Ondo and politics of ministerial appointment

The 2019 presidential election has been won and lost in February with the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari emerging as the winner. That was despite the apprehension, permutations and predictions by political pundits and gladiators of different kind within the shores of Nigeria and beyond.

With the euphoria of the victory of the president in the election simmering down, indications are that the president is getting ready to assemble the team that will work with him. That would be contrary to what obtained in the outgoing tenure, when Nigerians waited for six months to catch a glimpse of the eventual ministers and the president’s cabinet. Incidentally, that delayed action has been seen by many as largely responsible for the slow pace of governance in the early days of the administration.

The president appears to have learnt a great lesson from that mistake, as he is said to have planned to use the opportunity of his vacation outside the shore of the country to compile the list of his new ministers and assured that the list will be made known to the public immediately after the inauguration on May 29.

Like in other states of the federation, politicians in Ondo State have commenced the battle to outwit one another in the race for the single ministerial slot meant for the state. As at the last count, no fewer than 10 politicians from the APC camp in the state have shown interest to represent the state in the Buhari’s new cabinet.

The leading contenders include former chairman of APC in the state, Mr Isaacs Kekemeke, immediate past governor of the state, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, the South-West Director General of Buhari Campaign Organisation, Chief Olusola Oke, former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Victor Olabimtan and Special Adviser to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu on Public Utilities and Power Infrastructure, Tunji Light Ariyomo.

Others include Ife Oyedele and Rotimi Fashakin who are both executive directors in the Niger Delta Power Holding Company and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), respectively. Special Adviser to the governor on Multilateral and Inter-governmental Relations, Mrs Bunmi Ademosu and Mr Boye Oyewumi, respectively, are also said to be in contention, among others.

However, the crisis and power play within the APC in the state and at the national level has been a serious impediment to the aspirations of many of the contenders, as the party in the state has been factionalised. The crisis over the outcome of the 2016 governorship primary that produced Akeredolu still lingers in the party, as his eventual emergence as the governor of the state was said to have failed to bring all aggrieved members together, even as they have been working at cross purposes ever since then.

To many, the internal wrangling within Ondo APC may bring to fore a replay of what has been obtaining in the state over the years. Past governors of the state have always been denied the opportunity to contribute to the choice of ministers representing the state in the federal cabinet. This could be traced to 2005 when former President Olusegun Obasanjo sacked the then Minister of Housing and Urban Development. Mrs Mobolaji Osomo, over allegation of allocating some Federal Government houses to certain persons, an allegation she denied and dismissed as false.

The nominee of the then state governor, the late Dr Olusegun Agagu, Ambassador Bayo Yusuf, who was nominated as Osomo’s replacement could not get Senate approval, due to the nominee’s failure to give the full meaning of National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), one of the Federal Government economic policy documents.

Mimiko, then the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), however found his way to emerged as the state representative in the Obasanjo cabinet without the knowledge or approval of Agagu. Mimiko was said to have been favoured by Obasanjo after being lobbied by one of his bosom friends, Chief Olu Akinkugbe, who hailed from Ondo town with Mimiko. This jolted Agagu who had prepared to send another name to the Senate for screening, but it was too late as the lawmakers had confirmed his SSG, Mimiko, as minister.

The same scenario played out in the days of Mimiko who was the governor and leader of the Labour Party (LP) in the state, while former President Goodluck Jonathan, picked the minister for the state, Mobola Mobolaji-Johnson, without Mimiko’s consent. However, Mimiko joined the train of the PDP at the tail end of his administration, while the minister remained in the cabinet till May, 2015 when Jonathan finished his term as the president.

The choice of President Buhari was another shock for politicians jostling for the position in 2015 as the president announced Professor Claudius Daramola as the minister to represent Ondo State in his cabinet. The APC hierarchy in the state knew little or nothing about Daramola before his nomination but this was said to have been facilitated by the lawmaker representing Ondo North Senatorial District of the state at the National Assembly, Senator Ajayi Boroffice. Daramola, just like those before him, has been a passive player in the politics of the state.

