You’ve declared your ambition to be the next Ondo State governor. How has the journey been so far, since you made that declaration?
Since I declared my intention to be the next governor of Ondo State, it hasn’t been easy for us as individuals because of the challenges Nigerians are facing, economic challenges, insecurity, joblessness in Ondo State. We’ve been talking to people around the party to solicit for support among members of the party, for the primary, we’re waiting for INEC’s directive on that. As soon as INEC releases guidelines, we’ll put more effort. People have accepted us, in fact, we’ve taken over the major areas. I just came back from Ondo two weeks ago, I was in almost 14 local governments, talking to students, market women, elders and leaders on why they must come out and support the Labour Party in Ondo, because in the last going to eight years, the present administration in Ondo can’t point to a particular project people are benefiting from. People are hoping for change, a better future for the State. It’s been nice, and people are ready.
How tedious has it been for you and what are the challenges you’ve faced so far? How has your interaction with the electorate been so far?
The challenges haven’t been that easy because of the tension across the country. The people aren’t feeling the impact of government. We’re trying to encourage and let people know that what Nigerians are going through today is as a result of the government’s monetary policy. There’s no freedom for them to vote for the right candidates. Like I told them, the last election in Ondo, thousands of people were voting for APC because they were sharing money. There’s no single industry promised by Akeredolu that’s been built in Ondo State. So, we’ve been trying to convince the people, particularly party delegates and letting them know that sometimes, they need to make the sacrifice for us to have the best among the best. If they continue to collect money from aspirants who become candidates, who later become governors at the end of the day, we’ll all pay for it. You can’t your cake and have it. In that regard, it hasn’t been easy. We’ve let them know that although we don’t have money to share during the primary, but my integrity and what I’ve done so far is going to speak for me. I believe that when we get to that bridge, were going to cross it.
Akeredolu is a failure, APC is a failure in Ondo State. The people of Ondo State should just come out and throw APC out of government. Akeredolu claimed he has built health centers, but the hospital you built but you’re not able to treat yourself there? That means you’re telling us they’ve been playing on the intelligence of Nigerians. I as a governor for instance, I fell sick, and I discovered that I can’t treat myself in the state, with the facilities I’ve claimed to have built, it shows I’m a sick man. The government of Akeredolu is a very sick and failed government. Look at what the deputy governor is doing. He’s not been able to add anything as acting governor in the last sixty days that the man had left for Germany for treatment. Yes, we’re born to be sick, nobody is mocking him but unfortunately they’ve failed to build a standard healthcare facility for them to be treated. So, if I become governor of Ondo State, I will treat myself there, I’ll use made in Nigeria vehicles, my children will attend Nigerian school, because I went to Nigerian schools all my life. Things will be back to when the people had the mandate of leadership.
He hasn’t been on duty for a while now. Are you among those who think he should resign and formally hand over to his deputy or you think he he should still hold on and return to office whenever his health improves?
If I was in Akeredolu’s shoes, the best thing I’d have done is to resign. I’ll go and treat myself. Akeredolu is not the owner of Ondo State. He has turned the government house to a family enterprise, his families are the ones dominating the entire government house today because these people are selfish leaders who don’t care about the people. Have you ever seen even an ordinary councillor or local government chairman resign in this country, even if they are dying? These people are criminal minded leaders who don’t care about the people. The best thing he should’ve done was to resign and go treat himself. They’ve seen that Nigerians are not ready to hold their leaders accountable but we can assure the people of Ondo State that when we take over the mandate in Ondo State, we’ll make sure that we’ll account for every money spent from Ondo State resources.
I told you Akeredolu’s government is a failure. In every area of Ondo State, his government is a failure. I wouldn’t want to comment much on that, his government has failed Ondo people. Despite the fact that the incident happened in his own local government, he’s not been able to… These people don’t care about the masses, they don’t care about Nigerians and the people will reject his party at the 2024 governorship election in Ondo State.
You contested for a seat in the 2015 Lagos State Assembly election (Kosofe Constituency II). What informed your decision to move to Ondo State to contest for elective position?
