As a former governor and prominent Ijesha man, one would expect Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to deliver a sizable amount of votes for the candidate of his African Democratic Congress, ADC, Najeem Salaam across the six local government area that constitute the Ijesha bloc.
However, reverse was the case with Aregbesola’s status being of no use. Salaam polled a paltry 2,351 votes across the six council area as APC’s Bola Oyebamiji amassed the most votes of 79,920 with Governor Adeleke of the Accord Party coming second with 77,193 votes.
The overall outcome of the election as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was that, Adeleke scored 511,067 votes, against Bola Oyebamiji’s 443,815 and ADC’s Salaam distant overall 17,180 votes.
The outcome tells a lot about Aregbesola’s diminishing influence in his own domain and, of course, across the state.
“Aregbesola is an Ijesha man. The Ijesha bloc is therefore one of the natural places where one would expect his politcal influence to be most visible. But what happened?
In the six local goverment areas that make up the major Ijesha concentration, Ilesha East, Ilesha West, Obokun, Oriade, Atakumosa East and Atakumosa West, the numbers tell a story that is difficult to explain away. Accord Party, 77, 193 votes, APC 79,920 votes and Aregbesola’s ADC 2,351 votes. Let that sink in!,” a public affairs analyst, Abiola Olatunde Aloba’s comment on the election.
