Ogunlewe, George would have destroyed PDP —Obanikoro osundefender.org/?p=202343 A Peoples Democratic Party chieftain in Lagos, Adeseye Ogunlewe, described your supporters as insignificant to guarantee the success of the PDP governorship candidate, Jimi Agbaje, in the 2015 election. How will you respond to his claim? Does that make any sense? Let us assume that the result that was declared was a true reflection of what transpired there (at the primary), what does that tell you as someone with a discerning mind? What percentage of the votes did they win? Let us examine the results; they (Ogunlewe and party chieftain, Bode George) won about 50 per cent and I won about 40 per cent. What then does that tell you? Doesn’t this mean that the party is split into two? Despite the intimidation and harassment of voters, and despite their heavy reliance on money, my supporters still made their presence known. We should just put all that in the past because, as we speak, my concern is how to get the PDP to win in Lagos. We cannot achieve that with the way they are behaving. In 2007, when I was the (governorship) candidate of the party, both of them (Ogunlewe and George) went to work for the Action Congress of Nigeria (now the All Progressives Congress). But I won’t behave like them. I am well brought up and I know that it is wrong for you to abandon a party that has supported you over the years simply because it is convenient. Ogunlewe abandoned the party, despite being a major beneficiary at that time as the Minister of Works, all because it was convenient for him to do so. I will never do that. I will never abandon the platform that has served me. What I will do, instead, is return the benefit that I have enjoyed from the party and I want to ensure that we win the election. The only way we can do that is if all hands are on deck. Has any move been made by party leaders in the state to pacify you and other aggrieved aspirants? That is our internal affair which I am not about to discuss on the pages of the newspaper. But suffice it to say that we are working to close ranks. Contrary to your claim that Ogunlewe and George ganged up against you, Ogunlewe said the choice of Agbaje was based on his track record and who the people wanted. Do you agree with him? Anyone who knows me knows that I am not used to economising the truth. I say it as it is. You will recall that Ogunlewe went on radio to say a Muslim candidate should not be supported. He went on radio to say they have decided ‘upstairs’ that a Christian is going to be the candidate. Let us not forget that there are people with good memories. The records are there and they speak for themselves. He and George said that elaborately to individuals and groups. In fact, some of the things they said can be found on the pages of the newspaper. As I have said, my interest now is the party. I didn’t join the PDP because of Ogunlewe, neither did I come to the party because of George. I joined the PDP because I felt that I should, so I am not going to allow them to distract me from doing what is right for the party. Has the national leadership of the party stepped in to reconcile all aggrieved members? If the party at national level was not involved, the kind of leadership that they (George and Ogunlewe) have provided in the state would have destroyed everything. We thank God that we have some people at the national level who have been able to moderate the situation and restore some decorum. I have nothing against Agbaje and he knows it too. I have nothing but admiration and respect for him. But the truth of the matter is that there were fundamental differences between me and some, not all, of the leaders in the party in the state. I think they have shown bad leadership examples, compared to others. But don’t get me wrong, a good number of leaders in the party have played leadership roles to ensure that the situation in the party does not degenerate any further. Some have even played fatherly and motherly roles. It is only because of these exemplary leaders that the party has regained order. Left to Ogunlewe and George, it would have been a different story altogether. Does this mean that you would be happy to support Agbaje as the rightful governorship candidate of the PDP in 2015? I just told you that I have nothing but admiration and respect for the man. I want you to interpret that. What do you think of Ogunlewe’s claim that only ‘area boys’ would support you and that the party does not need them to win in Lagos? Recently, you spoke with the director-general of my campaign organisation. Did he sound like an ‘area boy’ to you? I’m sure you know Yinka Bukina, a former president of the student union of the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University). Does he sound like an ‘area boy’ to you? You can give a dog a bad name to hang it; you can find all the excuses in the world to present someone in a bad light, but the truth will always prevail. The reality is that we are honest and upright people. People can always see us for who we are. I have been happily married for over 34 years and I am sure, if you know my kids, you will attest to the kind of family man I am. I think you should ask those who are attacking me if they can also boast of the same achievement in life. How can I be called a thug? A man like me who has a loving home with lovely children and grandchildren being called an ‘area boy’ or a thug? You know that is not true. The facts speak for themselves. They are the ones whose family backgrounds should be investigated. As a journalist, you can investigate and you can come to your own conclusions about who is a thug and who isn’t, or who is an ‘area boy’ and who is not. I am a family man to the core and people can attest to the fact