Shades Of Many Colours: Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa -By Adeyemi Temitope Sanya

One thing Ondo politics has taught many people in recent years is this: Power does not always belong to the loudest politician. Sometimes, it belongs to the man everybody underestimated. That is exactly the story of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

If someone had told many politicians in Ondo few years ago that Aiyedatiwa would become one of the most influential figures in the APC structure today, many would have laughed it off. Back then, he was seen by many as just “the deputy governor.” But politics has a way of changing equations overnight.

The death of Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu in December 2023 completely changed the political direction of Ondo State. Suddenly, Aiyedatiwa was no longer standing beside power. He became the one holding it. But becoming governor was actually the easy part.

The real battle started after. The battle for control. The battle for acceptance. The battle for legitimacy inside the APC. And honestly, that battle has not fully ended till today.

Anybody following the current conversations inside Ondo APC ahead of 2027 will understand that the real issue is no longer opposition parties. The real issue now is structure, succession, consensus, and who eventually controls the political future of the party. That is where Governor Aiyedatiwa’s name keeps coming up from different angles.

Recently, the governor has continued pushing the idea of consensus among APC aspirants ahead of the coming primaries. On paper, it sounds like a peaceful and mature political strategy. Avoid unnecessary fights. Reduce internal crisis. Keep the party united before 2027. And truthfully, there is sense in that. Because if there is one thing Nigerian politicians fear more than opposition parties, it is bitter primaries.

Primaries destroy relationships. Primaries create enemies. Primaries scatter structures. We saw it happen during the 2024 APC governorship primary in Ondo State. Eighteen aspirants contested for that ticket. Eighteen.

That alone tells you how intense the struggle was. Yet somehow, Aiyedatiwa survived it and emerged winner with over 48,000 votes across the state. That victory changed his political status completely.

From that moment, people stopped seeing him as a “placeholder governor.” He became a real political force inside Ondo APC.

But now, another conversation is quietly changing the political atmosphere across the state. The legal debate around whether Aiyedatiwa can seek another term after his current tenure. And this is where things start getting very interesting.

After completing Akeredolu’s tenure and then winning the 2024 governorship election, questions started coming up about constitutional limits and whether another governorship contest in 2028 would cross the eight-year limit allowed by law.

Earlier this year, a Federal High Court in Akure reportedly ruled that he may not be eligible to contest again based on constitutional interpretation and previous Supreme Court decisions on tenure limits.

Immediately that judgment came out, the political atmosphere changed. Because in Nigerian politics, once there is uncertainty around the future of power, everybody starts calculating. Quietly. Some people started seeing the ongoing consensus push inside APC from another angle entirely. Not just party unity. But future political positioning.

Who controls the structure? Who becomes politically relevant? Who inherits influence if the legal issue eventually stands? Who gets protected during primaries? Who becomes the next face of power?

Those are the conversations many people are now having quietly across Ondo State. And honestly, you cannot completely blame them. Politics is hardly ever ordinary. Especially in a state like Ondo where political interests are deeply rooted across the three senatorial districts.

Today, some people see Aiyedatiwa as a stabilizer trying to prevent APC from destroying itself before 2027. Others see him as a smart politician gradually tightening his grip on the party structure while the future remains uncertain. Some admire his calm political style. Others believe that calmness hides deep political calculation. But whether one likes him or not, one thing is clear: Lucky Aiyedatiwa has grown politically beyond what many people expected.

And maybe that is why the topic “Shades of Many Colours” fits him perfectly. Because depending on who is talking, he appears differently.

To some, he is the accidental governor who got lucky with circumstances. To others, he is a survivor who endured internal resistance and still managed to dominate the APC structure. To some, he is trying to unite the party through consensus. To others, consensus itself is becoming another form of political control.

That is the interesting thing about power. Everybody sees it differently depending on where they stand.

But one thing nobody can deny is this: Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa is no longer just occupying the office of governor. He has become the center of the political conversation in Ondo State. And with 2027 drawing closer, those conversations will only get louder.