The script is playing out already in the state and just about two years into his administration, the Oyo State Governor is facing the heat. He has been portrayed as losing control of the state, going by the various crises currently being experienced in the state.
Upon his assumption of office in 2019, Governor Makinde was like a 'bride' among other southwest governors. He was getting applause (even crom outside the state) for his performance, but just a few months after, the state started making big headlines for wrong reasons, insecurity being the most notable.
Oyo State has been the epicentre of the farmers/northern herdsmen crisis in the southwest and this has taken a negative toll on the state in the past months. In the middle of the ongoing crises, there are enough pointers to the fact that the governor lacks the necessary support in his state to fully address the situation. Sadly, he is equally battling a fierce political war, just at the same time.
"At the moment, the Governor can only look back and count his own supporters, he is having headaches about the large population of the people against him", a former chieftain of the PDP who worked directly with Engineer Makinde during the 2019 elections told CityScoop. According to him, the Governor created most of the problems he is now losing sleep over by himself after calling the bluff of a lot of people he had bargains with in 2019.
Makinde was in February 2019, few days to the elections adopted by leadimg opposition parties, African Democratic Congress (ADC), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) led by a former governor of the state, Senator Rashidi Ladoja and the Social Democratic Party (SDP). ADC, which had Senator Olufemi Lanlehin as flagbearer and Ladoja's ZLP that had Sharafadeen Abiodun-Alli as flagbearer, have since thrashed the deals they had with the Governor, with majority of their members now in the APC, already preparing for 2023.
Also, all is not well within the PDP, the party on whose ticket Engineer Makinde won his election in 2019. According to findings, some key members of the party across the state have had axes to grind with the Governor for not getting enough patronage from him. These politicians alleged Makinde of dumping them after assuming office and that he has rather been favouring people who were in the SDP (his former party where he contested 2015 governoship) with him with available positions and appointments.
His hold on the PDP in the state is currently under threat and this has further been made glaring by the present opposition against him regarding having a say in who gets what is the party's zonal (southwest) exco. Being the only PDP governor in the southwest, Governor Makinde, expectedly would have been expected to be the leader of the party in the zone. But ongoing attacks against him by the likes of former Ekiti Governor, Ayo Fayose and other PDP bigwigs in the southwest are enough indications to deduce that Makinde is not sitting comfortably in the party. Fayose was one of the big supporters of Makinde during his 2019 campaign. He is one of those allies who have parted ways with him. Perhaps these are the kinds of developments that fueled a story making the rounds days back that the governor himself was considering leaving the party for the APC. Although his spokesman had swiftly denied it.
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| Alh. Bisi Olopoenia, one of Makinde's closest ally (right) has also dumped him. |
There is a long list of former backers of the governor who are no longer with him. We however gathered that some of these influential individuals could have risen in support of Makinde in this crises preiod if things had not gone awry among them. Instances like the that of Sunday Adeyemo (Igboho) who openly declared being against the governor would not have degenerated to such level if Makinde were to be in same accord with former Governor of the state, Rashidi Ladoja who Igboho has always mentioned to be his godfather. Our source informed that the Igboho saga couldn't have been unconnected with Ladoja's fight with Makinde.
As things stand currently, whether the governor would wim back the control of the party, or he will be seeking another platform should he have the plan to seek another term in 2023, remains to be seen. But whichever way he wishes to go, the big fact remains that there is an uphill task ahead of him. Meanwhile, he is believed to be enjoying the support of a majority of the civil servants in the state, who form a major voting bloc.