By July 14th of this year, the people of Ekiti will go to the polls to elect a successor to Governor Ayodele Fayose, this will confer on the citizenry the unique opportunity to either re-affirm or reject a candidate or political party as their prerogative. Presently, political activities are heightened and speculations are rife. It is not an unlikely event but rather a most momentous period because of a lot of factors. The rippling effect of the last gubernatorial election in the state still echoes, especially as the leading opposition political party in the state, the APC maintains that the election will go in their favour. Time will!
How the opposition leading party, APC arrived at such an assumption leaves much to be desired of a political party that enjoys the use of propaganda as a veritable instrument of manipulation and having received a massive bashing in 2014, whereby their candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi was roundly defeated in the entire 16 Local Government Areas ought to have made them a bit circumspect. It would be recalled that before Fayemi’s massive loss, some incumbent governors have lost elections but not on Fayemi’s massive scale. That episode remains a sour taste for the APC, a bitter pill which its leaders and followers find hard to swallow but which members of the PDP in the state tout as a magic wand and prove of their superiority.
At any rate, failing to conduct a comprehensive audit of the entire process, especially issues of alienation which has been labelled against leading members of the party have left the party and especially some of its favoured leaders as dismissive, aloof and mainly ‘heavy weight’ in imaginary terms. Already the flurry of activities has since caused both apprehension and anxiety in several quarters. In the PDP, it is most likely that barring any last minute earthquake, deputy governor professor Kalopo Eleka is primed to prevail, why things remain hazy in the APC.
However, since the governor openly endorsed the deputy governor about 6months ago, the anticipated crisis which some commentators predicated would rip the PDP apart has not happened and is not likely to take place. It appears Fayose masterstroke was to come out early with the possibility of containing any backlash-substantially it appears Fayose is still effectively in charge and leading an almost united front in the election. The initial storm has been quietened proofing that Fayose is a master in the political calculus of the state. He has proven repeatedly that you underrate him to your peril. First, in 2003, he unseated Governor Niyi Adebayo. Even when he was ousted through an illegal politically motivated impeachment which the Supreme Court has adjudicated was a farce, he staged a comeback by stunning another incumbent in a spectacular and talk of the town feat. He remains the only individual to have been sworn-in twice in the annals of Ekiti since the return of democracy in 1999.
Some commentators have maintained that the election is one that will establish Fayose place as the defacto leader of the state. Matter of fact, it is said that you are either for or against Fayose as he remains the dominant issue in the politics of the state since 2003. Some are dismissive of this obvious fact. I recall that during the last elections in 2014, three former governors, (Niyi Adebayo, Segun Oni and Kayode Fayemi) were arrayed against him and yet he defeated them all. The question that begs to be answered is how Fayose assumed such a titanic feat in the politics of Ekiti and gradually in the body politics of Nigeria as the leading opposition voice since the fall of the PDP to the APC in the 2015 elections. It is simple; it is because of his nexus with the people. A grass root mobilizer and voice of the common man.
The answer is simply his ability to connect and sharing a unique bond with the people stretching to over a decade of his resumption, illegal removal and return to the state house. His staying power is the people and his endorsement of Eleka remains the singular potent force driving his candidature.
Truth be told, if Fayose had endorsed any other personality, it would be the same widespread attention. The initial squabbles and irritation by persons who have a sense of entitlement has since receded. In picking Eleka, the governor has shifted the possibility of a candidate from the Southern Senatorial zone which has hitherto not produced a governor since 1999 to the realm of a possibility. It is obvious that posterity would be proud of Fayose for a lot of reasons, chief of which is the choice of Eleka whom he has endorsement without preventing others from contesting. He has demonstrated as a leader a keen sense and perception for equity and balance.
Eleka, remains the popular choice of the people across all political shade and persuasions and the reason is not far to decipher. He comes to the job with an impressive resume and a high sense of commitment to the advancement of Ekiti. A complete gentleman with superlative antecedence, his service as deputy-governor has become a reference point in the annals of our state. He piloted the much talked about renaissance in the education sector which the previous administration left in a state of comatose. He continues to contribute fresh, bold, imaginative, and forward looking ideas to the governance of Ekiti. A moderate, temperate, critical reasoning administrator, his tenure as governor would usher Ekiti into unprecedented levels of greatness.
The need of Ekiti for a fair, just, temperate, principled, hardworking, visionary and highly educated individual to take over the mantle of leadership from the imitable Fayose finds readiness in Eleka for continuity sake. He represents the best choice before the people of Ekiti with his proven qualities of brilliance and unprecedented service to our state and peoples. It is quite interesting to note that Eleka that was dismissed as a light weight has continued to endorsement and support from across the entire length and breadth of the state. The people have spoken of their support for Eleka and that is all that matters in a democracy.
Olajide Taylor
Ado-Ekiti