Myths Around Aiyedatiwa’s Landslide Guber Victory in Ondo

Fidelis David reports that Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa’s landslide victory, during which he won in all 18 local government areas of Ondo State, has been widely celebrated as a significant milestone in the political history of the coastal state.

On Sunday, November 17, 2024, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa as the winner of the November 16, 2024 governorship election in the sunshine state of Ondo.

Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Lokoja, Prof Olayemi Akinwunmi, and the Returning Officer of the exercise declared that Aiyedatiwa polled a total of 366,781 votes to defeat his closest rival, Ajayi Agboola of the Peoples Democratic Party who scored a total votes of 117,845 while ZLP’s Dr Abbas Mimiko, younger brother of the former governor of the state, Dr Olusegun Mimiko came a distant third with  2692  votes.

He said the total valid votes was 497077, rejected votes, 11886 while total votes cast was 508,963.

However,  Aiyedatiwa’s landslide victory, in which he won in all  the 18 local government areas, has been widely celebrated as a significant milestone in Ondo State’s political history.

Ever since the announcement of the poll result, there has been a frenzy not just among the governor’s supporters but also in certain sections of the media.

No doubt, many factors led to the re-election of Aiyedatiwa. Significant in this respect is that the governor enjoys the advantages of incumbency and the fact that the main opposition political party, the PDP is crisis- ridden.

 These coupled with the fact that he has the backing of the presidency, governors of the party and the national leadership of the party and running on the stellar record of late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu

Also significant was the financial wherewithal to fund his election, proven integrity, striking performance within 10 months in office and the smart political move by picking his deputy, Olaide Adelami from his former principal, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu’s place.

Mythological Perspective

However, some people believe that the governor worked for his victory while others believe that the victory has a mythological undertone.

According to the school of thought, names are very important to Africans and as such local naming systems are supposed to serve as references for the circumstances of birth and the parents’ wish for the child’s future.

So, like his name, Lucky, luck and destiny have bestowed on him re-election. Orimisan – My head has favoured me. Truly, the man’s head has brought him favour and grace. Aiyedatiwa – the world has become ours. Undoubtedly, God has given him the world of Ondo for another four years.

Akeredolu’s factor

Prior to the rift between the late Akeredolu and Aiyedatiwa, the former had openly said Aiyedatiwa will take up the reins of governance from him, a declaration which many people believe triggered the hatred for Aiyedatiwa by those who were eyeing the governorship seat.

On February 24, 2021, Akeredolu, during his inauguration for the second term at the International Culture and Event Center in Akure, openly said: “The name we give our children or the name we bear at times matters a lot. You (Aiyedatiwa) have been loyal and consistent. You are worthy of this position (deputy governor), and I want to thank you for being considered to complete this journey with us.

“I have a maximum of four years; maybe you can proceed from there. It is for me now to calm down and for you to grow. I must come down for him to grow. I have done my own a little bit; I must congratulate you.”

Thus, those who believe in spirituality see it as what worked for his success.

Ilaje People Wanted Power

On July 29, 2020, former Governor Akeredolu, picked Aiyedatiwa, a former commissioner in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), as his running mate prior to the October 10 governorship election.

Specifically, Akeredolu said the leadership of the party decided to pick Aiyedatiwa following wide consultations and having been with the ruling party “since the beginning of this political journey in 2012”.

With the emergence of Aiyedatiwa as deputy governor, it was the very first time in the history of Ondo State that the Ilaje linguistic group produced a deputy governor. The vast expanse of Ilaje land with its abundant resources has never had the fortune of having any of its own close to the corridors of power in the state.

Fast forward to late Governor Akeredolu and Aiyedatiwa’s crisis, some of the 36 states across Nigeria have had the history of threats and outright impeachment of deputy governors, due to the rivalry with their principals. For instance, Ondo, Kogi, Abia, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Edo, Plateau, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Taraba, Oyo, Osun, Enugu, Imo, Lagos, Kano, among other states had their fair share of the trend. In each of those cases, the deputy governors ended up being impeached or resigning.

But for Aiyedatiwa, amid the storm, he escaped and was able to navigate the political terrain and the impeachment proceedings against him, over allegation of approving N300 million to purchase a bulletproof SUV for personal use with the money sourced from the ‘Palliative Fund’ provided by the federal government to cushion effects of the removal of fuel subsidy in the states.

As a result of these crises, the state was plunged into a period of unprecedented political turmoil, causing widespread concern and uncertainty among Nigerians and causing a ripple effect throughout the state’s political fabric.

However, as destiny would have it, on December 27, 2023, took over as governor after the death of his principal, Akeredolu thereby satisfying the agitation of the people of Ilaje, perhaps, with the believe that the dream of Ondo sea port will come to reality to the benefit of its people.

The point must be made that names do not ordinarily bring automatic success. Success is something that is worked for with happiness being pursued with single-minded devotion because nothing in life comes on a platter of gold.

Thus, luck and other factors may have brought Governor Aiyedatiwa this far, but he would only be remembered at the end of his tenure in 2029 not for being merely lucky but to be able to implement policies and programmes for the betterment of the lives of the citizenry and transformation of the state to a higher scale of production.