An Ibadan-born governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, Akeem Agbaje, has said that the most realistic way to achieve power shift among the zones in the state is through an officially adopted rotational governorship policy.
Though he noted that such a feat is too early to achieve because Ibadan also laboured for it until it was realised in 1983, Agbaje said other zones of the state, including Oyo, Ogbomoso, Oke Ogun, and Ibarapa, will have to work assiduously to achieve it.
The scion of the Agbaje family at Ayeye Compound, Ibadan, who was also a former Chairman of the Ibadan branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), said this while featuring on the Political Circuit programme of Fresh FM 105.9.
Reacting to the call for power shift away from Ibadan in order to allow for equity, fairness, and justice, and to facilitate a sense of belonging and inclusion in every zone of the state, Agbaje said,
“We need to be realistic about this agitation, and I have always looked at it from two perspectives. The first is that everybody, every zone, is entitled to contest to be governor. I am not aware of any provision of the Constitution that prevents anybody from any zone of the state from aspiring or contesting. The second perspective is that people think that because Ibadan has the numbers, it takes advantage to perpetuate itself in the governorship position and lord it over every other zone.
“I think historically, that is not correct. Ibadan has been one of the largest populated cities since the 1930s. Ibadan had been the regional capital since the ‘30s, and Ibadan did not get a meaningful post until 1979, and that post was the Chief Judge. Every other post, despite the population of Ibadan, was occupied by people from other zones. The governor was from Osun; the deputy was from Osun. The Secretary to the State Government [SSG] and Head of Service were from Osun. The Opposition Leader was from Ogbomoso. Ibadan only got Chief Judge, and being Chief Judge was based on seniority. So, the conception that Ibadan dominates because of its population is not historically correct. Ibadan had always had the population.
“But in 1983, the consciousness came with ‘Omo wa ni e je o se’. But Ibadan did not just say ‘Omo wa ni e je o se’; they worked diligently and assiduously towards it until it was achieved. So, my take is that everybody, every zone, is entitled to be governor of Oyo State. There must be a defined approach to it. You can’t just say, ‘oh, we are entitled, we are entitled.’ You have to develop a process. The zone with the clearest agitation is Oke Ogun. And I tell them, though they don’t like it, that you have 10 local governments; Ogbomoso has three local governments. But Ogbomoso has presented a senator for you consecutively. So, there has to be a conscious, deliberate effort by Oke Ogun zone to achieve this goal of presenting somebody who can win to become governor of Oyo State. They all have to work together. Ibadan alone has not presented a candidate. Ibadan works with other zones. So, we all have to work together.
“But the easiest solution for me is to let us have a rotational policy, which will give everybody a sense of belonging. But I think it is too early, not because I am an aspirant. It involves a lot of work. Ibadan worked very hard to become governor in 1983. Osun was dominating us, but we worked at it, and to the glory of God, we got it,” he said.
Speaking on why the APC lost the 2023 gubernatorial election to the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), as well as the recent abysmal loss of the House of Representatives by-election in Ibadan North local government, Agbaje blamed leadership in Abuja.
“Oyo APC lost the recent House of Representatives by-election to the PDP because the leadership at Abuja imposed a candidate who was not the choice of the party in the state. For me, Abuja is our problem. Whatever data or parameter they used, they felt they could impose a candidate on us and win the election. I have told all that care that it can never happen in Oyo State. I can’t think of any other state where people will vote today in favour of a party, and two weeks later violently vote against that same party. And Abuja still refuses to realise that we are different and we will always be different.
“They came and imposed a candidate and thought they would win that election. Oyo State people have seen that message in 2019. They have seen the same message in 2023. So, Abuja has to learn that they should leave us alone to pick our own candidate. If we pick a candidate by ourselves, we know how we will make the candidate win the election,” Agbaje said.
