Gbenga Oyekola and Oladeji Oparinde are candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for Atiba and AFIJIO state constituencies in the 2023 state assembly election.
For Oyo East/West state constituency, the dust is yet to settle over who gets the ticket between the duo of Olorunpoto Rahaman Cephas and Idayat Adekunbi Olaniyan Olorode.
OYOINSIGHT.COM understands that while the duo of Oyekola and Olorunpoto are from the African Democratic Congress, ADC, group in the party, Oparinde is the son of the Akibio of Ilora.
Oyekola, who is Makinde’s special adviser on budget and economic planning, was council chairman and represented Atiba between 2015 and 2019 in the Oyo Assembly.
Olorunpoto is contesting for the first time. He was chairman of the Oyo Global Forum while Idayat is a Canada-based based woman.
A two-term former member of the house of representatives, Kameel Akinlabi, who is currently chairman of the Oyo State Road Maintenance Agency, OYSTROMA, will be contesting for the 5th time to represent Oyo federal constituency for a record third term. He is likely going to be contesting with incumbent and two-term member, Akeem Adeyemi Skimeh who has defeated him twice, in 2015 and 2019, and would also be seeking a third term like him. Both hail from Atiba.
Governor Seyi Makinde’s former chief of staff, is hoping luck smiles on him as he would contesting for the 4th term for the Oyo central senatorial that many political analysts believe is becoming elusive for him.
Ilaka had, after losing the PDP ticket to Teslim Folarin in 2007, been made the coordinator of the Yar’Adua campaign for Oyo central and then promised a ministerial position, which he never got eventually. Later, he was appointed a commissioner of the National Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC.
In 2011, OYOINSIGHT.COM recalls, the politician who is the Ladilu of Oyo kingdom contested in Accord after he was denied the ticket of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN. He was defeated by Ayo Adeseun, now a former senator. In 2015, he contested under Accord again and was defeated by Monsurat Sunmonu, now a former senator too while in 2019, when he used the PDP, he was defeated by Folarin, who is in his third term and wants to be governor in 2023.
Source who is in the know of happenings in PDP but who did not want name mentioned explained that “Governor Makinde wants to win Oyo town by all means. Though he won his governorship election in the four local government, APC won the assembly seats, in an election that was conducted same day.
”He deliberately did not consider Prince Bayo Adeyemi who contested against his brother and incumbent, Skimeh and lost in the 2019 election. Remember that an attempt by Makinde to ask Prince Adeyemi to challenge the election of Skimeh had proved abortive. So, he has had issue with the prince since then. He knows very well that there is rivalry between the palace and Akinlabi. So he wants to explore that. And he also knows that Ilaka has always been winning the four local government in Oyo town. He also believes Oyekola will have a good showing just like Prince Oparinde whose monarch-dad is influential in AFIJIO.”
But a community leader who is familiar with politics in the ancient town dismissed the chances of the PDP, saying that the choice of the PDP’s candidates is seen by people as an attempt to fight war with the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi through proxies.
“Particularly,” he said, “fielding Akinlabi and Oyekola will not give PDP what he wants in Oyo town. Things may even be more worse than the last election. Did they know that the chances of Ilaka who they want to bank on to win Oyo has dwindled with his appointment as chief of staff? Did you know why it was easy for the governor to sack him without any noise. Didn’t you report how he was almost denied the ticket? If they rate him, they wouldn’t have done something like that for him,” he sad.
