Bookmakers are projecting that the outcome of today’s governorship election may be influenced largely by the biggest spender. The leading candidates are believed to have mobilised and distributed huge sums of money to the 18 local government areas to influence where the votes could tilt. Despite this, the election is expected to be a close race between Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa of the APC and Mr. Agboola Ajayi of the PDP.

Vote buying is antithetical to true democracy as it produces unpopular leaders who may also not feel obligated to the wishes of their people. Vote buying is often blamed for the lack of performance and non-development of the different communities because the winners having settled the voters stay in office to recoup their huge investments.

As of last night, intense money distribution took place, with the highest sums voted for the state capital, Akure, which has two local governments: Akure North and Akure South. Whoever wins convincingly in Akure, especially Akure South, could have a vote surge and margins difficult to catch up with. The leading candidates are devoting a lot of resources to Akure.

The incumbent governor’s popularity rating appears low for not doing much in his ten months in office. Using the APC mega rally in Akure on Wednesday as a yardstick, it was below expectations. The vibes from the people didn’t show their enthusiasm for the APC ticket. The average performance provoked the APC leadership including its national chairman, Alhaji Ganduje, Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia of Benue State, and Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State to host another meeting with the Aketi group anchored by Otunba Wale Akinterinwa on what to do to raise the party’s momentum.

The heart-to-heart discussion unraveled some reasons why the Lucky Ayedatiwa ticket may not be eliciting much excitement among the people. It was agreed that the conditions of living in Nigeria don’t make the APC a popular choice for ordinary people to embrace. Specifically, for Ayedatiwa the feelers were that the Governor may have displayed some arrogance to members of the political class. Unconfirmed sources said he boasted at some of the campaign grounds that he would retire some of the politicians.

The campaigns of his main opponent Agboola Ajayi may have been more fruitful in terms of reach and connection with the people, but his ambition is hampered by inadequate resources to match or outspend the incumbent governor. Two PDP Southwest governors, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Ademola Adeleke of Osun State were in the State to lend a helping hand to Agboola Ajayi’s ticket. They left on Friday but it is doubtful if their resources could match those of APC governors and the federal might.

As Chairman of the Ondo APC Campaign Council, Governor Sanwo-Olu is not taking chances in the election at all. There has been an influx of politicians from Lagos State into Ondo State in the last week. Information has it that about three hundred groups from Lagos have been mobilised to Ondo State and deployed with resources to the 18 local government areas.

The reasoning from the APC camp is that it will be a big embarrassment and a national disgrace for President Tinubu to lose Ondo State. Ondo State is the first of three off-cycle elections to take place in the southwest geo-political zone. The next is Ekiti State and the last would-be Osun State before the 2027 general elections. The stakes are, therefore, very high and the determination to triumph would manifest in today’s election.