By Kolade Larewaju
AS the 2011 political race gets more intense, those jostling for the Governorship of Ogun State have increased their tempo of campaign with a bid to clinching their parties’ ticket. Although only two parties: Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, are actually on ground in the State, the number of aspirants has continued to increase. Most are seen as pretenders and people hoping to use their declaration as a bargaining chip.

THE Labour Party which only recently organized a congress to elect officers is yet to have any aspirant campaigning for the governorship seat in the party. The number of those jostling for the seat notwithstanding, only very few within the parties are seen as real contenders.

The crisis within the PDP and the just concluded registration of the new members into the ACN has, however, added to the politicking as each group within the two parties struggles to take the pride of place and present candidate for the election. While the struggle within PDP is between the Governor Olugbenga Daniel-led camp and the Senator Jubril Martins_Kuye camp often referred to as Abuja camp, that of the ACN is between old members and new entrants.

In the Daniel camp within PDP are one serving senator, four members of the House of Representatives, 11 members of the State House of Assembly led by factional speaker, Emmanuel Soyemi Coker, commissioners and local government chairmen, while in the Senator Martins_Kuye camp are two serving senators, Speaker of the House of Representative; Mr. Dimeji Bankole and four of his other colleagues in the House of Representatives; 15 members of the House of Assembly led by Tunji Egbetokun and some other party chieftains.

In the ACN, however, the battle is a straight one between the old members of the party led by Chief Remilekun Razak Bakare and the new entrants led by Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

General Adetunji Idowu Olurin, PDP

General Olurin, a retired soldier and seasoned administrator is one of the leading aspirants in the PDP in the state. Olurin was a former Military Governor of Oyo State and was administrator during the emergency rule in Ekiti State in 2006. While in the Military he was brigade commander, general officer commanding and later Commander of the ECOMOG troops in Liberia.

After retiring from the military, Olurin went into business and farming. He hails from Ilaro in the Yewa/Awori axis of the State. He is well respected across the state as a bridge builder, but he is believed to be the candidate of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and being supported by the Jubril Martins Kuye camp which also has in its fold, the daughter of the former President; Senator Iyabo  Obasanjo Bello.

Olurin also has the support of the Ogun West Elders Consultative Forum which at a news conference declared him the candidate of the zone. But the opposing camp insist that Olurin should not be made candidate because he was not a politician until recently and that he would be too old for the job at about 70 years and that he was impaired.

Gen. Adetunji Olurin...opponents see him as too old to run; Chief Remilekun Bakare...does not go around with the crowd and Senator Ibikunle Amosun...believed to be too close to Obasanjo

These Olurin has countered saying experience was the best teacher and that he had no impairment whatsoever. Olurin is believed to be able to fund his campaign through his friends which he was said to have acquired over the years.

Alhaji Gboyega Nosiru Isiaka, PDP

Popularly referred to as GNI, Isiaka a chartered accountant was born in February 1962. He attended Ogun State Polytechnic, University of Ife and the University of Lagos. He has a first Degree in Accounting and an MBA from the University of Lagos. He worked in various banks before he was appointed managing director of  Gateway Holding by Governor Olugbenga Daniel in 2003. The company is in charge of the Investment Portfolio of the State Government. He was in charge of the company until the middle of the year when he resigned to pursue his gubernatorial ambition.

Isiaka hails from Imeko also in the Yewa Awori axis of the state. He is believed to be the candidate of the Daniel group and has received the endorsement of the apex body of PDP in the state led by Senator Ayo Otegbola. Isiaka enjoys tremendous support from members of the cabinet of the Governor, local government chairmen and the youths of the PDP.

His opponents, however, see him as a Daniel loyalist to be planted by the outgoing governor which he had vehemently denied. Some of them also said he would be too young for the job, to which he has said was an insult as people younger that him had been heads of state of the country. Moreover, this he said was an insult to his generation.

Senator Ibikunle Amosun, ACN

Senator Ibikunle Amosun hails from Abeokuta North Local Government Area of the State. An Obasanjo kinsman as he is from the Owu stock. A chartered accountant, Amosun attended Ogun State Polytechnic and was elected Senator representing Ogun Central District in 2003 until 2007 under the aegis of PDP. He defeated Senator Okunrounmu of the AD in the 2003 polls when the PDP tsunami swept the state.

A close friend of Governor Daniel then before things fell apart in late 2004, he had never hidden his ambition to be the Governor of the state which some observers said led to his fall out with Daniel.

He, however, dumped the party and pitched his tent with the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, where he clinched the ticket and contested against Daniel in the April 2007 polls. He lost and went to court but failed. Amosun is a grass-roots mobilized and is believed to have a deep pocket. He enjoys a large followership of people in the ANPP who dumped the party for the ACN.

Amosun, however, has to contend with old members of the party who are wary of the fact that he may eventually dump the party the way he did with PDP and ANPP and they even argue further that he may in fact be on his way to another party where he can be sure he would get the party ticket. This they said was evident in his billboards across the state which has no party logo.

While he was in PDP and ANPP, his billboards had those logos, but that now that he claimed to be in  ACN, the logo is not on the billboards. His supporters argue, however, that the billboards had been made before he joined the party. Amosun is also believed to be too close to Obasanjo not to return to the PDP if he gets the party ticket and goes on to win the election. He is believed to have a deep pocket.

Chief Remilekun Rasak Bakare, ACN

RRB and Aare as he is called by his supporters, Bakare is a chartered accountant, chartered banker and stock broker. He hold a B.Sc., MBA and a Ph. D. He hails from Abeokuta and he is the Aare Laderin of Egbaland. Bakare had worked in various banks and became managing director of Nationwide Securities.

He lectured in various institutions and became the director general of the Executive Business School in Lagos. A member of the Alliance for Democracy, AD, he contested the 2007 senatorial elections in the Ogun Central District against the daughter of President Olusegun Obasanjo, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello and lost.

He challenged the result at the tribunal an lost. Seen as a loyal party man and supporter of the party even when all hope was lost as he was said to have been continually assisted in financing the party.

Bakare is believed to be capable of financing his campaign and enjoys the support of old members of the party who feel that having stayed and supported the party for so long, he should be supported in the governorship bid. Also going for him is his cerebral nature. His opponents, however, argue that he is too gentle and calm to be able to get involved in the thuggery that may accompany the 2011 polls as people have vowed to resist any attempt to rig.

To this Bakare countered that the election would not be won by brigandage but by the will and vote of the people. Members of the party also accuse him of not going around with crowd anywhere he goes to which he said that people rather than follow him from one local government to the other should stay in their respective  areas and work for the party.