Ex-Speaker, Dimeji Bankole at Political Crossroads

Once upon a time, Hon. Dimeji Sabur Bankole, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, was a heavyweight in Nigeria’s political scene. Bankole, who represented the Abeokuta South Federal Constituency, was well-loved by all the members of the House of Representatives hence his emergence as the Speaker at the young age of 37.

Without a doubt, one couldn’t be luckier than that. In fact, to say he wielded so much power is, to put it mildly. But since he failed to make it back to the House in 2011, he has been struggling to gain political relevance again.

In 2015, he contested for the number one job of his state, Ogun State on the platform of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), but the party leaders in the state saw him as a paperweight who could not win even his ward and, therefore, anointed Gboyega Nasir Isiaka as the party’s flag-bearer. 

That finally pushed the nail down his political coffin and his ambition of ruling the state was met with a kiss of death.

But like a typical unrepentant optimist, he still allowed political hangers-on and sycophants to convince him, as he once again threw his cap into the ring for the 2019 governorship election in the state.

In retrospect, only the former Speaker can explain why he staked everything to contest for the governorship election then. As political pundits opined, he should have known that he is no longer a force to be reckoned with in the political circle of Ogun; hence, he should have saved his sweat and money for his comfort.

It was gathered that when he signified interest in the governorship race, the former Speaker of the Green Chamber became the anvil of criticisms in the political circle, as many in the state understood that he is no longer relevant, politically. He contested under a relatively unknown political party in the state, Action Democratic Party (ADP).

He was said to have spent so much money to realise his ambition. But to his chagrin, he scored less than 10,000 votes in the entire state.

Sadly, his inability to clinch the number one job in the state even made him a subject of ridicule in some quarters. To save his political career from total collapse, he defected to the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). Unfortunately, the defection, according to some, has not yielded any positive development, as he is yet to find his footing in the scheme of things, politically.

Some others even argued that Bankole is at a crossroads at the moment.