By Dele Morakinyo,
Former Director, National Orientation Agency, Ekiti State.
The announcement of the disqualification of some aspirants to the governorship position ahead of the forthcoming 2026 elections in Ekiti State has continued to generate an unveiled buzz since the information was made public few days back.
While two aspirants have so far been barred from participating in the November primaries, the grumblings over the case of Engineer Kayode Ojo, a publicly acknowledged strong contender of the incumbent, have been the louder. And this for obvious reasons too.
The supporters of the Ikoro-Ekiti born strong member of the ruling All Progressive Congress have been seen as clear threat, in fact imminent danger to the sitting governor Biodun Oyebanji (BAO) in his unrelenting quest for a second term. The growing concern about the simmering violence in the state, a situation which recently elicited a statewide broadcast by the governor has been alluded to the fierce competition between the rising popularity of the now disqualified politician and the incumbent. The call for peace by the governor had been described as commendable.
Supporters of both politicians continue to dig deeper into their contending interests by the day as the primaries of the party draws closer.
The celebration over the disqualification of Kayode Ojo in BAO’s camp, is being read as a well calculated and deliberate masterstroke by the entrenched interests within the party to clear an assumed stumbling block, aimed at providing Governor Oyebanji a soft landing in what was perceived a possible threat of denying him of victory in the intraparty election.
However those in the Kayode Ojo’s camp have insisted that nothing would stop their man from challenging the working committee’s high handedness. The camp has however assured members that dumping APC is not on the cards, but would rather explore various options available within the party to challenge the purported treatment metted out to their principal. The options they claimed are being studied by its team of strategists.
It is worth stating that prior to the recent announcement of the committee, one story making the rounds among the political class was the argument that President Tinubu was not going to embrace the possibility of Ojo emerging as governor for the simple reason that he is from the same town as a sitting minister in the federal cabinet.
The loud claim then was that the minister was actually sponsoring his kinsman for the Oke Ayoba government house. Even when the accused minister drew attention to the past attempts by Engineer Kayode Ojo to be governor which preceeded his own appointment into office, the story did not totally go away!
The Ojo group insisted that the final was yet to be heard on the fate of their preferred aspirant even while quite clear of the opinion of the judicial system as it concerns intraparty activities.
On the argument that a weak aspirant was left to compete with BAO in the primaries to ensure an easy ride to a landslide, the Governor’s group contended that no experienced politcian would underestimate any aspirant as electoral upsets do happen now and again.
Political observers in the state are however watching with keen interest the way members of the ruling party are relentlessly tearing their party apart in what looks like a do-or-die, or dog eat dog struggle for the seat of governor of the state. This is without prejudice to the ability of the reconciliation committee headed by the much respected veteran politician, Chief Bisi Akande. The acceptability or otherwise of its intervention’s outcome would be another thing considering that the contending interests will have to pass through the fundamental consideration of every political struggle viz what is there in it for the concerned participants and their supporters.
One critical issue the warring APC party members have been counselled not to overlook is the existence of other political parties in the state also warming up to slug it out with the party in power at the 2026 elections. The complacency that might be brought about by the assumption that victory in the in-house election is a guaranteed easy ride to the office is becoming an important factor in the calculations. There could be a disregard for the possibility of a dark horse lurking somewhere, and here the Lagos State Sarumi/Agbalajobi scenario which threw up Chief Otedola of the opposition party is being recalled by those who are informed enough about that instructive history of political development in another Yoruba/South West setting.
The truth however that should not be overlooked is that Ekiti is overflowing with competent, credible, trusted and even tried politicians whom the people would willing adopt with overwhelming enthusiasm in the electoral process should the present slugfest within APC is badly managed thus becoming injurious to the party at the state before it infests its chances at the federal level.
Even beyond party consideration, what majority of the people in the state are presently yearning for is about fast-paced development of the state and improvement of their well-being. This to the average person in the state is not about the competence or capability or otherwise of our sitting governor is no doubt loved by many people. But the love of the admirers should not be seen as necessarily an impediment to the emergence of contestants either in the ranks of the party in power in the final analysis or opposition parties.
Since concensus building is an ongoing process in politics, so it might not yet be Uhuru for the stakeholder who seems to be winning today. As they say in politics, a few hours time frame may bring about an unimaginable and significant difference in the status quo.
The electorate, the ultimate deciding factor whose votes will be the referendum at the election time is not usually entirely sold to factors we all can decipher before the umpire, in this case, INEC which leadership is in transition, blows the final whistle.
Of equally important signs to be looked out for by the watchers of national politics will be the projected outcomes of the elections in Osun, Ondo and Oyo, and even Anambra state which is quite close, all in the South, and the anticipated impact they would have on the fortunes of APC’s presidency in the 2027 elections. In view of all these, the Ekiti situation will surely not escape intense scrutiny.
Sentiments and emotions not withstanding, the good people of Ekiti deserve the best that politics can offer as it enters its thirtieth year in 2026.
