How we picked Akeredolu, by Lai Mohammed

Rotimi Akeredolu

National Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, explained yesterday why the party chose former National Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), as its flag bearer in the October 20 governorship election in Ondo State.

Besides, Mohammed told newsmen in his country home, Oro in Irepodun Local Government, Kwara State moments before the kick-off of an annual Ramadan lecture facilitated by him, that the party was sure of the success of its coalition with other opposition parties and some elements within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to wrest power from the ruling Labour Party (LP).

On the controversial choice of Akeredolu which has led to a split within the party, Mohammed said:  “We had about 35 aspirants and we called all of them for a meeting and we asked them that, you are all from different senatorial districts of Ondo State, do you have zoning system and they all said, there is zoning system.

“Then we also asked them what’s the zoning system all about and they said it started with the late Chief Adebayo Adefarati from Ondo North, it went to Chief Olusegun Agagu from South before it now went to incumbent governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, in the Central and, therefore, the slot should go back to the North and that was the sum total of what we got from what they said during the initial meeting with them.

“We then asked if they all agreed it should go to the North and they said yes; all the aspirants from the South and Central agreed. We had another meeting with aspirants from the North and we asked them, how many groups make up the North Senatorial District and they said three – Akoko, Owo and Ose. We asked the last time governorship came to you, who took it, and they said Adefarati and, therefore, it should go to Owo.

“By the time we got to that point, it was only people from Owo and Ose that we had to pick from and we used our judgement to say, of all these people here, the best person  is Chief Rotimi Akeredolu(SAN). Is there anything more democratic than that?”

On the romance among the can, CPC and other parties, he said: “Actually, what is happening is not just talk between CPC and ACN, no political party is satisfied with this government. ANPP, even PDP are now looking for what I will call a Noah’s ark to rescue them. So, make no mistake about it. It is a reality. It is going to happen and it will sweep PDP out of power.

Meanwhile critics of the process have lambasted Lai Muhamed for what they term jaundiced permutation. According to Omolayo Ifeoluwa who hails from the same Owo Local Government as Akeredolu, “the explanation of Muhamed excluded the fact that the first civillian governor actually is from Owo while only Ose is yet to produce a governor if we consider the whole of Akoko as a single unit which I doubt the Akokos would support.

“They should just admit that they were working to their own answer and in the process shot themselves in the feet.

“As it is, they have lost woefully in their quest even before the game started.”

“If anyone would even pick an Owo son, who is Akeredolu in Owo?”