Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko
Credit:Punchng
The victory of the People’s Democratic Party in the just concluded Ekiti governorship election is still resonating across the south-west political circle. Although political analysts have explained the factors underpinning the All Progressives Congress’ defeat at the polls, the PDP and other contending parties in other states are drawing inspiration and hope from the Ekiti experience. This is the same reason why the PDP in Ondo State is hopeful that the ruling Labour Party would soon meet its end in future elections in the state. PDP leaders in the state are of the notion that the ruling party is waning in popularity and that the second term of Governor Olusegun Mimiko has not offered the people anything new. But as at least done something meaningful in his first Term.
Mimiko’s romance with the PDP and its government at the centre is fueling speculations that he would soon dump the LP in solidarity with President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 presidential ambition. But Mimiko, his aides and the LP have consistently denied it. The governor is seen as a staunch supporter of the Jonathan administration, albeit. It is a generally held belief that the LP and Mimiko have a greater capacity to deliver Ondo State to the President than the PDP in the state. There had been arguments between leaders of both parties over who was responsible for delivering the state to the President in the last general elections. Jonathan’s victory at the general election was on the platform of the PDP but the LP contends that the victory could be attributed. This controversy would likely continue through the coming months as the nation prepares for general elections scheduled to hold next year.
The last Ilaje/Ese-Odo Federal Constituency by-election in April, in which the outcome was too close to call between the PDP and the LP candidates, is also a morale booster for the PDP. A case filed by the LP to bar the Independent National Electoral Commission from conducting a residual election in the area comes up for hearing on July 7 (today) at the Federal High Court in Akure. The PDP believes that it had a better chance of polling a higher number of votes in the areas where election did not take place and so has strongly backed INEC to conduct the supplementary elections. The LP’s litigation tended to give credence to this assumption even though the litigation’s merits were premised against the provisions of the Electoral Act.
With this rising confidence in the PDP, the party never fails to take advantage of every opportunity to sound a warning of its preparedness to take power in the coming elections. But its true test will be in the coming national and state assembly elections next year since no governorship election will be holding in Ondo State.
The Ondo State PDP Publicity Secretary, Mr. Wale Ozogoro, in his reaction to the party’s victory, inferred that it showed that the people of the south-west and, indeed, Ondo State had always preferred the PDP to other parties and the party would continue to demonstrate that preference in coming elections in the region.