[ad_1]
Dr. AbdulAzeez Olajide Adediran popularly called Jandor, the governorship candidate of Lagos State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), speaks on his chances and that of the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, among others in the forthcoming polls holding in the country, in this interview with BOLA BADMUS.
You have been campaigning all over the wards in the state for the governorship election, what has been your experience so far?
Because of our campaign strategy, we are visiting all the wards in Lagos State. For me, it is what I can call a total neglect of the inner Lagos and on the other hand, it is an excitement on the side of the people who are seeing for the first time someone who wants to be the governor visiting their homes. It has never happened before. And that gives them a promise for a better tomorrow. They are saying that if you can come this down, it shows you have an idea of what we are going through when you get to the office. Of course, the essence of doing that is for us to understand the state we want to govern to a certain level. It has been a mixed feeling of disappointment at the level of infrastructural decay and the standard of living of Lagosians and excitement on the part of the people who now see a promising and a better tomorrow.
You have been in the ruling party for a long time and APC has been ruling for the last 20 years and more. Was there any feeling or impression on your part that Lagos was not developed when you were in the party?
Absolutely! You know my being in APC for a very long time, until when we started this movement, I have never been appointed or elected before. I was there understudying what was really happening except one man decided to handpick somebody. You know in APC, you mustn’t have aspiration to want to hold a position. You just have to know somebody so that the person can forever be at his or her mercy, seeking second-level approval all the time and that has been hindering development in the state of Lagos and that is why we now realise that since 1999 till now, we only have one governor in Lagos. There is limitation to what every other person can do on his own. What Lagos4Lagos means is a breath of fresh air that for the first time we will have an independent governor in Lagos State.
And when we started our movement Lagos4Lagos within the APC, we came all out and we were very vocal. While we were there, we were not ready to put their popularity to test but ready for elective congress. They were saying they wanted to do harmonisation. Even if you want to do harmonisation, the law says you have to call everybody together, let us sit together and agree. But, if we now have a dissenting voice, it means there have to be an elective congress. And in their own case, they didn’t want to do that and we had parallel congress if you remember. After that, we decided we were done with them and then joined PDP and to the glory of God today, we are on the ballot.
You were not the first agitator within the party but you remained steadfast. But when you started your agitation, did you ever think you would leave the party eventually for lack of accommodation of your view?
Of course, we knew we were going to leave the party because it would amount to death penalty for the man in question to hand over the ticket of the party. I am sure you understand what I mean by that. He would never allow anybody who can think on his own and sleep and wake up to say yes I can do this. He would rather pick the person that would eternally be at his mercy. We carefully knew how it was going to end and we were determined to go all out for it so we had to do what we had to do. We decided that no matter what, we are not going to back down.
People are already thinking that given the situations of naira and fuel scarcity and insecurity in some parts of the country, that the election might end up being postponed. What do you think?
Well, I don’t think so because if you listen to the umpire [INEC] and all the major stakeholders that are going to be conducting this election, they have expressed their readiness for the elections. Also, the INEC has raised concerns before the CBN on the naira scarcity regarding payment of cash for their adhoc staff and CBN has given assurances that they would make it available. And INEC chairman has said that everything is fine and we are ready go for the elections. However, that is not to say that we won’t speak of the terrible policy of the APC government.
People have seen how they have been deliberately impoverishing us with their policy. And I am sure that they would do the needful the moment we get into that election. They know what it is. They can see the hardship. And I believe they have opportunity now in another 16 years to determine where they go from there.
What is your comment on the ruling of the Supreme Court over the cessation of old naira notes as legal tender as from February 10, 2023?
You see before I go to the Supreme Court ruling, it just worries me to see the governors of the ruling party who never deemed it necessary to approach the Supreme Court and compel NNPC to put an end to over five months or six months of fuel scarcity. The governors who never came together to approach the court to compel the Federal Government to end the ASUU strike by doing the needful. The same governors never for once came together in unison to say you know what, it is about time we compelled the security agencies and the Federal Government to put an end to insecurity in the country, especially the spate of kidnappings we are having in the country.
Suddenly, to now see them very vocal when it comes to this naira redesign and policy that will ensure that our election is devoid of vote buying and all of that baffles me. Undoubtedly, the people are feeling the hardship already. But, I believe that if CBN puts its house together, it will be able to ensure that there is enough money in circulation. Fifteen days’ sacrifice for me is not too much for all us to have a better Nigeria that we all clamour for. Why the sudden cry? Why are they the only ones crying? Is it because they are the ones who have stashed cash somewhere to use on election day? We are at it already. In the next 15 days, we will get to it. The umpire, security agencies, CBN and other relevant
agencies have come to say they are ready for the election. So, there is no point shifting the election. If you ask what do you need money for on an election day? On election day, everybody sits at home, go to their polling unit and return home.
Can we get your view on use BVAS. It was used in last exercise in Osun, it was applauded, but something else is happening now, and some people are already kicking against usage in the forthcoming polls. Do you still have confidence in BVAS?
If you see any politician who is opposing BVAS that we have today to ensure that we have a free, fair and credible election, then that speaks to the character of that individual. The gadget will help us prevent multiple voting and that speaks volumes to what I have been saying about anyone who cares to listen that the election we will have in Lagos State will be the first popularity test of the APC because they have never won an election at the polling units. We know it. Before now, they would have booklet to share for people to vote multiple times. The number of accredited voters in that polling unit is now known. This is going to be a real contest. That is why you see that they are very vocal. It is a law and that is what we are going to use. So, it speaks to their character. For us, we believe in BVAS, we believe in the electronic transfer of votes.
