Nigeria Navy Secondary School Ojo

Whenever the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) blows the whistle for the governorship election in Ondo State, three parties; Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), would be locking horns.

Expectedly, Governor Olusegun Mimiko, a native of Ondo Kingdom, is the flag bearer of LP, the ruling party. He wields enormous influence in the state. His party is formidable. It also has solid structures at the grassroots. Rooting for him are traditional rulers, many opinion moulders, civil servants and youths.

However, to ACN, the ruling party is a fading platform. Its chairman, Mrs Jumoke Anifowose, who served in the Adebayo Adefarati Administration as commissioner, like Mimiko, said the power of incumbency would collapse on poll day, adding that the people of the Sunshine State are yearning for change. It is not an empty threat, judging by the way ACN aspirants are gathering forces in the nooks and crannies of the state.

PDP has also not given up despite the decimation of its membership. Like wounded lions, its chieftains are on the prowl, seeking whom to devour. There is no shortage of hope among the die-hard chieftains.

Other parties are just warming the register of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Many of them, sources said, are ready to trade their weak platforms for money by either endorsing Mimiko, ACN or PDP candidate. This has reinforced the fact that the paper-weight parties serve as sources of income to their officers during electioneering.