Ekiti 2022: Olujimi, Adaramodu in a closed-door meeting

Ahead of the 2022 governorship election in Ekiti, the two chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party and hopefuls the governorship aspirants of the party, Senator Biodun Olujimi and Mr Kayode Adaramodu met in closed-door on Friday.

Newsflash Nigeria gathered that the meeting which was lasted about 45 minutes but the source gathered that it was a meeting to strengthen synergy for a southerner guber ticket and to put an end to the inequality and injustice melted on the South Senatorial district.

Both Olujimi and the former MD of Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB), Kayode Adaramodu are from the South senatorial district.

Olujimi, the current Senator representing Ekiti South Senatorial District in the National Assembly clamouring for the agitation of Ekiti South Agenda to secure the ticket of the gubernatorial candidacy of Peoples Democratic Party in the forthcoming election of Ekiti State.

Barely a year to the governorship poll in the state, the political tension is rising steadily as preparations for the battle over who occupies the Oke-Bareke Government House gradually gets underway.

Already, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed June 18 for the election.

The release of the timetable/date has prompted a beehive of political activities. The quest over who succeeds Governor Kayode Fayemi whose tenure will end at midnight of October 16, 2022, has started heating the state’s political hemisphere as politicians across party lines have begun intense politicking.

Many governorship aspirants have begun consultation with various interest groups for alignment and re-alignment. The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have kick-started political campaigns with many billboards adorning the state’s landscape.

However, the agitation about which zone of Ekiti should produce the next governor has been a raging issue in the political hemisphere. While some are supporting the agitation for power shift to the Ekiti South senatorial zone, others are of the opinion that the position should be thrown open to all the zones.

Ekiti State, like all states in the country, is divided into three senatorial zones comprising Ekiti North, Ekiti South and Ekiti Central.

The state has 16 local government areas. While both Ekiti North and Ekiti Central have five local governments each, Ekiti South has the highest number with six council areas.

The Ekiti Central senatorial district is made up of Ado, Efon, Ekiti-West, Ijero and Irepodu/Ifelodun, while Ekiti North comprises of Ido/Osi, Ikole, Ilejemeje, Moba and Oye. And in the South, there are Gbonyin Ekiti East, Ekiti- Southwest, Emure, Ikere and Ise/Orun.

READ ALSO: Ekiti 2022: Zoning Will Be A Great Disservice To PDP – Segun Oni Warns

Since 1999 when democracy returned to Nigeria, after a few years of compulsory sabbatical leave occasioned by military incursion, the exalted governorship seat in Ekiti has been the exclusive preserve of the North and Central districts.

Ekiti South had never produced the governor despite the fact that it paraded eminently qualified and highly exposed scholars with global reckoning.

While North and Central senatorial zones have consistently dominated the state’s political space for the past 24 years, the Southern zone has only produced the deputy governor at different times.

The first civilian governor after Ekiti State was carved out of old Ondo State in 1996 was the Minister of Trade and Industry, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo of then Alliance of Democracy (1999-2003). Adebayo who hails from Iyin-Ekiti, Irepodun/Ifelodun in Ekiti Central was defeated during the 2003 election by Ayo Fayose of the PDP.

After falling out with the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, Fayose who hails from Afao-Ekiti in Ekiti Central district could not complete his tenure, as he was impeached in 2006 under questionable circumstances. Chief Segun Oni, who succeeded Fayose as governor is from Ifaki-Ekiti in Ekiti North.

He ruled the state for three and half years while the incumbent, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who hails also from Isan-Ekiti in Ekiti North took over from him, through judicial pronouncement.

READ ALSO: Popular Gospel singer, Tope “Taiwo” Ajogbajesu dies

Fayose staged a comeback in 2014 and truncated Fayemi’s second term bid by trouncing him in all the 16 council areas. Similarly, Fayemi won against all odds in the 2018 governorship poll by defeating Fayose’s anointed candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola of the PDP to mount the saddle as a governor for a second term.

By October 15, 2022, when Fayemi’s second term ends, Ekiti North would have spent 11 and half years while the Central zone would have spent 12 years, with Ekiti South still only nursing the tall dream of occupying the Oke-Bareke Government one day.

Perhaps, it is for these reasons that the agitation for the governorship slot by the South has become a recurring decimal. Ekiti South nearly occupied the position in the 2018 governorship election when PDP fielded ex-deputy governor from Ikere-Ekiti but APC’s political machinery led by Governor Fayemi shattered that hope. Olusola came a distant second in the poll.

Although, zoning of political offices has never been an issue in Ekiti politics from time immemorial, the clamour for power shift to Ekiti South ahead of next year’s election is already giving Governor Fayemi and the leadership of his party and the opposition PDP headache and sleepless nights.

Political pundits opined that next year’s election is widely expected to be a fierce contest among the three districts, but Ekiti South is insisting that it is its turn to occupy the most exalted seat in the state.

Currently, under the PDP, the zone already parades an array of aspirants for the plum position. One of them is Senator Biodun Olujimi, the woman representing the district at the National Assembly.

Olujimi’s name has continued to ring a bell in the minds of the people as the best choice for the job.

Olujimi, who have so far scaled many huddles to survive in a terrain dominated by men is believed to be interested in the position. The Omuo-Ekiti born journalist turned politician is not a pushover in Ekiti politics.

READ ALSO: Popular Nollywood Actress, Rachel Oniga dies

The former Senate Minority Leader has cult-like followership across the length and breadth of the state with strong political structures in all the 16 council areas. Some of the factors that may favour her if she decides to contest would include experience, competence, philanthropic gestures and humility. She also has structures across 133 communities in the state.

Aside from Olujimi, the ex-Deputy Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank, Kayode Adaramodu is also in the race.

The Ilawe-Ekiti born politician is also not a pushover in the game of politics. He enjoys grassroots support. Adaramodu has a financial war chest and wide connections that place him as a man qualified for the job.

Olusola is also believed to be in the race. He came into the political limelight in 2014 after his emergence as deputy governor to Fayose. He served in that capacity until 2018.

He was the PDP candidate in the last governorship poll, where he lost to Fayemi with a narrow margin.

Recently, Olusola Eleka had declared interest in the forthcoming 2022 governorship election in the state.  Olusola and Adaramodu were the PDP aspirants from the zone formerly declared for the race while others were still doing consultation.

The university don said his dream to run for the June 18, 2022 governorship election in the state was still alive.

Eleka insisted he would still vie for the plum position despite the fact that his former boss and ex-governor Ayodele Fayose has backed another aspirant.

He spoke in Ado Ekiti on Monday, July 26, while speaking on the topic: “The development of Ekiti past, present and the way forward” at a symposium organised by a group under the acronym ‘PDP Peace Movement’.

On zoning, Olusola, who is from Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti South Senatorial District, said the people must be fair in 2022, saying the zone has not governed the state since the advent of democracy in 1999.

Newsflash Nigeria is an online newspaper that is developed and written exclusively for Nigerians. It’s packed with up-to-the-minute Local and National Economy News, Share & Capital Market, Health, Sports, Education, Technology, Business and Opinions.

To make further advert enquiries or place an order, please contact us at [email protected] and +2348053316946 and WhatsApp number 08033546732