The governorship election in Ondo State is drawing closer. How prepared is ACN for this poll?
I will like to say that we have been in the process of rebuilding and strengthening the structures of the ACN for about one year now. And we have seen a lot of positive results. We can now say categorically that we have an ACN that is stronger, that is prepared, that is much more robust than it used to be. And above all, we have an ACN that is prepared to win the next governorship election. We also have an ACN that is pretty ready to take over governance in Ondo State.
Part of the evidence has been a lot of harvesting, people moving into the ACN. A lot of people have joined our party and we are here in Ilaje to harvest a very important aspect of the development of the ACN. This is part of the work we have been doing in the past four to five months and we are here today, where thousands of people are declaring for the ACN on the platform of Omoluabi. We also have an estimated of four to five thousand PDP members drawn from all over the 18 local government areas of Ondo State also declaring for ACN on the platform of Omoluabi.
The number of aspirants jostling for the ACN ticket is increasing by the day. Don’t you think this can go a long way to whittle down your chances, knowing fully well that Iroko is a formidable contender?
There are two issues. Let’s separate them. One is uprooting iroko, hacking it down, breaking it into pieces and turning it into fire wood. It is an issue that I know the 23 aspirants are committed to trash. We have had issues like an opposition sponsoring somebody. But that has not come at all. There are two issues on the mind of each aspirant. One is to make sure that Mimiko gets out of that place. Two, is to build a strong party. I’m close to other aspirants. I also talk to other aspirants. Recently, when we had an issue, we had to arrange with (Mr. Rotimi) Akeredolu to interpret the law for us.
So, till date, once we go through the election process, there won’t be any problem as (Governor Olusegun) Mimiko and some other people are expecting.
The other one is, why do we have so many aspirants? The most important aspect of this project is building the party and the ACN leadership in its wisdom has chosen one strategy to ease aspirants. That is going on. As I talk to you here, it is possible that (Prof. Ajayi) Borrofice is harvesting some people in Idoani. It is possible that Segun Ojo is harvesting some people in Ifedore and (Tayo) Alasoadura is subduing some stubborn people else where.
This is a process of building the party and the aspirants are working more to build the party than their aspirations. So, you must know where we are coming from. The ACN had been weakened because of the feeling that Labour Party was ACN. And in the last one and half years, it’s been clear to us as Governor Rauf Aregbesola put it that omi eko (pap water) and eko (pap) are not the same. Omi eko is on one side and eko is on the other side. Let everybody bear his father’s name. And we have been making the people to understand that Labour Party (LP) is not the party of our people and it is not the same as the party of the progressives. So, there is no problem about the number of aspirants.
There is this insinuation that Governor Mimiko wants to dump the incumbent deputy governor and pick you as the deputy governor. How true is this?
Well, you must also know that many people run what I call governance by stealing. Some of these things might be coming from him, not only to manipulate the ACN but to manipulate some Labour people who intend to come to the ACN. If anybody tells me to do this, I will ask him to shut up because if I said I was going to become director of works, then you can entice me with the position of a deputy governor. But I said I want to become the governor of Ondo State. I know I’m competent, eminently competent and credible. So, why should anybody want to choose me as deputy governor? This is one of the antics of my adversaries to cause a distortion and disruption on the way people view my candidacy, on the way people view my leadership.
What is the difference between change and continuity? You said you are an agent of change and not continuity?
Well, on the surface of it, it is said that government is a continuity. But here, we don’t talk about the continuity of government. We are talking about the continuity of governance; we are talking about the continuity of leadership that has not created wealth. We are talking about wastage that must stop. We are talking about earning N450 billion in three years and squandering it. That is the situation that must stop.
That is the change we are talking about. Then, we are talking about absence of youth employment, youth engagement and women emancipation, engagement and empowerment and movement to issues where we have sustainable development that encourages participatory governance. That is the change we are talking about. We are talking about change from Labour Party, from a party of hard labour to the party of progressives.
We are talking about change from being a bottled wine in this sub-region to an integration of the commonwealth of Western states to the development agenda which only makes it possible for us to do more this time but to also guarantee the future of our children.
You are a front runner in this race and incidentally, Prof. Borrofice who joined the race later is also a front runner, don’t you think his ambition can undermine your chances since both of you are from Akoko in Ondo North?
Well, I don’t know what you mean by being a front runner? I know I’m number one in the race. The situation allows other people to join. Boroffice is my friend. He’s a professor of Botany. He’s an Akoko person. He’s from Akoko South, where you ‘ve had the only two ambassadors that Ondo State has produced; where you had former governor, (Adebayo) Adefarati, where you have the current deputy governor; where you have the former speaker and current deputy speaker. He (Boroffice) is an eminent Nigerian in his own right and he’s welcome to the race. He’s also part of the people building the party. But his coming into the race has in no way reduced my leadership position in the race and in no way reduced my chances of getting the ticket.
What is your comment on the recent crisis that trailed an attempt to host a memorial lecture in honour of former governor Adefarati?
First, we need to put this correctly. The ACN and its guests did not plan to have a political rally. They did not plan to have political resistance. But the party supporters came there in flowing gowns which showed that they did not really prepare to fight or be fought but rather to celebrate a man who was a governor of Ondo State; to celebrate a man who lived for peace and acted it; a man who acted for fairness, who used the limited resources he had at that time to do some landmark investments including setting up (Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission) OSOPADEC, which now cannot account for almost N100 billion allocated to it.
So, we were not prepared to fight. The fight was started by Labour Party thugs. You also need to know that the police were not able to do anything. I can say categorically the police were not able to do anything to prevent it but of course, supporters of the ACN went to the place and were attacked. That was why a warning was made by the chairman of our party that violence is not the monopoly of anybody and that violence begets violence.
Source: The Nation Newspaper, May 11, 2O12. http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/politics/46171-ondo-acn-aspirants-united-says-agunloye.html
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