Oyo Guber: Makinde Faces Battle Of His Life; Aides Angry With Him

Governor Seyi Makinde’s inner caucus is not happy with him just a few days before the critical governorship election.

For instance, one of the aides of the billionare governor was only short of cursing him last week while speaking on the chances of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the governorship election coming up this weekend.

The aide said the governor has put the party in a very precarious situation, and should be blamed if the PDP did not return to power.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has fixed the governorship election across the country for this weekend, bearing any last change in its plan.

But the March 11, 2023 election in the Pacesetters state, as the state is widely known appears to have become a nightmare for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who has ruled the state for four years ad is now at the verge of losing it.

According to those watching the state, the outcome of the February 25 presidential and National Assembly election in which the party performed woefully, has presented a very dicey situation in the quest for the PDP to continue to rule the state.

The PDP plans to return Makinde to the Agodi Government House in a few days, but the reality on the ground poses a big challenge to the incumbent re-election bid.

For instance, the PDP lost the three senatorial seats to the rival All Progressives Congress, APC, two weeks ago apart from the House of Representatives seats that have now been largely won by the opposition.

Since the Prof. Mahmood Yakubu-led announced the results which obviously did not favour the party, not a few members of the PDP in the state, essentially some government officials have blamed the governor for his party’s woeful performance.

Citing the governor’s alliance with the PDP G5 governors who declined to support Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential candidate in the just concluded presidential election, those close to the state’s helmsman said the governor refused to listen to his advisers who warned him against working against the party in the presidential election.

Recall that Makinde is one of the PDP governors led by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state, who rebelled against the party over the emergence of Atiku as the party flagbearer, and went ahead to work against him in the election that produced Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC as president-elect.

The outcome of the presidential election, not a few in the state said has now put the party in a serious dilemma of how to win the governorship election in a few days.

It has also divided Governor Makinde’s cabinet, many of whom believe that PDP has been will struggle to win the governorship election. If it manages to win.

“Seyi has boxed the party into a corner by towing an unpopular path. The opposition has now capitalized on that to relaunch themselves into reckoning due to what I can describe as the governor’s indiscretion,” a source close to the governor said on Monday.

The incumbent is contesting with Senator Teslim Folarin of the APC and Adebayo Adelabu of the Social Democratic Party, PDP, who are considered strong opponents in their own right.

Folarin, a former Senate Leader is a serial governorship contender who has vowed this time to win, citing the groundswell of support the APC received in the last presidential and National Assembly election.

Adelabu, who last week debunked the suggestion that he has stepped down from the race, and is in it to win, is a former Central Bank Deputy Governor who lost narrowly to Makinde in 2019.

A visibly angry source in the party said the leaders of the party were already having a problem with the governor over his choice of appointments and financial provisions for the party, saying the G5 Governors only made the problem in the state PDP worse.

“Many state contracts were awarded to outsiders who did not work for the party’s victory in 2019 under the guise of ‘concession or outsourcing’, while sensitive and lucrative appointments were awarded to individuals considered as ‘technocrats’ by the governor,’ the source said.

The source cited the appointment of Olubamiwo Adeosun as Secretary to the State Government, SSG, even though she was not a member of the party.

Makinde, after winning the election four years ago named her the state’s government scribe, poaching her from an oil company, SPDC where she previously worked.

The larger-than-life influence of some non-indigenes in the governor’s kitchen cabinet’ has also not failed to rile some of his close advisers who insist that they are not benefitting much from the government they helped to bring into power.

“The tide in the Saturday election can only turn in his favour if he corrects these mistakes. We need to be empowered as foot soldiers at the grassroots,” another source said.

In spite of the seeming threat posed to Governor Makinde’s second-term ambition, not a few insist that he has performed beyond expectations in terms of project delivery to the people of the state.

Close watchers of the politics of the state insist that it remains to be seen whether this will work in his favour in the make or mar election.