Otunba Bisi Kolawole is a frontline aspirant of the People’s Democratic Party in the June 18 governorship poll in Ekiti State. He spoke with Correspondent RASAQ IBRAHIM about his ambition, the proposed primary and prospects of wining the ticket.
You are vying for the June 18 governorship election in Ekiti state. How feasible is your aspiration?
Well, I don’t understand what you meant by how feasible is my ambition. Going by all the parameters, I am more than qualify to become governor. I am a grassroots politician. I started my politics from the grassroots and you know all politics is local. I was a surpervisory councillor in the local government. I was in the House of Assembly when we had 13/13. I think that was a very tough situation for Ekiti politics when we had ACN and PDP. That was when ex-Governor Segun Oni was on the saddle. By God’s grace, I was able to hold the House together for the governor because imaging a situation where you had 13 ACN lawmakers and 12 PDP on the floor. I was responsible for balancing the situation in the house. Responsible for protecting the governor then. So, the experience is there in the legislative arm of government, even, I was very close to him and trying to manage the situation. I mean balancing the situation between the House and the executive arm. That experience is there. Aside that, politically, I have been very involved because when ex-governor Ayodele Fayose came back to contest in 2014, Dayo Adeyeye wanted to be governor and he had to look for someone who is strong enough to be his Campaign Director-General. So, he had to send people to appeal to me because somebody coming to contest against Fayose needed someone who could sell his candidacy. By the grace of God, we did it successfully but Governor Fayose won the ticket. And eventually Adeyeye was made a minister. So, when Governor Fayose became the governor, he invited me to his government and I became a Commissioner for four years. It was then he got to know my nature, style, my kind of politics, and the kind of clout I had. So, we ran the four years together and when he supported Eleka for the governorship, without any shadow of doubt, he decided that the only strong politician that could sell Eleka’s candidacy was me. So, he made me Director General. We did it and what happened in that election was what is well known to us. We were robbed of victory but I did the job effectively. I was a member of PDP BoT uptill September last year. Aside from that I contested the chairmanship of the party and I became the party’s chairman. And don’t forget the fact that the same set delegates that would elect the governorship candidate elected the chairman. That tells us that I am working within a familiar terrain. The same delegate that made me Chairman are still the same set of people that will elect the candidate of the party. I think with the little I have told you, I make bold to tell you that of all the people that have contested governorship race, even those people that I had occupied the plum seat from Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, my boss, Fayose, Segun Oni and the man here now Governor Fayemi, none of them paraded the kind of political credentials I have before they became governors. None of them was a Supervisor, Commissioner, House of Assembly member and party chairman before becoming the governor of Ekiti. I think I have more than enough experience and antecedents to rule the state. I have legislative and executive experience as well as experience at the local level. So, I have all it takes to be the governor.
What are your chances in clinching PDP ticket and winning the election, if you eventually secured the ticket?
It is a truism that I have bright chance of clinching the ticket of the PDP because I have worked seriously hard. I have been the party chairman and I am very close to all the party’s delegates when I was in the saddle. My networking had made it easy for me to have enough delegates to my support. And it is no longer news that Fayose is my promoter. And when you have somebody like him supporting you with your own experience, antecedents and the love people have for you I think it is a done deal. They maybe making noise here and there and everybody agitating to fly PDP ticket but the truth is that I am closer to delegates and the image of the man that had encouraged me to come out for governorship is large enough to win the ticket for me. About the general poll, Ekiti is naturally a PDP state and we all know that. Aside that, Ekiti people are tired of APC. Everybody is complaining. Everybody knows that this government of APC is a complete aberration. It is just an accidental thing that will make it easy for PDP to overrun the June 18 election. Whatever the situation is I believe we are very much on ground. By God’s grace, we are going to come together as a party and dislodge the APC-led government.
The ruling APC is not leaving any thing for chance in its quest to retain Ekiti. Do you thin your part can thwart the APC continuity agenda, in view of the deep seated wrangling with your party.
I love this question you have just asked. It’s like you have not really studied what is happening in the other party too. The idea of APC continuity agenda is dead on arrival due to non-performance, internal crisis that is even worse than what is in the PDP. They have their own problem that cannot be solved. Don’t forget we have been in our own crisis for quite a while and we have done reasonably well trying to resolve issues and this crisis management within PDP is a family affair. We have mechanisms within the system that make it easy for us to come together. Even in the other party that is agitating to continue in government, their problem is worse than what we are experiencing. While we are overcoming, their is still incubating. And it going to work out for PDP. And the masses will determine what will happen this time around. Everybody is not happy and they are prepared to vote out APC because they are tired of misrule. It is very brilliant opportunity for PDP now to take over the reins of government in Ekiti State.
How does your party plans to manauvre power of incumbency and federal might at the disposal of the ruling APC?
We don’t believe in that. Even when you talk of federal might, where is it? The government that cannot secure the lives of the people. You see Nigerians are wiser now. The Federal might are being controlled by human being and we are all witnesses to what is happening in the country. What are you calling power of incumbency and federal might? It is only when you have the people behind you that any federal might will work. People are not happy and they will reject them at the poll.
What do you think the current governor is not doing that Kolawole’s administration will do differently?
He is too far from the people . We are going to have a government very close to the people of Ekiti. You are a witness to when Fayose was governor. You don’t just rule from the office. I want to tell you if Governor Fayemi passed on the street people might not even know him. He is too far from them, the downtrodden and workers are not happy. If elected, we will do things differently that would reflect in all aspects of lifes in Ekitii. The market women would smile and everyone would be happy. There would be good on their table and we won’t show arrogance to the people that had elected us. And we would be closer to grassroots Anyway, I am a grassroot politician and I know how they feel. We would engage our people to know their problem and we would solve them. Not just ruling people from office and arrogantly doing things the way you want it. You have to consider the interest of the people. You have to feel what the people are feeling. If you cannot be part of them, you cannot know how they are feeling. The worker are there, I am going to be close to them because we have to determine a lot of things together. I can’t imagine what pensioners are facing now. We would have to improve on that. You can imagine somebody that had worked for Ekiti and you want to negotiate his pension. It is not done. It is unfair. That’s what we would not do. So, we are going to do a lot of things differently. The youth are just roaming the streets, they don’t have any job. The Agricultural sector is suffering. We have not encourage people to take farming. Our People are willing but we We have not encourage them in enough. So, we are going to touch all the aspects that had almost been forgotten or deserted