Political analysts in Oyo State have said that as citizens prepare for what could be described as a clash of the titans, the lawmaker representing Oyo South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Adesoji Akanbi, who is contesting against Governor Abiola Ajimobi, seems to be more favoured by his people for the senatorial seat.
Lead Accountant, FemiDayo&Associates, Mr. Femi Hassan, said from what he gathered on repeated visits to Oyo State, the people were more in support of the incumbent senator than the Governor, who they felt had not met their expectations.
“It is clear that Soji Akanbi has more acceptance right now. How he sustains that into the election is left for his team. He is a man of the people; I can tell you that. He is just all over the place,” Hassan
said.
A journalist, working with one of the frontline newspapers in Nigeria, who would not want his name in print, owing to the sensistivity of the issue, agreed with Hassan, saying that Akanbi would win, “landslide, in a free and fair election.”
“This is where we live; we know what is happening. The party is not what matters now; it is the individual. Moreover, ADC is now like a household name in Oyo State. Many big guys are involved and they also have a lot of supporters. He has touched lives, especially in the health sector and in terms of empowerment. He is everywhere, even if they claim that billboards have been removed. Only rigging can make Ajimobi win,”
he claimed. In a telephone interview with Dr. Abdulazeez Olatunde, Director of Media and Spokesperson of the APC Campaign Organisation in Oyo State, on Sunday, he said claims by the opposition against Governor Ajimobi and the APC were all lies.
According to him, those in the opposition are only making frivolous claims.
He said, “All those people are just making fake and frivolous claims. Other party representatives and I were with the Commissioner of Police in the state on Thursday. We were the first to lodge complaints. In fact, I took the pain; myself and the Security Adviser to the party, (Pastor Olufemi Akande); to go round Ibadan. We went to 27 places, where they destroyed our billboards. “The funny thing is that, where our billboards stand with those of other candidates, it is ours that they would destroy. If at a place, a billboard belonging to party ‘A’ is standing with ours, they would not destroy that of party ‘A’ but they would destroy ours. It is the same for other locations where you have party ‘B’ and ‘C.”
Olatunde, who is also the Publicity Secretary of APC in Oyo State, said as an evidence, the APC team took the photographs of the billboards, which were destroyed, to the state Police Command to lodge a complaint.
He said, “It informed the invitation by the police to all stakeholders. Those people are only afraid; all the noise they are making is, perhaps, to create sympathy for themselves. Trust the government in Oyo State; the objective of the admistration is, first to ensure peace and security. That is the number one achievement of Senator Abiola Ajimobi since he came on board in 2011. What the people making the allegation are trying to do is to rubbish his (Ajimobi’s) achievements.”
