Governorship primary of the APC in Ondo State is obviously a make or mar event

The political climate of Ondo State is unnecessarily charging already at least, for two clear reasons. First, the two leading political parties – the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) – are in the thick of their primaries, which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled for August 22 and 27 respectively.

PDP, however, has held its own on the scheduled date with a former Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of the state, Eyotayo Jegede, emerging its candidate.

The other factor is that the APC has been the focus of the contest, which some of the party faithful strongly believe, would terminate the reign of the PDP in the state, depending on how its standard bearer eventually emerges.

Aside that the state’s main opposition party is stronger and more cohesive than it was in the pre-2012 era, the rift in the PDP, occasioned by the assumption that a choice candidate had already been picked for the election, among others, appear to give the APC some advantage, however, if only it also manages its primary very well.

All is set for tomorrow’s primary election and no fewer than 50 aspirants have indicated interests in the APC nomination. However, only 25 of them eventually collected expression and nomination forms, which showed the level of interest the contest had generated in the rank of the party. Of the 25 people, who obtained nomination forms, 24 of them appeared before the screening committee at the APC National Secretariat, Abuja last week.

Despite the interest the contest has generated in the state, the APC has started facing tension-generated crisis. Two recent developments indeed cast pall on the chances of the party in the election. The first has to do with how the APC standard bearer will finally emerge. In 2012, the defunct ACN, one of the political parties that formed APC, produced its standard bearer, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu through consensus, which stoked disaffection or undue division among other aspirants on the platform.

Apparently, the use of consensus by the defunct ACN to produce its standard bearer then had calamitous effect on the party’s performance. It was evident in the outcome of the election in which the ACN came third, polling 143,512 votes. Also, the PDP, which nominated its former National Adviser, Olusola Oke polled 155,961 votes, while the Labour Party, which re-presented Governor Olusegun Mimiko, scored 260,197.