BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE
FOLLOWING the re-election of Governor Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party (LP) in the October 20 Ondo State gubernatorial election in spite of the boast of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, the Pan Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, said the outcome of the polls sign-posted the end of the ACN in the South-West.
In a congratulatory letter to Governor Mimiko, which was signed by Chief Reuben Fasoranti (Leader) and Chief Seinde Arogbofa (Security), the group said the outcome of the election had shown that Yoruba people were tired of the ACN and would "kick them out at the appropriate time."
The Afenifere prediction raises the bar for future elections in the zone beginning with Ekiti and Osun governorship elections en route the 2015 general polls. The question is: will ACN retain its political control of the South-West in 2015?
From history, the zone first as Western region, later Western Nigeria and now South-West geo-political zone has always been a difficult political hunting ground for all parties. No political party has commanded control without disruption for 10 years.
At the return of civil rule in 1999, the Afenifere-backed Alliance for Democracy, AD emerged as the preferred party of the South-West, winning all six governorship posts and the bulk of legislative seats at all levels.
AD's reign lasted for only four years. In 2003, it was democratically toppled by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which cleared five governorship seats and most of the legislative slots. The only AD governor who survived the PDP's onslaught was Senator Bola Ahmed of Lagos. However, when he joined other parties to form the Action Congress (AC), which later morphed into ACN the AD was left with no governorship seat. And since then, AD has remained on the periphery of political conquests.
Like AD, the PDP was handed a similar measure between 2007 and 2011 when it was swept away by the ACN. After the 2007 elections, PDP retained the five states it had won in 2003. However, after legal fisticuffs, it lost Ekiti and Osun to ACN, the new political bride that won outright in Lagos. It also lost Ondo through the law courts to LP, leaving only Oyo for PDP.
In 2011, the PDP lost all the states with ACN having five and LP cornering one.
ACN's attempt to add Ondo to its kitty and pursue a regional integration of the zone was the major reason that pre-election campaigns raised much dusts in Ondo State.
Having failed to capture Ondo, will ACN go the way of other ruling parties in South-West?
ACN Chieftain, Bisi Akande
In the beginning
The topsy-turvy run of political parties in the area started in the early 1950s. At the close of the 1951 polls, the Action Group with 38 seats to NCNC's 25 emerged as the ruling party of Western Region, which included today's Delta and Edo states. There were a total of 80 seats. Lagos had five seats in the West Regional Assembly all won by the NCNC in the election of November 20, 1951, while Benin had three won by Otu Edo candidates in the election of December 6, 1951.
Apart from the AG and NCNC, there were local/divisional parties such as the Ibadan People's Party (IPP) led by Chief AMA Akinloye; Ondo Improvement League, and Otu Edo of Benin. At the end of poll, the standing of the parties was as follows: Action Group 38; NCNC/Independents 25; IPP 6 and Ondo Improvement League 2.
The AG secured commanding heights in the Assembly by luring 20 victorious candidates on the ticket of the smaller rival parties and thereby tilted the balance in its favour against its primary opponent; the NCNC.
However, AG could only savour its victory for three years as the NCNC reversed the trend in the 1954 Federal elections, when both parties went head to head. The NCNC won 22 seats in the House of Representatives of Nigeria while the AG secured 19 seats.
In 1959, the AG retrieved electoral superiority when it won 35 parliamentary seats to NCNC's 21 and NPC's 6.
The cyclical trend continued in 1964, with the AG losing grip. After the parliamentary contests of that year, the Nigeria National Alliance (NNA), an alliance of the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) and Nigeria National Democratic Party won 36 seats while United Progressives Grand Alliance (UPGA), an alliance of the AG and NCNC won 21 seats.
In the 1979 elections, the Unity Party Nigeria (UPN) won the five Western states. And in 1983, it lost Oyo and Ondo but later reclaimed Ondo through the law court.
In the botched Third Republic, the SDP was in-charge except in Lagos, where NRC won the governorship.
