Former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), National Vice Chairman, (South West) and Chairman, Agboola Ajayi Campaign Council, Eddy Olafeso, in this interview with ADEWALE MOMOH, spoke on issues that will determine the outcome of the November 16 governorship poll in the state. He also expressed the determination of electorates to ensure that their votes count.
How prepared is the PDP for the governorship election considering the strength of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state?
We are very prepared, and we are ready. We are back with better organisation in terms of structure, ensuring that whatever is needed to win the election as well as our connectivity with the people. We are ready. We are ready to battle internal and external forces that may want to truncate the electoral process because the process must count for us to know that people are ready to deal with the shenanigans and the way the APC government is running Nigeria. So, we are ready.
When the campaign council was announced by your governorship candidate, Agboola Ajayi, some PDP members in the state expressed displeasure at the appointment of some of you. Does this not give a hint of an internal crisis in your party?
There is nobody in the campaign council who is not a well-known and seasoned administrator in the state. I’m the highest-ranking national officer of the party in the state. I’m a member of the National Executive Council (NEC), so there is no issue whatsoever.
The caretaker chairman of the party at this moment is a member of the campaign council, and virtually everybody in the caretaker committee is a member of the campaign council, one way or another. So, the party is very cohesive, and there is a united front.
Are you not bothered that all allies of former Governor Olusegun Mimiko left your party because the PDP is not ready to win the election?
I know every dramatis personae in this plot. I know why they did what they did. But the party is better for the decision they took. We know those of us that are remaining. We want to thank them for their sincerity. At every point, there will be a divergence of opinions. We are far better served for you not to agree with the direction we are going than for you to stay within and create an internal crisis for us. Since they left, you can see the number of people joining PDP.
Over 12,000 APC followers decamped to PDP because of the failure of the leadership of the party, the situation in the country, the harrowing political economy on the people, and the poor performance of their governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who for the last nine months did nothing despite huge resources accrued to the state. Even the presidential palliative that were sent to Ondo State, cannot be accounted for. So, the truth is that we are happy and better, we are more focused, and we are doing our job.
Unfortunately, they will be thrown into the dustbin of history because they chose the wrong time to join the enemy of the people, and now they will be considered enemies of the people. The APC as a party is the enemy of the Nigerian people, and people have vowed never to vote for them.
Are you also saying that the calibre of former Governor Mimiko leaving your party won’t affect your chances of winning the election?
He is my friend and brother, and he is in the best position to answer those questions. I can only answer questions relating to the party I came to love, and I have served for over 22 years.
You know I have never changed parties all my life. I believe the grass is never greener on the other side. We are providing leadership and uniting our people. We are telling our story to the Nigerian people. Our candidate is working so hard to push his seven-point agenda among the people. Our candidate will provide education and ensure agriculture is paid attention to. We are looking at infrastructure and the blue marine economy, and we are ensuring that women and youth are given opportunities to live their lives. We are letting our people know that the sun will shine again and Ondo State will take its place of pride among the 36 states of the federation.
The candidate of your party recently described the administration of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa as clueless and directionless. Do you share the same view on this?
I endorse what he said, which is obvious to everybody in the state. How many projects has Governor Aiyedatiwa commissioned since he came to office? How many projects has he flagged off since he came? What we have seen is creating crises among his political leadership cadre and appointing thousands of SSAs and SAs. Our hospitals, schools, and everywhere are going down. Believe me, there is nothing to say about the nine months he has spent and almost N130 billion coming into the state.
Ondo State has never been unlucky since he arrived. I believe that he is directionless, purposeless, and clueless.
Don’t you think nine months is too short to assess a governor?
What is the direction Aiyedatiwa is going with the government of Ondo State? Nobody knows. He’s been deputy governor for how many years? So, within those years, what has he influenced? There is nothing you can put in his name apart from scandals. It has never been this bad for the state. He has enough time to prove himself.
