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In this interview with WALE AKINSELURE, former deputy governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Hazeem Gbolarumi comments on the ‘Freedom Walk for Atiku’, held in Ibadan, flag off of the second term campaign of Governor Seyi Makinde, the G5 agitation and the state of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
You were not present at Thursday’s rally where your party man, Governor SeyiMakinde flagged off his second term campaign. Was that intentional?
I was not invited. Why must I go where I was not invited?
You contested the governorship primary with Governor Makinde and, at that event, it looked like you had embraced reconciliation and were now on the same page with the governor. One would have thought you would have attended the rally of your fellow party man.
I was not invited to their programme. We are all PDP; we are doing our own. He has not said he has defected, so we are working for the party and we believe in the principle of the party leaders.
But, Oloye Jumoke Akinjide, with whom you staged the Freedom Walk for Atiku the day before the Makinde event was present.
She probably had her own reason for attending. Probably, she was invited and she believed she can be there. I cannot speak for her, anyway. She is mature; she has every right to use her discretion she does.
You organised the Freedom Walk with Atiku last Wednesday. Were the goals for organizing the rally achieved?
We thank God that the goals were achieved. What we planned to do was to sensitise our people and let them know that Atiku Abubakar is coming, that Atiku will be president of this country; that they should come out en masse and vote for PDP presidential candidate for the forthcoming election and we succeeded. We have scored ourselves and the people of Oyo State have scored us. I think our achievement, that day, was not less than 90 percent.
Is that walk enough? What more do you plan to do to convince the electorate to vote Atiku?
The next is to go for house-to-house campaigns, town hall meetings, room-to-room campaign, market-to-market campaign. Also, the principal himself and the presidential campaign council are coming to Ibadan, this month. We are preparing ahead that visit and a much more mammoth crowd will witness Atiku’s campaign in Oyo State.
Just like the governor took charge of proceedings from you the last time Atiku visited Ibadan, how would you ensure a similar situation happening again when Atiku visits?
I will still be okay because I believe the more the merrier. If genuinely the governor is with Atiku, it is good. He is the governor of the state and he is more or less the leader of the party in the state, according to principle, though it is not in the constitution of the party. We all appreciate and acknowledge that. If he has come in good faith, no problem.
There were chants of Atiku Atiku at the Makinde rally, what did you deduce from what happened that day?
That is to say that the people of Oyo State want Atiku; that is to tell you the love they have for the party and for our presidential candidate, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku; that is to tell the whole world that they love him.
Contrary to expectations, the G5 failed to declare their preferred presidential candidate at the Makinde rally. Why?
The G5 just can’t. Oyo State is not Rivers State. The people of Oyo State are very clever and they are all politicians. This is the political capital of Nigeria. If Oyo State sneezes, the whole country catches cold. If they had that plan, I am sure they changed that plan when they saw the whole Ibadan chanting, ‘Atiku’ ‘Atiku’.
But, they have promised to make good their word to disclose their presidential candidate, in coming days.
They cannot do anything. They are only trying to put everybody in some anxiety. It doesn’t work that way. For instance, they said they are all PDP and have not left PDP, and they have candidates who are vying for positions on PDP platform. They have candidates for Senate, House of Representatives, House of Assembly on the platform of the PDP. If they have these candidates, what are they talking about? And they have said they are not defecting from the party. The only thing I can do is to appeal to them to have a rethink because the earlier the better.
Do you think there are consequences for Makinde’s ambition should he fail to openly declare support for Atiku’s presidential bid?
I cannot preempt anybody but I said it during the Freedom Walk for Atiku that I cannot wait to see where Seyi Makinde will openly tell the people of Oyo State to vote for somebody else. He cannot say something like that or else he will see the other side of the electorate of Oyo State.
When you say, other side, what exactly do you mean?
I mean, people will definitely not agree and they will continue to express that displeasure. With due respect to the governors that came, it will be an insult. If you look at viral videos, you will see people telling the governors that whether they support Atiku or not, they will see the consequences. They are not politicians. That is not the best approach to seek redress in any political gathering where you have benefitted. It is not done that way. If they were given what they wanted, then, will they be saying something else? Certainly no. Nigerians have now seen their sentiments.
The G5 says it is fighting for fairness, justice and equity; they say key positions in the party should be shared between the North and South; they say it is unfair that you have both the presidential candidate and party chairman from the North.
What are they talking about? Since 1999, a Yoruba was president for eight years, part of South-South did it for about five years, how would you now say it is the turn of a southerner? In terms of geopolitical zoning, only the South-East and North-East have not produced president. Atiku is from the North-East; what are we now saying? Wike is from South-South, if he had got it then, will he be saying it is not their turn? They do not have a superior argument.
They are calling for resignation of the party chairman, Iyorchia Ayu.
Why must Ayu resign? Ayu was elected genuinely. He contested and won. Where did they get that one in the party constitution? He was elected for a four-year term. If he wishes to resign, that would be on his own volition. You can’t force him to resign. He has not been in charge of the party for any general election; why must he resign? If he resigns voluntarily, fine. It is like forcing them to resign as governors of their states.
With the G5 agitation, is this not a case of Atiku going into the election with a divided house?
With or without them, Atiku will win the presidential election.
In which geopolitical zones do you consider Atiku strong?
In this particular South-West, Atiku will get nothing less than three states. Forget about the North. Even in Rivers State, where Wike comes from, Atiku will get 25 percent. By God’s grace, Atiku will win.
Don’t you think the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, might poll an appreciable number of votes in the South-East and South-South, to affect the chances of other parties in those regions?
Obi is not as strong as that. Obi’s party is like a Third Force. People only know PDP and APC. Is there anyone elected on the platform of Labour Party in the National Assembly? They have no structure. If you look at it deeply, Obi is going no where.
In Oyo State, what is the percentage of votes that you think Atiku will have?
Atiku will not get less than 60 percent of votes in Oyo State.
What do you consider as threats to the second term bid of Governor Makinde?
The only threat he might have is that of his inconsistency. When you are in a party that brought you to power, and you are still fighting that particular structure that brought you into power. It is like biting the fingers that fed you. He did not win election on an independent platform; he won the election on the party platform yet, you are fighting that particular party that brought you into power. You don’t do that. You cannot fight the fingers that fed you and believe you would not see the repercussion. You were brought to power by coalition, by people of Oyo State, by people that matter and you don’t want to recognize those people. What do you stand to lose? What do you stand to gain?
Is it too late for him to address those threats to his reelection?
It is not.
What must he do?
He knows what to do. He should go and meet his people. He knows those he has offended. He knows those he has stepped on their toes. Within this little time, he can still do many things; he can still achieve many things, positively.
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