My parents grew up in Lagos. I was born and brought up in Lagos. I had the constitutional right to contest in Lagos, so I contested for Lagos Assembly in 2015. Then, I came back home in 2016 to contest for governor under the same AD. I also contested for presidency under AD after which I stepped down for Sowore. Then, we had about almost forty aspirants. We failed to have a consensus candidate amongst us. Then, I believed that we couldn’t win the election because there were no resources. I believed that the man that had the best ideas amongst us, who had what it takes was Sowore, so I stepped down for him. In 2020, I contested under ADC, I wasn’t given the ticket before I went to NNPP, and I was given the ticket. The election was interesting but at the end of the day, NNPP you know, as a politician, you just have to go to a place that your vision can be able to speak, where people believe your ideas, vision and what you’ve done, as well as for me to do well, achieve my dreams and goals for the people. Since I came to Labour, I’ve found my destination, particularly the atmosphere of Peter Obi, the whole of his leadership, I so much share in it. So, I believe that this time, the vision will speak.
Many have wondered and advised Sowore to go for governorship, bit in your case, you decided to go for governorship. Despite once running for presidency, why did you decide to leave the national and go to state to contest?
Rochas Okorocha contested to be president of this country more than two times, now he’s a former governor. At the end of the day, he believed that to achieve that dream, he had to go back to the state. I’m from Ondo State but I contested in Lagos because I’ve been in Lagos for many years but I realised that for me to achieve my dream, I had to go back to my state because there are a lots of things lacking in my state, so, me starting from there, I could be able to achieve my goal, just like Rochas Okorocha. He contested for presidency before, more than three times. When he wasn’t accepted, he had to go for governorship. From governor, he was senator. So, I believe we’ll get to that place.
Ahead of that 2019 presidential election, you were reported to have stepped down for the then presidential candidate of Peoples Trust, Olawepo Gbenga Hashim, in December 2018. Two months later, it was also reported that you stepped down for Sowore of the African Action Congress. What led to you stepping down for two presidential candidates of two separate political parties in the same election?
Actually, what happened was that I truly stepped down for Olawepo Hashim because he was one of the leaders I respected so much. In that journey, as a politician, like I said, we’re all pursuing our dreams to achieve our goals but unfortunately, Olawepo wasn’t carrying us along. After I officially stepped down for him, our agreement wasn’t fulfilled to us. Not that we stepped down because of money but we stepped down for a man who we should have joined his campaign team but I was not part of the campaign team, he didn’t pick my calls again, all things went wrong. Instead we went to Omoyele Sowore, so we withdrew support from Hashim and we supported Sowore. That’s what happened, we discovered that maybe he was trying to step down for PDP then, his campaign want going as planned, we had no option than to move on.
You’ve ran for governorship under the AD, ADC and NNPP. Why the switch to Labour Party?
Just like Tinubu, who was in AD before he formed AC to ACN which became APC. We’re pursuing our dreams to achieve our goals. I was in NNPP believing that I’ve gotten the right party, not knowing that NNPP wasn’t ready then, I saw that our relationship wasn’t going well, so after the election, I just had to move on. I was in the party for over a year, until the general election.
The Labour Party had once won Ondo State through Segun Mimiko. But are you riding on the popularity of Peter Obi, to defeat political heavyweights like the ruling party APC and the main opposition the PDP?
I wasn’t in the party for over a year after I left NNPP. There’s been lots of consultations within my teams to look at the party we should go. Not that we want to take advantage of Peter Obi coming to Labour Party but it’s part of it. To have a strong opposition party that can challenge the status quo. The ship of PDP in Ondo, has hanged in the sea. The house of PDP in Ondo is not in order. APC too, looking at the number of people coming out from APC to contest for governor, is it the likes of Olusola Oke, who has been contesting for how many years. The man is 70 years, they’re still the same players, old cargoes running around in circles. Nigeria needs to test new things, test new set of young Nigerians.
Presently, the Labour Party has two factions. The Apapa faction and the Abure faction. Which faction does your loyalty lies?
