No fewer than 11 aspirants have purchased the expression of interest and nomination forms of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 governorship election in Oyo State.
The aspirants, who have all been screened by the party in Abuja, are expected to contest for the APC ticket as political activities gradually gather momentum in the state.
According to findings, eight of the aspirants are from Ibadan, the state capital, while two are from the Oke Ogun geopolitical zone. One aspirant is from Ogbomoso.
The development has intensified political discussions within the party, especially over zoning, consensus arrangement and the calibre of aspirants seeking to succeed Governor Seyi Makinde in 2027.
Ibadan-born Aspirants
The Ibadan-born aspirants in the race are Senator Sharafadeen Alli, a former Minister of Power, Mr Bayo Adelabu, Dr Adewale Kareem, Barrister Akeem Agbaje, and Engineer Akeem Alao.
Others
Others are Dr Ayobami Lam-Adesina, Prince Asanke Asatola and Mr Ololade Usman.
The remaining aspirants are Senator Abdulfatai Buhari from Ogbomoso; Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin from Oke Ogun; and a former deputy governor of the state, Engineer Rauf Olaniyan, also from Oke Ogun.
The 11 aspirants are expected to slug it out for the party’s governorship ticket ahead of the election.
Five Zones In Oyo
Oyo State is made up of five major political zones spread across its 33 local government areas.
The zones are Ibadan, Ibarapa, Ogbomoso, Oke Ogun and Oyo.
Since the return to democratic rule in 1999, Ibadan has produced most of the governors of the state, except the late Adebayo Alao-Akala, who hailed from Ogbomoso.
The late Alhaji Lamidi Adesina, who governed the state between 1999 and 2003, was from Ibadan South-East Local Government Area.
The current Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rasidi Ladoja, who was governor between 2003 and 2007, is from Ibadan South-West, although he resides in Ibadan North Local Government Area.
Alao-Akala remains the only person from outside Ibadan to have occupied the governorship seat in the state since 1999.
He served as governor between 2007 and 2011 and hailed from Ogbomoso North Local Government Area.
The late Abiola Ajimobi, who ruled between 2011 and 2019, was from Ibadan South-East and lived in Ibadan South-West before his death in 2020.
Ajimobi also made history as the first governor of the state to win a second term.
The incumbent governor, Seyi Makinde, who is expected to complete his second term in 2027, hails from Ona Ara Local Government Area but votes in Ibadan North-East Local Government Area.
Against this background, the APC governorship race has again raised questions about whether the party will retain Ibadan’s dominance or look towards another zone.
PrimeTimes Nigeria reports that as of the time of filing this report, all the 11 aspirants had been screened by the APC.
However, a chieftain of the party in one of the local government areas in Ibadan claimed that the party had already taken a decision on a consensus candidate.
The party chieftain, who spoke on Monday, said members had been informed of the preferred aspirant.
“I am the party’s returning officer in my local government. The party has taken a decision over the selection of the flag bearer. We have been told the consensus candidate,” Daily Post quoted the party chieftain as saying.
The claim could not be independently verified, and the party had yet to make an official announcement on whether it would adopt a consensus arrangement or conduct a primary election.
Meanwhile, a senior lecturer at Lead City University, Ibadan, Dr Bayonle Busari, described the large number of aspirants in the APC as a positive development.
Busari said the party should not base its choice of candidate on where the aspirants come from, but on their capacity, record and competence.
He said the calibre of aspirants showed that the party had many qualified individuals seeking the ticket.
“I see the number of aspirants for the gubernatorial ticket in the APC as a welcome development, particularly if you consider the credentials and calibre of the aspirants,” he said.
“We have a former federal minister and former deputy governor of the Central Bank, a former deputy governor of the state, a serving senator of the Federal Republic, engineers, international entrepreneurs, technocrats, and financial experts. They are eminently qualified citizens of the state in their own individual right.”
Busari further argued that voters and party members should pay more attention to the track records of the aspirants than their zones of origin.
According to him, what should matter most is how the eventual candidate can improve the lives of residents of the state.
“I would rather not see any of the aspirants from where they hail from but be concerned about their pedigree, antecedents, and how they can bring about expected deliverables to better the lots of the state and her downtrodden citizens,” he said.
“It is high time we began looking at the quality of someone who aspired to public office rather than being concerned with their origin, except if this will have a bearing on the performance in the office they seek to occupy.”