There is palpable fear among the aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People Democratic Party (PDP) over the emergence of the former Minister of power Dr. Olu Agunloye as the flagbear of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) ahead of the governorship election in Ondo state.
Agunloye emerged as the SDP candidate at the weekend after other aspirants in the party stepped down for him even before the day of the party primary which held last Saturday in Akure.
It was gathered that the candidature of the former Minister who hails from Akoko axis of the state is already changing the political calculations among the major contending parties due to what sources called initial miscalculations by both the leaders PDP and APC in the state.
A competent source said “Agunloye is believed to be the most popular of all those aspiring for the governorship seat in his senatorial district. Not only that, his rising popularity among the political top notchers in both APC and the PDP is giving the king makers of Tinubu and Mimiko great concerns, as intelligence reports making the rounds has it that some aggrieved APC aspirants and their supporters have vowed to support Agunloye if Tinubu succeeds in imposing his favoured candidate on APC.
“The story is not different in the PDP where Gov Mimiko is said to have pencilled down one of his cronies to pick the ticket.
Another source revealed that the royal relationship of Agunloye as a prince of two prominent cities of Akure and Owo which are home to the highest percentage of the voters in the state is a reason some planners in the other two leading parties fear that Agunloye may not be an easy nut to crack.
“Agunloye is a great grand son of Deji of Akure through his grand mother and grand son of olowo of owo through his mother.
It was also gathered that some APC aspirants were said to have met with the SDP candidate a day before his primary to negotiate their interest to back him, while some PDP Chieftains and aspirants have sent him congratulatory messages.
The source revealed further that “Agunloye’s initial stint in PDP, APC and Labour party is working in his favour as members of both parties see him as part of them some even vowed to risk anti-party accusation to work for him underneath.
“Another factor is the integrity and influence of the national chairman of the SDP in the state. Also to Agunloye’s advantage is the Afenifere factor. The National leader of Afenife, Chief Ruben Fashoranti is a highly respected community and opinion leader in Akure, and he is said to have endorsed Agunloye.”