I don’t believe in any faction, I don’t know if there’s faction in Labour Party. I believe that before the primary, the Labour Party will resolve their issues. There are lots of consultations going on among the leaders on how they’re going to sort all those issues. There’s no party that doesn’t have its own crisis. Like I said, PDP is facing their own in Ondo State, their ship is hanging in the sea, likewise APC. In a democratic system, there’ll always be a way out and I believe that before the end of this year, our leaders will settle every differences among them before we come back to see how we can sit down and pilot the affairs of the party.
You led the 147 Yoruba Formidable Youths Coalition to drum support for Peter Obi. How would you describe Obi’s performance in the South West in the presidential election?
It was incredible. Before the election, Labour Party in the South West had gone to sleep, there were lots of issues among them. Things weren’t going on well, everybody was looking for their personal interest. Along the line, there were serious contestation among us, we lost concentration. It took me almost three months before we could arrive under those groups, it wasn’t an easy ask to bring about the 147 groups together to support Obi because people thought that money was involved but we didn’t give anybody a dime. We used and spent our own money, we spent everything. Nothing was given to anybody but we appreciate that fact that we played, not politics of money but politics of integrity and we’ll never regret supporting Obi because we believe so much that Obi won the election, unfortunately they announced the wrong person, allocation was made to the wrong person. We believe in the court, Obi so much believes in the judiciary, he has used that to win before when his mandate was stolen and given to another person in Anambra but he got it back. We so much believe in the judiciary that at the end of the day, justice will be served in this regard. As a person, I have no regret for doing what I did for Peter Obi as a Nigerian.
With the controversy that trailed the presidential election which is now being litigated at the presidential election petition tribunal, what’s your level of confidence in INEC and Professor Mahmood Yakubu to prosecute the Ondo governorship election next year fairly?
Let’s see how it goes. Ondo election is next year, by then, I believe there’ll to be reforms in the system, the BIVAS has come to stay, BIVAS really saved a lot of irregularities. In states like Kano, Jigawa, you would’ve heard them having about 6 to 10 million votes coming from those areas. These people are so powerful, they’re mafians, they have the money to do just about anything. In my local government in Ondo, I experienced what those people did, coming to the polling unit with POS but the people have realised now, that’s why by next month, we’re starting house to house campaign in Ondo State “Operation why you must stop collecting money”. We’ll educate the youths, going to schools, markets, other places to educate people why they must not collect money from anybody.
Some courts in various states have ruled that INEC has the rights to decide the mode of transmission they would like to adopt. That means they can decide not to transmit the result electronically from the polling unit, just like it was done in the presidential election, which caused mistrust in the process. If for the Ondo governorship election, INEC still decides not to transmit the results electronically, will that dampen your level of confidence in the election process?
I’ve not seen any court that has said that, but we must follow the Electoral Act that said INEC must do things the proper way. I believe the people are ready to come out and vote for the right candidate. I believe that money will not have it’s way like it did in previous elections. I believe that INEC will do the right thing and people will come out to vote for Labour Party in Ondo State. Not that we’re just going out, but we’re going to market ourselves to the people, present our plans to the people and we’ll be accepted by the people also. We’re putting machinery across the state, our target is to have at least, 60 percent of votes from each local governments in the state, which we’re working day and night to achieve these dreams. So whatever method INEC wants to use, let them go to the noon and bring it, we’re ready for them.
Following the recent coup in Niger Republic, ECOWAS, headed by President Tinubu ordered soldiers to be on standby, ready to invade the country. What’s your take on this order? Are you in support of this move?
80 percent of these ECOWAS leaders are corrupt people and these are the people that their countries haven’t been in place when it comes to democratic system. They know Tinubu has matters in court, yet they made him ECOWAS president, because he has spent billions of naira to attain that position. Tinubu hasn’t conquered Boko Haram or the economic situation in the country, but you want to go and fight Niger of how many population. They’re just leaders who don’t know what they’re doing in their respective countries. When you push people to the wall, the people will resist, that’s what happened in Niger, and you’re trying to go to Niger, when Nigerians are still hungry.