How are you going to get enthusiastic to vote for such characters? Nobody wants to take a chance again for another four years. Eight years of their tenure in Ondo State have ruined everything. The legacy of Papa Ajasin, Adefarati, Olusegun Agagu, and Olusegun Mimiko is almost gone. It is the story of the prodigal son, there is nothing to show for it.
During the 2023 general elections, PDP lost its stronghold – Ondo South – to the APC. With Aiyedatiwa, Ajayi, and other candidates from the area, don’t you think that will be a minus for your party on November 16?
We are going to separate the grains from the shafts. We are going to perform far better. Forget about names, our thumbs are the same, be it a professor, a servant, or a labourer. We have pulled in more people than people leaving our party.
This is going to be a different election. We had our challenges in the last election, and I’m sure that is exactly what we are rebuilding. We are all united. Apart from those who left, and that is why we are thanking them for leaving. They took the worst time in history to leave PDP.
Why do you think people should vote for your party on November 16?
APC has campaigned for us because their harsh programmes have almost destroyed the lives of every Nigerian. It is rumoured that more than 30 per cent of students may unable to make it back to school this term because they have increased school fees. They have increased the energy rate; a litre of petrol is now over a thousand naira, and a lot of people cannot even afford to go to work. Poverty has taken over the land in the areas of health, education, infrastructural development, and agriculture. Starvation is staring us in the face.
So, basically, why are they going to vote for APC? We are the only hope. We are organised, we have provided leadership and our candidate is a very experienced person. He has been in governance for almost 36 years because he started at the age of 20 as a counsellor, chairman, House of Representatives member, and deputy governor. He is going to make a fantastic governor, and within the first 100 days, you will see what will be happening to this state.
But with all these arguments, APC still emerged victorious in Edo State?
What they did in Edo State cannot be done here. Ondo State has a history; we don’t condone nonsense. On what basis are we going to vote for APC in Ondo State, having witnessed eight years of nothingness? So, when they want to cook their books, they better be careful, and they must be reminded of history, especially the 1983 election. Nobody comes to do any kind of nonsense here.
We want to appeal to INEC and all the institutions that are connected with election processes in Nigeria that Ondo State is not where to experiment with mediocrity or the process of rigging elections. The people will stand and their votes will be counted, and it must count. Every citizen’s desire in the state is for APC to be rooted out .
Your party has been constantly reminding people of the 1983 political crisis in Ondo State, is this not a tacit way of spurring people to violence?
Far from that. It is to let them know that iniquities will breed violence, and unfairness will breed violence. And we must learn from history. PDP is the most peaceful party in the whole country, we are not given to violence, and that is the reason we are working harder than them.
The election is about 40 days from now. Where have you seen Aiyedatiwa campaigning? Can he go around like the way we have been going around to campaign? What will he tell them? He did nothing for the people. He is now promising to renovate our schools with N3.5 billion. They are awarding contracts to get money to bribe people on Election Day. It is also alleged that they have stolen N15 billion, which they planned to use to prosecute the election come November 16. The people will take their money, and they will be voted out.
We are not violent people. You know me and you know my history. I believe in the peaceful process of changing society, and our people believe in that too, and that is the reason why everywhere we have gone there has been no single incidence of any form of violence. That shows we are very cautious of history, but we are telling people to be very careful. You do not bring injustice to some people, you want to steal their vote, and you feel there won’t be reactions.
Are you not bothered as a politician that the people are no longer interested in the electoral process considering the voter apathy witnessed in Edo State?
The turnout will surprise you in Ondo State. There are certain challenges we have in Edo that we don’t have here. The whole thing is to encourage INEC to do the right thing, to follow the electoral law, to follow the processes, and you will see people’s turnout.
We are encouraging our people, it is their moment to free themselves. It is a freedom election. We have to free ourselves from poverty, poor health, and every source of bondage that APC put us within the last eight years. You will be surprised that there will be a huge turnout for this election. PDP is very united, and we have been telling our people there is no reason to turn away.