that I am very close to my children. When you see me, you see my kids. We do everything together. I am a peaceful man. Ogunlewe claimed that you exhibited traces of opposition by challenging the result of the primary election in court? Let me be clear, I went to court to strengthen the party and the society. If you are aggrieved and you petition the party, after the stipulated amount of time allowed without a reaction from the party, you have every right to seek remedy in court. We did not go to town, breaking glasses and destroying property, nor did we storm the party secretariat causing mayhem. We didn’t do anything outside the law. Rather, we followed due process by going to court. I think that is the most civilised thing to do, so the court can weigh the facts presented and decide who is right. But I told you, sensible leaders who believe in the stability of the party have waded in. They have appealed to us to make sure the party does not lose (in the election) and we are listening to them. We are lending our ears because we know that if the house collapses, all of us in the house will be affected. Therefore, we are doing everything possible for that not to happen. We are listening to the voice of reason and that is the kind of discussion that I want to engage in. Everything else, I consider as a distraction. I don’t want to engage in any name-calling that will not help the society at the end of the day. In a number of states, PDP aspirants are aggrieved because of primary results leading to court actions and defections. What is being done to address this? Don’t worry about all that; be assured that we are resolving all of them one by one. It is a family field and we are going to get to the bottom of it. Nobody is going to leave the PDP because of that. We will stay in our party, we will salvage it and we will come out of this stronger, happier and better positioned. The truth of the matter is that (Maj. Gen. Muhammadu) Buhari is not an option for this country; I make bold to say that. He is not an option by any means. Even at his best, he did not serve the society well. Is it now in his old age that he will? We don’t want to go back to those olden days when Nigerians were divided along religious or ethnic lines. The past belongs to the past and we must always embrace the future. Nigerians will embrace the future, rather than our past. Soon after your legal action against the PDP, a socio-political group questioned your loyalty to the party and asked that you be suspended like the former National Chairman of the PDP, Bamanga Tukur, who similarly took the party to court. What is your response to this? The situation is not the same. There is a guideline that the party gave. We followed the guidelines by writing to them. Up till today, the party has yet to react to our petition, so what option am I left with? The situation, as you can see, is not the same. It is not as if we jumped to the court first without recourse to the party. All those things they (the group) are saying are for the purpose of getting undue advantage. They are just talking to the media to get unnecessary sympathy and paint me in a bad light. I am a man who has gained a lot of exposure. I went to school overseas and worked extensively as a line officer as well as a head of a department, before I left the United States, so when I say I know how a system operates, I know what I am talking about. I know that if the system is falling out of order, steps need to be taken to correct that. At the end of the day, it is not for my good alone, but the good of all. The PDP has consistently said it is set to beat the APC in the 2015 general elections, which controls a majority of the South-West. Do you think this is possible? Ogunlewe said in his interview with SUNDAY PUNCH that he doesn’t know whether the PDP will win in the South-West. He said it is not yet time for him to talk about that. But it is time for me to talk about it. I can tell you that we are going to win. The President is going to win big; we are going to clear the South-West. You can mark today’s date and quote me. We have the capacity to deliver the South-West and we are going to deliver it. Don’t forget that even in Lagos, people are tired of the APC. Everyone knows that the APC is not the most popular party, even as we speak. The people will decide eventually, but I can tell you that they will decide in favour of Mr. President, at the end of the day. Ogunlewe may conclude that he does not know whether Mr. President will win Lagos, but I am confirming to you that he will. But if the August 9 governorship election in Osun State is anything to go by, doesn’t the APC stand a better chance in that state? If you look at the last election and if you have been following proceedings at the court of law, you will see that we have gained the upper hand. (Governor Rauf) Aregebsola won with about 50 per cent of the votes, while we scored about 40 per cent of the votes. You cannot call that a wishy-washy outing for us. That is a respectable outing. You wait and see the outcome of the tribunal. We’re going to win because the facts show that the results are in favour of the PDP. The outcome of the tribunal will reflect that. Looking at the PDP 2015 fundraiser that held penultimate Saturday and generated N21bn, some argue that the donations did not comply with electoral law. Can you justify its legality? There was a fundraiser and people donated. I want to assure you that we are law-abiding people. If there are rules or laws that must not be violated, we always ensure total compliance. That much I can tell you. Mr. President believes in the Rule of Law and he would not do anything that would jeopardise that.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 13:40:00 +0000