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HOW ZONING DECIDED THE OUTCOME OF THE RECENT ONDO GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION

Published

6 years ago

October 14, 2020

From Josephat Omeke

More facts have continued to emerge from the just concluded Ondo State governorship election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission. Although many pundits predicted the victory of the APC gubernatorial candidate in the election and incumbent Governor Chief Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, only a few arrived at that conclusion on the basis of competence and performance but on extraneous factors and considerations.

Aside from the incumbency factor which favoured the APC both at the state and federal level, one of the party’s high points was an amazing success Governor Akeredolu recorded in reconciling with members of the Unity Forum, a dissident breakaway faction of the APC in the state which swore to do everything to replace the Governor with one of their own following irreconcilable differences.

This group which remained the greatest formidable threat to the reelection of Governor Akeredolu providentially imploded just a few weeks to the party’s primaries. That happened when most of its members angrily rejected the emergence of Chief Olusola Oke( SAN) as the group’s consensus candidate to battle Akeredolu at the party’s primaries.

Capitalizing on the rift, the Governor effectively utilized the weapon of divide and rule to ensure that members of the Unity Forum never got back together again thus leaving it completely disorganized at the time of the primaries and which eventually led to his smooth and seamless nomination as the governorship candidate of the APC.

Fully aware that his trouble with members of the Unity Forum did not disappear simply because he had picked his party’s ticket, the Governor laboured relentlessly and eventually succeeded in wooing all the members of the Forum to his side after meeting their tough conditions.

The Ondo A P C thus went into the general election as one single and the united party whose only worry was how to defeat Eyitayo Jegede an acclaimed formidable force who had once again emerged candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party. Jegede’s strength did not only lie in his towering personality but also the fact that he came from Akure, the largest single voting block in the state with over 200,000 registered voters.

Aside from the Akure factor which the PDP banked heavily upon, Jegede was seen by many as a candidate to beat owing to his charisma and campaign-style which focused steadfastly and tenaciously on major weaknesses of the Akeredolu’s administration. One of such low points and which resonated well with the Ondo electorate throughout the electioneering was that of the exorbitant school fees charged by the state-owned institutions and which he Jegede promised to bring down. Ondo from where Ekiti state was carved out remains one of the most educated in the country and thus sensitive about issues pertaining to education.

However, Jegede had many low points one of which was his failure to bring in big fishes into his fold to match those paraded by the APC. One such big fish outside members of the Unity Forum was Alhaji Jimoh Ibrahim, the man who battled him bitterly for the PDP’s gubernatorial ticket in 2016 and who later decided to throw his weight behind Akeredolu’s reelection. Others include Chief Alasaudura the incumbent Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs who also worked tirelessly for the Akeredolu 2020 project.

Chief Jegede’s woes were compounded by the refusal of his erstwhile Godfather Dr. Olusegun Mimiko a former Governor of the state to support his ambition once again and who instead threw his weight behind the candidacy of Agboola Ajayi who later became the candidate of the Zenith Labour Party.

However, many observers of Ondo state politics were of the opinion that although Governor Akeredolu’s performance, as well as other factors aforementioned, contributed to the outcome of the election, zoning was one single most decisive factor which swung the pendulum in favor of Akeredolu.

According to them, Ondo state is one of the states in the federation where the zoning of political offices including that of Governor is regarded as sacrosanct and inviolable had over the years had the practice deeply entrenched in the politics of the state. The people of the state were thus aware that the next Governor of the state come 2023 would emerge from the Ondo South Senatorial District.

Since both former Governor Ade Adefarati who governed the state from 1999 to 2003 and Chief Olusegun Agagu who took over from him did not complete two terms, it was only after Governor Olusegun Mimiko from Ondo central senatorial district had the privilege of doing so that the zoning principle with regards to governorship became firmly established in the state.

After Mimiko’s eight years, the incumbent Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu from Ondo North Senatorial district took over in 2016 and sought reelection in 2020. Naturally, if Akeredolu was allowed to complete two terms, it would indisputably be the turn of Ondo South Senatorial district being the only senatorial district yet to take its turn in 2024.

It’s pertinent to note at this point that it was this same zoning factor that worked against Jegede in 2016 that returned to haunt him in the 2020 election. This is because Chief Jegede of the PDP came from the same Ondo central senatorial district as Mimiko who served two terms and had already utilized the slot of the senatorial district. The zoning albatross thus continued to be the nemesis of Jegede’s campaign and from which he never recovered.

Agboola Ajayi the incumbent deputy Governor who came from Ondo south senatorial district and who ordinarily would have been the most favoured in terms of zoning was largely seen as unserious by most Ondo people partly for choosing a relatively new party with weak structures to prosecute his ambition. This was so because the same party he chose; the Zenith Labour Party was unable to guarantee victory for former Governor Mimiko the founder of the party at his 2019 Senatorial election.

Again and most importantly, there was a general feeling in Ondo that both Ajayi and Jegede ( none of whom came from Ondo North as Akeredolu)were breaking the zoning arrangement by contesting against Ondo north which should be allowed to finish its own eight years so as to enable Ondo south take its turn in 2023.

Furthermore, aside from what Ondo people felt about the ambitions of the two gentlemen with respect to truncating the entire zoning or rotational arrangement, most people of Ondo south particularly who would have had sympathy for Jegede and the PDP felt that a vote for Jegede would give him a fresh eight years as opposed to Akeredolu who just had four more years to transfer power to them.

They thus voted massively for A PC not necessarily out of love for Akeredolu or his party, but to protect the zoning principle from which they stood to benefit sooner than later. This explains why APC won all the local government areas of the Ondo South senatorial district thereby sending a clear message that they preferred to wait for four years with Akeredolu than eight years with Jegede. It’s thus indisputable that it was the massive votes from the Ondo south senatorial district that became the stroke which broke the camel’s back and decided the outcome of the Ondo election more than anything else.

Taking a cue from Ondo state, as well as the majority of other states which believe in zoning, political parties must begin to respect the issue of zoning of political offices in their choice of candidates for elections to avoid having their fingers burnt as happened in Ondo state. The latest case has thus further confirmed the fact that the electorate’s attachment to zoning is by far stronger than that of their political parties. This is understandably so because zoning or the rotation principle unlike mere political party affiliation guarantees equity and a sense of belonging to all the component parts of a state.

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Business

Turning Africa’s Raw Materials Into Wealth: The ARMS 2026 Industrial Agenda

Published

3 days ago

September 29, 2026

The Gleamer

By Joel Ajayi

For decades, Africa’s vast natural resources have powered industries and economies far beyond the continent, while many African countries have remained largely exporters of unprocessed commodities and importers of finished products.

That familiar pattern is now coming under renewed scrutiny as policymakers, researchers, investors and industrialists seek to change the direction of Africa’s resource economy.

At the centre of that conversation is the second edition of the Africa Raw Materials Summit (ARMS 2026), scheduled for October 19 and 20 at the Abuja Continental Hotel, Abuja, under the theme: “From African Feedstock to African Factories.”

Organised by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), the summit is being positioned as more than another gathering of policymakers and industry stakeholders. It is intended to provide a platform for confronting the structural challenges that have kept African raw materials largely disconnected from local manufacturing.

Africa has for years operated largely within a “pit-to-port” economic model, exporting raw materials while importing expensive finished products.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the summit on Tuesday in Abuja, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of RMRDC, Prof. Nnanyelugo Martin Ike-Muonso, said the event would bring together policymakers, investors, researchers, technology providers and industrialists to develop practical strategies for transforming Africa’s abundant natural resources into industrial wealth.

The challenge, therefore, is not simply the abundance of resources, but the continent’s ability to transform those resources into industrial value, employment, technology and wealth within Africa.

Nigeria alone, according to the RMRDC, has more than $582.4 billion in documented non-renewable natural resources, while the wider continent possesses substantial deposits of critical minerals, agricultural raw materials and industrial feedstock.

Yet, the benefits of this resource endowment have often been constrained by inadequate processing capacity, weak infrastructure, limited technology, financing gaps and fragmented regional value chains.

From Dialogue to Industrial Action

ARMS 2026 builds on the maiden edition held in May 2025, which attracted more than 1,000 delegates from across the world.

The inaugural summit also witnessed the unveiling of the Ten-Year Raw Materials Transformation Roadmap (2025–2034) by the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owen Enoh.

The roadmap was designed around areas including technological capability, climate-resilient processing and backward integration, establishing a policy framework for greater domestic utilisation of Africa’s raw materials.

The second edition is expected to move the conversation further by bringing policy, capital, technology and industrial stakeholders around practical mechanisms for turning raw materials into locally manufactured products.

One of the major proposals highlighted by the RMRDC is the 30 per cent Mandatory Value Addition Bill, which seeks to establish a statutory minimum level of value addition to Nigerian raw materials before export.

The Council says the proposed framework could support job creation, import substitution, foreign-exchange conservation and increased manufacturing contribution to the economy.

Building the Infrastructure for Value Addition

The industrial transformation envisaged by ARMS 2026 goes beyond legislation.

A major concern is the “missing middle” between where raw materials are produced and where factories are located.

Poor transportation networks, inadequate cold-chain facilities, weak rural roads, limited testing and certification infrastructure and border-related delays can make locally sourced materials more expensive and less competitive.

Consequently, logistics and infrastructure constitute one of the five principal pillars of the summit.

The objective is to develop more reliable corridors connecting farms and mines with processing centres and manufacturing facilities, thereby reducing losses and improving the movement of industrial inputs.

The Digital Dimension

Technology is also becoming an important part of the Council’s strategy.

The RMRDC says it has developed the Nigeria Integrated Information Statistical System for Raw Materials and Products (NISSRAMP), described as a digital repository containing information on feedstock deposits, specifications, production outputs and industrial absorption rates.

The Council has also highlighted its transition towards paperless operations and its certification as a Data Controller/Processor of Major Importance by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission.

Such digital infrastructure could provide investors and manufacturers with better information about the availability and characteristics of raw materials while supporting more informed industrial planning.

Turning Waste Into Industrial Inputs

Another major component of ARMS 2026 is the proposed expansion of the circular economy.

The summit will examine how agricultural by-products, mine tailings, scrap metals and biomass can be recovered and reused as inputs for new production processes rather than being treated simply as waste.

The RMRDC argues that such an approach could lower raw-material costs while supporting more sustainable and climate-resilient manufacturing systems.

For Africa, where industrial expansion must increasingly balance economic development with environmental considerations, waste industrialisation could become an important part of the continent’s manufacturing conversation.

From National Production to African Value Chains

The African Continental Free Trade Area is another important element of the summit’s agenda.

The RMRDC sees AfCFTA as an opportunity to create regional value chains in which raw materials sourced in one African country can be processed and supplied to manufacturers in another.

Under such a model, Africa would move beyond simply exporting commodities to external markets and develop stronger internal networks for supplying chemicals, refined minerals, agricultural inputs and other industrial materials across national borders.

This approach places regional integration at the heart of Africa’s industrialisation strategy.

Bridging Research and Capital

A recurring weakness in many developing economies is the gap between research and commercialisation.

Innovations may emerge from universities, research institutions and laboratories without receiving the financing, equipment or market connections required to become commercially viable.

ARMS 2026 intends to address that gap through technology commercialisation and capital linkages, connecting research outputs with investors, development finance institutions and industrial off-takers.

The RMRDC has also cited partnerships with the Bank of Industry for commercial-scale post-harvest processing and a South-South technology-transfer partnership with the National Innovation Centre par Excellence in Shanghai, China.

A Larger Industrial Conversation

The scale of ARMS 2026 is expected to be significantly larger than the maiden edition.

The organisers project more than 1,800 delegates from all 54 African countries and global industrial partners.

The programme will feature high-level policy dialogues, technical panels, an advanced raw materials and technology exhibition, industrial site visits and the African Raw Materials Industry Awards.

The exhibition, in particular, is expected to showcase locally fabricated processing machinery, advanced domestic materials, green chemicals and engineered commercial inputs.

Beyond the speeches and exhibitions, however, the real significance of ARMS 2026 will ultimately depend on what happens after the summit.

Africa’s challenge has never been a shortage of raw materials. The more difficult question has been how to transform those resources into factories, products, skilled employment, technology and sustainable economic opportunities.

For Nigeria and the rest of the continent, the proposed shift from “pit-to-port” to “feedstock-to-factory” therefore represents a broader debate about the future structure of African economies.

ARMS 2026 seeks to place that debate firmly on the industrial agenda — with value addition, technology, finance, infrastructure, circular production and regional trade at the centre.

If the commitments and partnerships generated by the summit translate into measurable industrial activity, the event could provide another platform for Africa to examine how its enormous resource base can support stronger domestic manufacturing.

The message from the organisers is clear: the continent’s raw materials should not only leave African soil as commodities; they should increasingly become the foundation for African industrial production

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