After being in the Peoples Democratic Party for more than 10 years, why
did you decide to walk away?
There is nothing much to say except that I have walked in the path that
God has outlined for me. When you are with God, you are in the majority.
Everything you have read about me and the PDP in the last few weeks can be
described as injustice meted out to me. If it was impossible for our party to
conduct free and fair primary elections, why must I remain in it? What they did
and the way a candidate was nominated was not what we agreed upon. We had a
clear understanding of how the primary election was to be conducted. But, the
rule was changed in the middle of the game.
I was shocked when the party said less than 10 per cent of those who
were supposed to make up the delegates list would be used for the primary
election. That was far from the channel to be employed in picking a popular
candidate. I was not forced to leave the party but I decided that I don’t have
to waste my time where ward congresses were repeatedly cancelled. PDP in Oyo
was not fair because a level playing ground was not provided for all. Despite
our complaints, the party turned a deaf ear and I had to move on.
Why didn’t you accept the proposal of one of the big parties that wooed
you, instead of the Labour Party?
That is true but don’t forget that I am a leader and I have to listen to
my people. The decision was beyond me because politics is about the people, not
the individual. If you don’t follow the wishes of your followers, you are going
nowhere.
Will you consider returning to the PDP, if you win with LP ticket, just
as Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko did recently?
When we get to the river, we shall cross it.
How did your close associates react to your defection?
My friends were aware of what was going on in the PDP. They called me
and I gave them updates on what was going on behind the scene. They advised me
to take a decision before it was too late. They are happy with my decision.
What was the reaction of the Presidency to your defection?
My friends among them called me and wished me good luck.
LP does not have a presidential candidate, are you ready to work for
President Goodluck Jonathan in the presidential election?
I will only obey my party’s desire when the time comes.
After you left the PDP, Seyi Makinde also left for Social Democratic
Party. What will you say about PDP’s position today?
We are not bad losers. If things were done normally, the party would
remain strong. You cannot impose someone who has told me that he would write
the delegates list that would be used. We were supposed to elect them, not
write their names.
You are going to the poll, just like Makinde, Rashidi Ladoja, and the
incumbent governor in the state, Abiola Ajimobi. Does it mean that the
second-term jinx is about to be broken in Oyo?
With due respect to others, we are about to see the end of that jinx and
by the grace of God, I will be the first person to break it.
PDP had said it would not worry about your defection and that it has a
strategy to cage you. Are you ready for the fight ahead?
Unfortunately for them, I am older in the game. Nobody can cage me
because, as a security officer, I have caged someone before. We have started
separating boys from men.
If you had lost the primary fairly, would you have stayed back at PDP?
I would have exhibited good sportsmanship and congratulated whoever won.
I have done it before, what is new in accepting defeat? If the party was fair
to me, why should I be stupid enough to reject the result of a free and fair
election? I would have worked for the winner to the end.
Why are you interested in becoming Oyo State governor again?
I have always dedicated my life serving mankind. When I was in government,
people enjoyed my time and those people are the ones calling me back.
There were meetings called by the PDP eders involving you and other
aspirants while the stalemate lasted in the party. Would you like to share what
transpired at the meetings?
That is no more necessary because events have overtaken those meetings.
Whatever I say now will not reverse what has happened. That was a time when we
thought that we could reason together and move the party forward but that was
not to be.
Does it mean that the National Working Committee of PDP refused to
listen to aspirants’ complaints?
Some of us know our onions. We cannot be going to Abuja to tell the
party what stuff we are made of. We have the Abuja politicians among us. They
run there to tell them things they only want to hear. Since I am a native man
and a grass roots politician, I remain at home with my people. They will not
listen to people like me in Abuja because they will have the impression that I
am coming with local ideas.
Are you saying the so-called Abuja politicians installed the
governorship candidate of PDP in Oyo State?
If you study the way the whole exercise was done, you will arrive at the
answer. We have a situation whereby the rules were changed midway into the game.
We have rules guarding the ad hoc committee, why did the party refuse to let it
be? By all means, they were bent on favouring one person. This is not from the
Presidency but from the party. Oyo is not alone in this problem, some other
states are also having the same issue. In Ebonyi, members moved en masse to LP
to protest the same kind of injustice I complained about. If there is justice,
things will work better in the PDP.
What are the mistakes you made while in government that you want to
correct if you have the chance to rule again?
Nobody is perfect in life and we learn everyday. Those things we failed
to achieve will be done now and those things we did well will be improved.
Having stayed out for some years, I have known better. This is a state where
you cannot just bring a novice to run the government.
Why do you think you are the person to beat in this race?
I have been tested and trusted. People know who I am and what I can do.
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Politics