Members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from the nine Local Government Areas that make up Oyo South Senatorial District on Wednesday elected Governor Abiola Ajimobi of the state as their candidate for Oyo South district in the National Assembly ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Oyo South District, our correspondent reports, comprises five local government areas within Ibadan city, one Local Government Area in Ibadan less city and three Local Government Areas in Ibarapa geo-political zone of the state.
The Local Government Areas are Ibadan North, Ibadan North East, Ibadan North West, Ibadan South East and Ibadan South West.
Others are, Ido, Ibarapa East, Ibarapa North and Ibarapa Central local government areas.
Ajimobi, DAILY POST recalls had while speaking at a program held at the University of Ibadan recently declared his intention to represent the district under the platform of the ruling party officially.
The governor whose second term administration would end on 29th May next year had earlier represented the zone between 2003 and 2007 under the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD).
His emergence as a Senatorial candidate of the party was announced during the primary election of the party that took place inside the Ibadan North Local Government Secretariat on Wednesday and conducted by the Chief Ademola Seriki-led electoral panel.
Ajimobi who scored 2,659 defeated Dr. Fola Akinosun who got 168 votes, to seek a return to the Senate.
Announcing the result in the early hours of Wednesday, Seriki said that the exercise, which started around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, was delayed due the late arrival of voting materials from the national headquarters of the party in Abuja.
Seriki described the exercise as another successful primary that the committee had conducted, having also taken charge of the governorship primary that produced Chief Adebayo Adelabu, on Sunday.
He said, “You heard what happened in some states that conducted the same exercise. Some were not as successful as Oyo State and I give the credit to the aspirants and the entire members of this great party for making this exercise worthwhile.
“I salute the calmness and maturity of the aspirants that have so far participated in the primaries, from Sunday’s governorship primary and today’s Senate primary. We look forward to further cooperation among all stakeholders in the remaining primaries”.
Ajimobi while addressing journalists after being declared the winner, applauded the electoral committee for what he called the hitch-free and smooth conduct of the exercise, despite the earlier delay.
Ajimobi said, “I look forward to going back to the Red Chamber to contribute my quota to the national debate and the progress of the nation. I wish to bring to fore my parliamentary experience to grow a Nigeria that the next generation will be proud of.
“The process has just started today (yesterday) with my emergence as the candidate of our great party. The people of Oyo South Senatorial district should expect greater performance from me at the Senate, which will even surpass my unprecedented achievements as governor by the grace of God.
“As you have all witnessed, the election was free, fair and transparent. I was even happy that my younger brother, Dr. Fola Akinosun, could score as high as 168 votes. I think he tried. And you can see that it was transparent and I am happy about it”.
Akinosun who was present at the beginning of the exercise left the venue for undisclosed reasons before the final collation of the results from the nine LGs.
He had earlier promised to abide by the results of the primary on the condition that it was free and fair, adding that he decided to throw his hat into the ring as a free citizen and qualified member of the APC, irrespective of the stature of his co-contestants.
Akinosun added, “This election is not about life. It is about representation and should not be by force. I promise to accept the outcome of the polls and that is if the due diligence is done. We are in the same party and we shall not allow internal election to create crisis in our party.”
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