SPECIAL REPORT – 2027 Guber: Why there should be zonal rotation – Oyo stakeholders

…Official data shows Ibadan doesn’t constitute 60% of State’s votes

Ahead of the 2027 Governorship Election in Oyo State, political stakeholders in the state, aside those from Ibadanland, have begun mapping out strategies in order to have a shot at the exalted office, which has been dominated over the years by Ibadan indigenes.

Part of the strategies of the top politicians who are still bidding their time before throwing their hats in the ring is to make a strident case and demand for power rotation among the three senatorial districts in the state.

Of the three senatorial districts and 33 local government areas in the state, Ibadan alone, in Oyo South Senatorial District, has held the governorship for nearly three decades.

Oyo South Senatorial District comprises nine local government areas, which include Ibadan North, Ibadan North-East, Ibadan North-West, Ibadan South-East, Ibadan South-West, Ibarapa Central, Ibarapa East, Ibarapa North, and Ido.

According to WESTERN POST investigation, since Chief Kolapo Ishola, who held sway as governor during the aborted Third Republic for around two years, from January 2, 1992 to November 17, 1993, on the platform of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), four other Ibadan indigenes have held the office almost in succession till date.
They included Mr. Lam Adesina – four years (1999 -2003), Senator Rashidi Ladoja – four years (2003 -2007), Senator Ishaq Ajimobi- eight years (2011 – 2019) and Mr. Seyi Makinde – eight years from 2019 – till the end of his tenure in 2027.

Late Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala is the only one not from Ibadan axis that has been governor since 1992. Alao-Akala who hails from Ogbomoso spent only a term of four years in office.

“For a total of 26 years, from 1992 till date, except the four years of Otunba Alao-Akala, Ibadan held the governorship by the jugular, refusing to embrace zoning and rotation to other senatorial districts,” one aggrieved stakeholder from the state told WESTERN POST at the weekend.

“Ibadan has refused to yield grounds to other zones. The state has failed to embrace rotation. Perhaps, it is only Oyo State and Benue State in the entire country that are not embracing senatorial rotational.

“This is antithetical to the much-needed inclusive governance and promotion of the spirit of belongingness, which is required in state or nation-building.

“The remaining 34 states are doing rotational among the various zones to allow other zones to hold the levers of power and feel the impact of holding the office in their area too,” he added.

But lack of unity of purpose and working relationship among stakeholders from other zones has also been fingered as part of the factors partly militating against the other zones in Oyo State, which have robbed them of the exalted governorship seat.
If they come together, they can outweigh Ibadan with their voter-strength.

WESTERN POST can also reveal that the current official figures do not support the often-repeated statement that Ibadan alone constitutes 60 per cent of the voter-population in Oyo State.

According to the state’s voting strength as exemplified in percentage of current electoral votes (the 2023 Presidential & Governorship Elections Votes), Ibadan constitutes 52% of the votes.

Others are- Oke-ogun 21%, Ogbomoso 18%, Oyo 6% and Ibarapa 3%.

Below is the breakdown of the 2023 Presidential & Governorship Elections Votes in respect of Oyo State: