Ibadan S’East II Bye-Election: Wife gets Makinde’s nod to succeed late husband

There are strong indications that intense lobbying has started over who gets the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket to contest the bye-election of the Ibadan South/East State Constituency II.

The lawmaker who represented the constituency, Hon. Popoola Ademola Olusegun, died at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, on Tuesday, July 12, 2022, after surgery was carried out on him.

However, Governor Seyi Makinde has declared that the deceased wife – Zenab should be given the party’s ticket to contest for the bye-election shortly after he paid a condolence visit to the late lawmaker’s family, Mega Icon Magazine exclusively gathered.

Meanwhile, the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) guidelines stated that the rerun election must be conducted within ninety days (90 ) after a particular seat has been declared vacant.

The late lawmaker, according to impeccable sources within the party who confided in our reporter, fell ill before the conduct of the state house of assembly primary and was even advised not to recontest due to his poor state of health then, but insisted that he would be fine.

Contrary to the statement earlier issued by the Oyo state chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) that Governor Makinde was making efforts to fly the late lawmaker abroad for proper medical attention, the sources alleged that “although his colleagues met with the governor and appealed to him to help fly the late lawmaker abroad, however, the governor didn’t show any sign that he was in a hurry to assist”.

Mega Icon Magazine also reliably informed that there are mixed reactions among the top PDP gladiators, especially from the state constituency over the governor’s decision to back the deceased lawmaker’s wife to fly the party’s ticket in the bye-election.

Sources further hinted that the governor was only waiting for the late lawmaker to be buried before the announcement of the choice of his wife is made public as the candidate of the PDP in the bye-election election.

Hon. Popoola Ademola Olusegun, aged 46, is billed to be buried on July 26 (Wake-keep) and July 27 respectively in Ibadan.