It is thus the view of many that, with the crisis within the state chapter of APC, where every group or faction lobbies for appointment without any recourse to governor, a new ministerial nominee from the state may be another ‘stranger’ in the state politics. Some party members put the blame of the development at the doorsteps of Governor Akeredolu who they claim had failed to extend an olive branch to aggrieved members of the party in the state, immediately after his election as the governor.

Another factor deduced by a chieftain of the party in the state who pleaded anonymity, is the perceived frosty relationship between the governor and the national leadership of the party and, by extension, the presidency. He accused Akeredolu of working against the interest of the national leaders of the party, saying this was evident in the last presidential election where APC lost the state to PDP.

He said “Akeredolu campaigned for the Action Alliance against his APC during the presidential and National Assembly election and this contributed to the party’s loss in the election.”

Some political pundits are of the opinion that politicians from the Akure extraction in the state should be considered for appointment into the federal cabinet in the next dispensation. They noted that since the beginning of the current democratic dispensation in 1999, no Akure indigene has ever been nominated or has occupied any ministerial seat. They were thus of the view that Tunji- Light Ariyomo, a known stabiliser in the Akeredolu administration, would be suitable for the assignment.

While Ariyomo was said to have received the blessings of Senator Tinubu, some powerful blocs in the government and the party are said to be interested in former Governor Mimiko or either of the governor’s two aides, Bunmi Ademosu or Oyewumi for the job. Ariyomo also seems to be enjoying the backing of the Akure Traditional Council. He is also a known political godson of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

The ambition of Ariyomo was said to have introduced new twist in the ambition and choice of the South-West coordinator of the APC Presidential Campaign Committee, Chief Olusola Oke,  who may get the support of the immediate past governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola.

• Race for APC senatorial ticket in Ondo North

However, the loss of the state to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the presidential election remained an impediment to his ambition, as some party members have ganged up against him, querying him over the loss of APC in the election. Oke was said to have made frantic efforts to explain what was responsible for the loss, attributing the poor outing of the party in the state to some leaders within the party, but his reasons were said not to be good enough to convince the presidency.

The argument against the choice of Oke also affected the former chairman of the party in the state, Kekemeke, who many party faithful believe should be rewarded for his loyalty to the party and for repositioning it and subsequently won the governorship election in 2016. Kekemeke may however be eyeing governorship seat in the state in 2020.

This is one of the factors that may also work for a former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Victor Olabimtan. Olabimtan, who was regarded as one of the finest politicians in the state, is an ardent supporter of the Akeredolu administration. The former Speaker hails from Supare Akoko in Ondo North Senatorial District, just like the governor. The general view is that the ministerial nominee should either come from the central or the southern senatorial zone, zeroing it to the central as the current minister from the state hails from the southern zone.

For Mimiko, his reported plan to return as minister may not see the light of the day, as some party members have vehemently kicked against his choice.

Some party members frowned at the choice of Mimiko, noting that he is from Ondo in the central senatorial district. They argued that aside from being the first to spend two terms as governor, the town has twice produced ministers in Mimiko and Mobolaji-Johnson since the return of democracy in 1999. They however admitted that he remains one of the best brains to have come from the state, considering his unmatched records and achievements in the state politics.

The duo of Oyedele and Fasakin are said to be banking on their long-standing relationship with Buhari as members of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) which remains a formidable force within the APC.

To many analysts, the new minister to represent Ondo State on the cabinet of Buhari will not be a nominee of Akeredolu, except a truce is initiated between him and those who are opposed to him in the party, both within and outside the state. They believe if eventually Akeredolu is sidelined and the new minister emerges, it will further widen the gulf in the state chapter of APC and strengthen the hands of those who are said to be hell bent on thwarting Akeredolu’s second term ambition.