•As TESLIM FOLARIN, BISI ILAKA & MONSURAT SUNMONU Battle
The political atmosphere in Oyo State, like every other state in the country, has remained charged since the commencement of electioneering campaigns ahead of the 2019 general elections. The game is getting hotter and hotter everyday, especially since candidates have emerged from the primary elections of their various political parties. Campaigns are in full throttle as political parties and their candidates at different levels are engaged in a game to outshine one another. There are candidates who have political scores to settle among themselves. Some, who are fresher areout to prove their political mettle. The election is also going to determine political future of some young politicians in the state.
The senatorial election is going to be a battle to finish among top political parties no wonder political watchers believe that the senatorial election is going to be interesting, owing to last minute political alignment and realignment that have taken place in the state, which have never been witnessed in the state, at least, not in the recent time. The Unity Forum and Lamists including two serving senators, Soji Akanbi and Monsurat Sunmonu dumped APC to join ADC. A former Governor of the state. Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, also left APC. ex-Gov. Rashidi Ladoja abandoned Açcord Party and reconciled with PDP and later moved to ADC but now is in ZLP, just to mention a few of the many intrigues that have played out in Oyo politics recently.
All these are nothing but a great pointer to the fact that more drama will unfold as far as the coming 2019 elections are concerned. It is a clear indication that all political positions are going to be keenly contested.
One of such positions, however, is the race to Oyo Central Senatorial seat, which involves three prominent politicians in the state, as major contenders. A former Senate Leader, Senator Teslim Kolawole Folarin of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the incumbent Senator, representing the district, Senator Monsurat Sunmonu, of the ADC and Chief Bisi Ilaka of PDP will battle for the seat.
These 3 politicians are not only qualified for the race; they are very popular too. They are politicians with rich political C.V and background.
Senator Teslim Folarin is an Ibadan man. He is the Laguna Olubadan of Ibadanland. He is well read and exposed and a grassroots politician. He is also an Harvard- trained. Folarin contested and won the senatorial seat to represent Oyo Central in 2003 at the age of 39 on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and was re-elected for a second term in 2007 on the platform of the same party. Folarin remains the only legislator in Oyo State, who has served two terms in the Senate. At the Senate, he was appointed Leader of the Senate. Folarin also served on the Senate Committee on Business & Rules, Marines and Transport although his particular interests were in education, power supply and water resources. Folarin was involved in the Power probe in 2008. As the Leader of the Senate, he led debates on all Executive Bills and sponsored several private Bills himself. They included the Insurance Act, Armed Forces Pension Act and several others.
Folarin won the gubernatorial ticket of his party, Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in 2014. He lost the election to the incumbent Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, of the All Progressives’ Congress. Folarin defected to the APC in December 2017.
Senator Monsurat has an interesting history in Oyo politics. She is the first woman to emerge. Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly in the history of the state. She is a British-trained in Business Management. She worked in Britain before relocating to Nigeria to contest election in 2015. While in the Oyo State House of Assembly, she was a member representing Oyo East and Oyo West local governments. She is the Chairperson, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. She is from Oyo town.
While both senators Teslim Folarin and Monsurat Sunmonu are major stakeholders in Oyo politics, Chief Bisi Ilaka is not new within the state’s political circle either. He is an Oyo town-born prominent businessman and philanthropist. Ilaka, a United Kingdom-trained tax consultant, is the Ladilu of Oyo. He was a Member of the Board of Directors of Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation.
He has severally contested both governorship and senatorial positions in the past. In fact, he had pursued the ambition in the ACN, the PDP and the Accord Party (AP) respectively. He lost the battle to contest the zone’s seat to Senator Ayoade Adeseun, while he was in PDP in the 2011 election. Monsurat Sunmonu succeeded Adeseun in 2015.
Interestingly, while both Sunmonu and Ilaka are from Oyo town and enjoy cordial relationship with the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi 111, who is a major determinant factor in who gets what in Oyo town politics, Teslim Folarin, who is an Ibadan man is close to Alaafin too.
Though, there are other contestants eyeing the zone’s seat on the platform of other political parties, but the race is strictly among these 3 top candidates.
Oyo Central Senatorial district has 11 local governments; 5 in Ibadan (Ona Ara, Oluyole, Egbeda, Akinyele and Lagelu), 4 in Oyo (Atiba, Oyo East, Oyo West and Afijio) and 2 in Ogbomoso (Ogo Oluwatosin and Surulere). Time will, however, tell whether an Oyo indigene is going to continue representing the zone come 2019 or an Ibadan man will emerge again.
Since 1999, 2015 was the first time that an Oyo indigene emerged Senator for the zone.
An Ibadan man, Senator Lekan Balogun, won the seat in 1999. He was succeeded by another Ibadan man, Senator Teslim Folarin in 2003. Adesun, who succeeded Folarin in 2011, is from Ogbomoso. While Monsurat Sunmonu won the seat in 2015.
In 2015 election, Monsurat Sunmonu, who contested and won on the platform of APC polled 105,378 votes; Bisi Ilaka of the Accord then came second with 84,675 votes, while Senator Ayo Adeseun of PDP came third in the election. Former governor Akala’s Labour Party then scored 27,490 votes.
But now that there has been a lot movements and alliances among all the political parties in the state, votes will definitely be shared among the popular artiste come 2019, as the election into the National Assembly is fewer than two months away.
-Dare Adeniran
