By; JACOB ONJEWU DICKSON,
There are strong indications that the emergence of the former Minister of Power, Dr. Olu Agunloye as the flagbearer of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) ahead of the governorship election in Ondo State has sent fears into the camps of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Agunloye emerged as the SDP candidate at the weekend after other aspirants in the party stepped down for him even before the day of the primary which held last Saturday in Akure.
Information available to our reporter revealed that the candidature of the former Minister who hails from Akoko axis of the state is already altering the political calculations among the major contending parties due to what was described as initial miscalculations by both the leaders PDP and APC in the state.
It was also gathered that “Agunloye is believed to be the most popular of all those aspiring for the governorship seat in his senatorial district. Not only that, his rising popularity among the political top notches in both APC and the PDP is giving the kingmakers of Tinubu and Mimiko great concerns, as intelligence reports making the rounds has it that some aggrieved APC aspirants and their supporters have vowed to support Agunloye if Tinubu succeeds in imposing his favoured candidate on APC.
The story is not different in the PDP where Gov Mimiko has handed the party ticket to Jegede, the immediate past Ondo State Attorney-General as the party’s flag-bearer.
Further findings revealed that Agunloye enjoyed the royal blessings of being a prince of two prominent cities of Akure and Owo which are home to the highest percentage of the voters in the state, a reason some planners in the other two leading parties fear that Agunloye may not be an easy nut to crack.
Agunloye is a great grand son of Deji of Akure through his grand mother and grand son of Olowo of Owo through his mother.
It was also gathered that some APC aspirants were said to have met with the SDP candidate a day before his primary to negotiate their interest to back him, while some PDP Chieftains and aspirants have sent him congratulatory messages.
The source revealed further that “Agunloye’s initial stint in PDP, APC and Labour Party is working in his favour as members of both parties see him as part of them, some even vowed to risk anti-party accusation to work for him underneath.
“Another factor is the integrity and influence of the national chairman of the SDP in the state. Also to Agunloye’s advantage is the Afenifere factor. The National leader of Afenife, Chief Reuben Fashoranti is a highly respected community and opinion leader in Akure, and he is said to have endorsed Agunloye.”
