Will The 3 OGUN Senators Get 2nd Term Tickets?

That is the big question many political analysts in Ogun State are asking right now as all the parties are moving close to holding their primaries. In Ogun State, the 3 Senators are first-timers only and they are all eyeing their return to the Red Chamber.  The big issue is that the 3 Senators are not on, however good terms with the Governor, who now controls the party exco.

What makes the issue a bit complex is that the 3 Senators have strong personalities. They are no pushovers. Let’s tell you about each of them.

Tolulope Odebiyi. He was born on 14th November 1963. was elected to the Ogun West senatorial seat in 2019. He previously served as the Chief of Staff to Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State.

Odebiyi is a graduate of Government College, Ibadan and Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2018, he rejected the idea of Governor Amosun leaving his political party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) for another party, saying he needed to protect his political pedigree. Odebiyi is the son of Kemi and Jonathan Odebiyi. Odebiyi’s father was a former Senator and his mother was a member of the Independent National Electoral Commission. He earned a B.Sc. degree in Building Construction and Engineering Technology from Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston

Odebiyi gained his elementary education at All Saints Primary School in Ibadan before attending Government College in Ibadan to acquire his Higher School Certificate. He left the shores of Nigeria to further his education in the United States of America.

He later started his professional career in Real Estate and later ventured into politics. After his education, Odebiyi started out in real estate both internationally in the USA and locally in Nigeria. Prior to his political appointment, he was the managing director of Agbara Estates Limited. He sits on the board of Travant Real Estate, Stururacasa Nigeria Limited, Travfirst Nigeria Limited and others.

Odebiyi has a strong politically inclined background. His father, Jonathan Odebiyi, was the minority leader in the Second Republic Senate on the platform of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). He previously served as permanent secretary in the office of the chief of staff, Ogun State Governor’s office in 2006 before being appointed chief of staff by the former Governor Ibikunle Amosun's administration. His desire to run for senate in 2015 was suppressed by his political party. He initially decided to run for Governor of the state in the 2019 elections but stepped down. He resigned his position as Chief of Staff in 2018 to run for the Senate, representing Ogun West. In the 2019 general elections, he contested the Ogun West senatorial seat on the platform of the All Progressive Congress party and won

There is also Senator Ramoni Olalekan Mustapha, a senator, who represented the People Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State2007-2011. He became a member of the Senate in 2007. Running for re-election on the Labour Party ticket in the 2011 elections, he polled only 8,762 votes. Sefiu Adegbenga Kaka of the ACN won with 76,543 votes. He became a board member of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) in 2011. He is the Senator-elect, representing Ogun East at the 9th Nigerian National Assembly. He would be returning to the Senate, having represented his district in the 6th National Assembly (2007 -2011).

Ramoni Olalekan Mustapha was born on 25 February 1960. He has a National Diploma in Public Health from the Ogun State College of Health Technology. Prior to his election to the Senate, he was the Chairman of the Ogun State Task Force on Building Projects. He was Chairman of the Ijebu North Local Government, Ijebu-Igbo (1996–1997), and was elected a member of the House of Representatives (2003–2007) for the Ijebu North/East/Ogun Waterside Constituency.

Ramoni O Mustapha was elected to the Senate to represent the Ogun East District in 2007 and was appointed to committees on Niger Delta, Interior Affairs, Commerce and Capital Markets. His election was challenged, but in May 2008 the Election Petition Tribunal upheld his victory.

In September 2007, Sen Olalekan Mustapha sponsored an Environmental Health Control Bill. In December 2007, Senator Mustapha and five other members of the Senate Committee on the Interior Ministry made an official tour of Seme, where they inspected the chaotic conditions of the Nigerian posts at the Benin Republic border.

In May 2008, Senate President, David Mark, named members of the committee to review the 1999 Constitution, to be headed by Senator Ike Ekweremadu. Olalekan Mustapha was one of the members chosen to represent the southwest zone.

In an August 2008 report, the Senate Committee on Interior, chaired by Olalekan Mustapha, reported that prisons across the country were in a poor state and no longer fit for human habitation. In addition, the prisons were severely overcrowded. The report urged funding for improvements. In February 2009, Olalekan Mustapha visited London, England to discuss terms for the repatriation of over 800 Nigerian prisoners. In the February 23, 2019, National Assembly elections, he was re-elected Senator, representing the Ogun East Senatorial District.

The 3rd Senator is a former Ogun Governor, Ibikunle Amosun. He was born on 25 January 1958. He is a two-term Senator. He first served as a Senator for Ogun Central district from April 2003 to April 2007 and was reelected in 2019. After an unsuccessful bid for governor of Ogun State in April 2007, he was elected governor of the state on the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) platform in 2011. He contested again for a second term as governor under the All Progressives Congress and auspices the election. He took the oath of office on 29 May 2015.

Amosun gained an Associate membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in 1990. He became a fellow of the body in 1996. He also became an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (1998).

Amosun began his career as an audit trainee with Lanre Aremu & Co. (Chartered Accountants) in 1984. Later, he joined XtraEdge Consulting as a managing consultant. From 1990, he was Principal partner of Ibikunle Amosun & Co. (Chartered Accountants) in Lagos. Amosun went to the University of Westminster in London, United Kingdom, where he acquired a Master's of Arts in International Finance in 2000.

In April 2003, Amosun was elected to the senatorial seat of Ogun Central Senatorial district. He was an unsuccessful candidate to become Governor of Ogun State in April 2007, running on the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) platform, but was defeated by Gbenga Daniel. He disputed the result, but in August 2009 the Ogun State Election Petitions Tribunal dismissed the petition.

Amosun was the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) for the April 2011 Ogun State gubernatorial election. A report in the Nigerian Tribune on 12 February 2011 quoted his media aide as saying he had switched to the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), but this was denied by ACN officials. Amosun won the 26 April election, running on the ACN platform with 377,489 votes. Adetunji Olurin of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) polled 188,698 votes and Gboyega Isiaka of the PPN came third with 137,051 votes.

In 2015, Amosun contested for a second term as governor. He chose, Yetunde Onanuga, as his Deputy Governor candidate. He had to find a new running mate as his previous deputy governor had defected to an opposition party. Amosun chose Onanuga who had been working in the Lagos State Ministry of Environment over three other possible candidates. On 29 May 2019, Amosun handed over to another member from his political party who is perceived to be his successor, Dapo Abiodun after completing the constitutional maximum two terms of eight years as a Governor. However, he was elected a Senator for the Ogun central senatorial district in the National Assembly.