The victory of Chief Rotimi Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress in the last Saturday governorship election in Ondo State was not celebrated in the state alone. It was also celebrated inside the Villa, but with a touch of class devoid of the way brooms-wielding party members celebrated it on the streets of major towns in the sunshine state.
It is not new that result of governorship election in a state will be celebrated in the seat of power at the centre. In 2014 when Mr. Ayodele Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party won the governorship election in Ekiti State, members of the party’s National Working Committee led by the then National Chairman, Adamu Muazu, joined former President Goodluck Jonathan and his deputy, Namadi Sambo, to celebrate the victory. The mini victory party was held inside the official residence of the President. They clicked glasses and exchanged banters.
This time, Akeredolu’s victory was celebrated but glasses were not clicked to my knowledge. The man who led the pack was the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who incidentally lost the 2014 election to Fayose. He remained visible around Akeredolu before and after the election despite that they are not from the same state.
On Wednesday at the commencement of a meeting of the Federal Executive Council, Fayemi arrived to the warm embrace of his colleagues as if he was the man who won the election. The Minister of State for Niger Delta, Prof. Claudius Daramola, who hails from Ondo State, did not get the kind of attention Fayemi got. As he went round to greet his colleagues, including Daramola, the issue of the sweet victory took the centre stage. Fayemi obviously enjoyed it as photojournalists milled around to get their shots.
Later, we were told that Daramola briefed the council on the election and the party’s victory. He was meant to join his colleagues to brief State House correspondents of the meeting’s outcome but one thing led to the other and he was not present.
Immediately the press conference was over and the presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, who coordinated it was stepping out of the Briefing Room, he sighted Daramola. This time, the minister was not alone. He was with Akeredolu; his deputy, Agboola Ajayi; and the Chairman of the APC Campaign Council in Ondo State, Governor Simon Lalong. The governor-elect and his deputy were armed with their Certificates of Return issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission. They apparently wanted to show it to their leader, the President.
Adesina quickly thought it wise for them to talk to journalists and he ushered them into the Briefing Room while he asked Daramola to tell us what he would have told us during the press conference.
The minister attributed the victory of the party in his state to the presence of the President at the grand finale of the party’s campaign rally held in Akure, the state capital, penultimate Saturday. At a time he has not even started his first time, Daramola beat his chest that Akeredolu would win second term if he desired to do so.
“The presence of our President on November 19, in Akure, the Ondo State capital, actually won the election for us because he spoke to the people and the people accepted him and they voted for us massively. Today, we are happy for it, and I am saying here in the presence of the governor-elect that we will not fail the people of the state. We have given our promises to them and we will add to this, we will not leave anyone of them out. Ondo State had been in opposition for almost four decades and today, we are happy that our people are out of political and economic bondage. We have now joined the mainstream,” the minister said.
Then it was question time. Expectedly, all the questions were directed at Akeredolu and the Senior Advocate of Nigeria gave a good account of himself. The questions ranged from his failure to acknowledge a national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in his victory speech to his plan not to probe the outgoing administration in the state among other questions.
With the session over, group photographs were taken and they left. As if that was not enough, Akeredolu returned to the Villa on Thursday with Lalong. But this time, they were joined by Fayemi. They met with the President in his office.
Not a few people said that Akeredolu’s victory may have succeeded in boosting the confidence of Fayemi who is believed to still be interested in taking another shot at the governorship of Ekiti State in 2018. With Ondo now in the kitty, the next stops, perhaps, are Ekiti and Anambra. Only time will tell.
Saraki as Buhari’s new bride?
Major political realignments are ongoing in the country and only discerning minds will notice them. One of such is happening right in the Villa.
Dr. Bukola Saraki emerged the President of the Senate in 2015 against the wish of the leadership of the ruling APC that favoured his colleague, Ahmed Lawan, for the plum job. A similar thing happened in the House of Representatives with the emergence of Yakubu Dogara as the Speaker against Femi Gbajabiamila anointed by the party for the coveted seat.
The Senate’s case was further compounded by the fact that Ike Ekweremadu of opposition PDP emerged the Deputy President of the Senate in the Upper Chamber dominated by APC. The situation caused bad blood between Saraki and the party leadership. Although Buhari congratulated Saraki and Dogara on their elections and expressed his readiness to work with them, he made it clear that he would have preferred that party’s position on the choice of leaders for the National Assembly was respected.
Since then, Saraki was treated like a leper in the party. You would rarely see any party chief publicly with him. In fact, not a few people believe that his ongoing trial before the Code of Conduct Tribunal for alleged false declaration of assets and the forgery case instituted against him and Ekweremadu were done to punish him for his “disobedience to the party.”
Things are however changing fast. Saraki has gradually wormed himself into the heart of the President. He has become a regular visitor in the Villa. In the last few weeks, he has met with Buhari not less than four times. He has also been joining the President for Jumat services in the mosque located inside the Villa.
On Thursday, Saraki met with the President again and described it as “regular consultation.” That was on a day one of his men and former Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi, was named the APC’s new National Publicity Secretary.
If my suspicion is correct, the words of “Go ye and sin no more” may have been spoken into the life of the Kwara State-born politician.
Enjoy your weekend.
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