Ogun: Governorship election will be full of suprises, says Akinlade

The governorship candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Hon. Adekunle Abdulkabir Akinlade, told GBENGA AKINFENWA that his party would spring a surprise at weekend’s governorship election in the state.

The governorship election is few days away, considering the keen competition for the state’s number one seat, how ready is APM?
I want to look at it generally from the three senatorial districts.

What we did from January 22 was the commencement of the ward-to-ward tour, and that is one of those things, which I learnt from the political structure in the state, to penetrate people at the ward level.

We went around the 236 wards and in the process we were able to sell the APM brand.

Picking cassava as our logo was strategic;-one, because most of our communities are rural and two; because cassava is a produce that is more accessible, which our people are more conversant with regardless of their zone, whether West, East or Central and that has worked very well for our people.
 
We are doing well at present. For those who might not really understand what happened during the Presidential and National Assembly Polls, we got to a point where we realised as a party, when I said as a party I mean both All Progressives Congress (APC) and APM, needed to reach out to our people to vote APC, in order to ensure the President’s re-election.

We got to a point where we realised that if we proceeded the way we were going, Mr. President might lose the election in the state. That is how grounded APM has become in the state in the last two months.

At that point we had to agree within ourselves-the stakeholders that it was important the president wins in the state, especially because of the rail project, which we want him to complete.

Majority of our candidates who vie for the National Assembly Elections lost and this was because three days to the poll, I came out to campaign openly for the President, telling our people to vote APC and the President in the first election.

It was important for us to do that because of the ongoing projects in the state.

We realised that if the President doesn’t complete the projects-the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway, the rail project and other projects around the state, it will be difficult for me to increase the state revenue from N7b to about N15 or N20b that I want to take the state revenue to.

Thank God he won and I am very happy about this.
 
Where we are today, the Governor has said it very clearly that if we come out openly and work with him and the President wins, they will in turn work with us to deliver APM come March 9.
 
It is painful to us that our candidates lost, but if I look at what we stand to gain, I think that was strategic for us and like we said, we have reached out to everybody now and everyone is charged, Ogun West is ready to go for APM.

For Ogun Central, you need to go out and see what is happening; in Ogun East, I am confident that we will not get less than 40 per cent.

So, if you look at where we are today, majority of those that voted for Mr. President in APC and APM are all ready to vote for me.

The same people who voted for me on October 2, 2018 during the governorship primary will also make up their minds to vote again this weekend and we’ll win this election
 
By God’s grace, it is going to be a landslide for me and I am confident that that is what is going to happen.

All I am praying is that my vote should count and that my vote is protected. That has to do with the election umpire and security agencies.

Your mentor, Governor Ibikunle Amosun was in the eye of the storm during the presidential rally of APC, would this not have negative implications on your campaign?
I am a member of APM and I wouldn’t be able to speak on what transpired in APC because I am not a member of the party.

We went there to show solidarity for President Muhammadu Buhari, who is also our presidential candidate and whatever transpired at that point in time, I believe the security agencies are looking at it.

I am not part of the security agencies and I don’t have access to that. What I will just say basically is that it hasn’t affected me in any way, I wasn’t in the crowd.

The people saw clearly where I sat and when I was leaving the stadium they saw clearly that I continued to enjoy the full support of my people.

You said majority of those who voted APC during the Presidential and Legislative Polls are APM members. Are you saying without APM Buhari wouldn’t have won?
I have said it clearly and severally, based on where we are coming from, the people who voted for us during the October 2, 2018 governorship primary, are people of the state and members of the APC, who have remained resolute that the injustice meted out to me will not stand and that the wrong will be made right on March 9 gubernatorial election.

Take Ado-Odo/Ota for example, if we had not campaigned openly for Mr. President it would have been difficult for APC and our House Representatives candidate would have won.

But because we said everybody should vote for the President, our candidate lost in Ado-Odo/Ota, our candidate lost in Yewa North, our candidate lost in Abeokuta North, our candidate lost in Ifo, our candidate lost in Sagamu.

Out of the six House of Representatives candidates we presented, only the one from Ipokia won and that is because it is my home front, where I voted, that tells you very clearly that it is a sacrifice that was worth it.

No doubt, most of you in the race are qualified, what is your strategy to do the magic?
Let me put it this way; I will be the first governor of this state who actually served as an appointee in the state.

I was Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Governor on Taxation & Revenue, between July 2011 and January 2014, and I served in the ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development as well, between January 2014 and October 2014, and that endeared me into the hearts of the civil servants because I interfaced with them, also those I served with in the Ministry know me well.

So, among the candidates, I have the unique chance among Ogun workers.

The committees that I have served in and those that I have chaired have given me the leverage to understand the workings of our dear state.

I have interfaced with competent institutions and corporate organisations while I was SSA Taxation and Revenue.

At the National Assembly, I interfaced with the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN), almost all the Managing Directors and Chief Executive Officers I interfaced with.

I was also chairman, Committee on Steel, I was chairman ad hoc committee on Insurance, which means I interfaced with all ministries and agencies of government over insurance matters, defence, upstream downstream, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), everybody.

None of the other candidates have the wealth of experience that I have, coming into this, both at the state and national level.
 
I have the rare privilege of working with the governor; I shared his vision from day one when he started.

Look around the state and see what he’s been able to do. Though no man is perfect, he’s done the best he could and I believe very strongly that it is the same drum that will be beating.

Every administration beats its own drum, but how we interpret and how we dance to the rhythm will be different.

Amosun interpreted his drum the way he knows best he could. I have a very clear mind, a very clear vision of what I am going to achieve.

We are well positioned appropriately to Lagos, to the West coast of Africa, and I am ready to explore this to generate more income for the state.