors have trumpeted.
In Okitipupa, the effort of the immediate past governor Dr Olusegun Agagu paid off for the opposition PDP which scored 21,024, LP polled 11, 968 and the ACN scored 8,495.
Remarkably, Agagu’s name even while he is out of office remains a force to be reckoned with in the town. Also, Oke the PDP candidate lives in Okitipupa and empowered many of the party members in the town while he was the state Chairman of OSOPADEC. So it was not surprising that they queued behind him during the election.
Central
Coincidentally Mimiko hails from the central senatorial area of the state which has the chunk of the votes. Markedly, there are at least two commissioners appointed from each of the six councils. Winning all the six councils in the central was proof of his performance and popularity. He was able to poach other councils in both the South and North senatorial districts.
Mimiko won Ose and three of the four councils in Akoko land Ese Odo, Ile Oluji/Okeigbo and Irele.
The result of Ese Odo came as a surprise going by the vigorous campaign against the governor’s re-election by the Special Adviser to the President on Amnesty Programme Hon Kingsley Kuku. One of his former foot soldiers and an Ex-Militant leader Ajube aka “Shoot at sight” demystified him by working for Mimiko. LP polled 9137 while PDP scored 7295 and A C N 2987
Mimiko also received strong support from the national leaders of the NLC who worked tremendously in his favour as the national president of the NLC Comrade Abdul Waheed Omar and TUC President Peter Esele attended two rallies to drum support for Mimiko.
The support of the Afenifere leaders also boosted Mimiko while some notable leaders of the opposition PDP within and outside the state worked underneath for the re election of Mimiko. Their stake was that the ACN should not be allowed to capture the state as the leaders of the party had vowed to do.
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