What are your chances in this election because some people keep saying where is Jandor coming from, who knows him and all that?
We are going to beat them hands down and you will see. Like I said to you, this is going to be their first popularity test. This is an unusual electioneering process for them. Again, look at their campaign strategy! It is just to gather somewhere, call their party members and call Wasiu Ayinde to play and they dance. In our own campaign strategy, we listen to voters by going to every ward. In every ward I go to, I sit with the league of Imams, CAN members, artisans and I campaign to them. These are the voters that will vote. How many of us are into politics compared to those that are not members of any party. They are the only ones you can see on the streets of Lagos doing billboards and posters. They instructed all billboard owners not to take anything from us. Whenever they see our posters, they would flush it, and that is the only thing they can do because they have done nothing in their four years. We are different because we have taken our campaign to the people and they are listening to us. They told us they have never seen someone who wants to be a governor coming to their locality before, that they only see them in the posters and sometimes in the television. They will tell you they have 390 something primary healthcare centres. But, I can tell you I have visited 193 wards as we speak. From that 193, I can tell you 106 have no PHCs. When you get there, you will see that people are giving births inside canoes. There are some places in Lagos that have not seen light for 16 years. This is the same Lagos that is making N51 billion monthly.
We can say the APC within the state is not united, same with PDP too regarding the fallout of the convention and primaries. People are saying this is going to affect Atiku and your chances in Lagos, more especially with the fact that Peter Obi has from PDP moved to Labour Party.
This is not true. Yes, Peter Obi’s movement is doing very well, especially in the South and where in the South? Lagos and probably Port Harcourt. If you look at that, that should ordinarily be a cash cow for a southern candidate. If Peter Obi is not in the race, it would have been an election that would be swept by this emi l’okan man who is from the South.
And when you now go to the North, we have two major contenders there. The other one- Kwankwaso is not doing as Peter Obi is doing in the South. In the election in Lagos State, it is even likely they (APC) will come a distant third and it will be so shocking. Even if we have never had this technological-driven election, they have never won really. I usually say that Sanwo-Olu is not a politician. They will lose at polling unit and change it elsewhere. We know it. Look at Sanwo-Olu! Few people in my local government would go to him, he would give positions to them just to make sure he wins Ojo, Amuwo and others. And that tells you he is not a politician. When APC was together, we have never defeated the PDP, let alone now that we have split. There are some places you would see and say oh no this place is gone. When we were together, we have never won Badagry, Ojo, Amuwo, Ajeromi. It has always been a PDP zone. And then Atiku is going to win this election.
What is your view on trending news that INEC has given MC Oluomo the opportunity to transport electoral materials for distribution?
You see over the years, INEC has been relating with NURTW to move logistics on election day. Unfortunately, the Lagos State Parks and Garages has shown itself to be partisan and everybody can see it and it does not make any sense that it is this same man that is going to oversee the logistics. There are lots of logistics companies out there. Well, I see the Lagos REC to be a biased person from day one from voter registration to collection of PVCs up until this moment. We have NURTW in Lagos and they are still working. Now, these ones that call themselves parks and garages people are not union members but government appointees. How many buses does Oluomo have? It is unacceptable for us. We have heard it and we are working seriously on it.
You have made a lot of promises to Lagosians that you will get certain things done when you are elected, as it is common for politicians seeking office to make promises but fail to fulfill them when they get elected…
Well, that may be the experience some holders of public offices might have had and have found it difficult to implement their programmes. I do not envisage any force that will prevent me from fulfilling promise made to the electorate.
Again, talking about the chance of your presidential candidate, don’t you think the role of the G-5 governors might mar it?
I am a politician and I think I learnt and graduated from the school of politics. So, I understand the nitty-gritty of this game very well. Within our party when the issue of zoning was raised, Atiku Abubakar did not object to zoning. As a matter of fact, he said if you have to zone to the South, you have to micro-zone to the South-East. And for those in the South who want to be president, it is either we micro-zone to the South or we open it. And they decided, let us open it. Ortom was the chairman of this thing. Atiku won thereafter. That is the zoning arrangement.
Let us talk about the G-5. The G-5 members are politicians. They know that they cannot pronounce another presidential candidate. It will amount to death penalty for them to do that. You know why? It is because they have stake in Atiku’s election. Three of them are running for Senate, namely Ortom, Ikpeazu and Ugwuanyi. Seyi Makinde is running for governorship. Wike has a candidate that he gave ticket to for governorship. So, how do you explain to voters majority of whom are illiterates to say when you get the first ballot paper, don’t vote for PDP. They know this and that is why they can never announce another person for presidential candidate aside from Atiku Abubakar or say vote for PDP?
On the flip side, the man who would say he is enjoying the support of the northern governors around him may know what he is talking about. Because you are not a politician, you might not see what we are seeing. I can tell you it is very unlike second term northern politicians not to have a senatorial ambition. El-rufai is not going for Senate. Ganduje is not going to the Senate. Badaru is not going for Senate. Same as Bagudu. And these are second term governors. This is very unlikely. This means that they do not have stake in that Tinubu’s election. This means that you will see what they are going to do in the eleventh hour. Northerners don’t have political party. Their region is their political party. During our convention, when Tambuwal saw where it was going, he had to withdraw.
Top on the agenda of Atiku is restructuring. Are you convinced he would implement it if voted into office?
I am very sure he will restructure Nigeria because he is not coming into office with baggage. There will be state police; every Nigerian wants a better country. That is what everybody is canvassing for.
[ad_2]
