Governor Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu
Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN, or Rotimi Akeredolu, (born 21 July 1956) is the Governor-Elect of Ondo State, Nigeria and also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) who became president of the Nigerian Bar Association in 2008.[2] Akeredolu is also a Managing Partner at the Law Firm of Olujinmi & Akeredolu, a Law Firm he co-founded with Chief Akin Olujinmi, a former Attorney General and Minister for Justice in Nigeria.
In November 2011, Akeredolu was among a crowd of aspirants to be Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate for Governor of Ondo State in the 2013 elections. In an interview that month, Akeredolu said that he had become well known and respected as president of the Bar, and described himself as a progressive. If elected, his priorities would include agricultural development, fish farming for export, improvements to education, jobs for youths and improved roads. He would provide free education and primary health care. He was in favour of increased subsidies and greater local control over public spending.
On 28 July 2012, On Akeredolu was selected as the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate for Governor of Ondo State during the ACN congress in Akure.[14] His selection pitched him in a head to head battle with the incumbent, Olusegun Mimiko and Mr Olusola Oke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).[15] Akeredolu promised to create 30,000 jobs in his first 100 days in office.[16] His promise was refuted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a ruse. His promise nonetheless resulted in the submission of over 10,000 CV's to his campaign office.
On Saturday September 3, 2016, in a controversial primary election that rocked the ruling party during which Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a major party voice and National Leader of the ruling APC demanded the resignation of the party's chairman John Odigie-Oyegun, Akeredolu was awarded ticket to represent the All Progressive Congress (APC) the 2016 elections for governor. On Sunday, 27 November 2016, he was declared winner of the keenly contested Ondo State gubernatorial elections.
On Sunday, 27 November 2016, Akeredolu was announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission as the winner of the Ondo State Governorship Election. He amassed 244, 842 votes in the election while Mr. Oke won 126, 889 votes and Mr. Jegede 150, 380 votes. According to Prof. Ganiyu Ambali, INEC Returning Officer, Akeredolu defeated two major opponents, Eyitayo Jegede of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and Olusola Oke of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), to clinch victory. He is to be sworn in as the governor of Ondo State on the 24th of February, 2017 in Akure, the Ondo State Capital.
