APC is fully prepared for Ekiti gov election —Hon Fatoba, Ekiti Central 1 Rep

The member representing Ado Ekiti/Irepodun/Ifelodun Federal Constituency of Ekiti State, Hon Olusola Fatoba, in this interview by SAM NWAOKO speaks on issues relating to his representation of the constituency, his political party and the coming election in Ekiti State. Excerpts:

The President withheld his assent to the electoral law which the National Assembly passed. Nigerians are saying that despite some flaws he noted with bills like the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and even the 2022 Budget, the president assented to them. Why has he not accorded the electoral act amendment the same treatment?

As far as I’m concerned, I’m in total support of the president withholding assent to the bill as passed by the National Assembly. The electoral bill amendment cannot be compared to the PIB or the budget. There are loads of differences. The electoral bill will determine a lot of things I this country. It would determine a whole lot of things about governance and about who becomes what in this country, which is very germane. So, it is not something anyone of us should take with levity. I am not in support of injecting the clause of direct primary clause for every political party. There should be an option. If you have indirect, there should have been direct. You could even add more options including that of independent candidature. That is my own take. So, I am not in support of the direct primary option.

There are more to the electoral act amendment bill than just the direct primary conundrum. Should we discard the bill because of that one item alone?

Some of the things in the bill are not tampered with, like the budget for INEC. So, whatever INEC is asking for would be given. Another area of the bill that is causing some level of concern is the electronic transmission of results. I am also not in support of that. My reason is because advanced democracies, precisely the United States which is acclaimed as our democratic model, there were lots of allegations that their election results transmitted electronically were tampered with and manipulated by Russians. If the US electoral system can be tampered with at its level of infrastructural development, what would be the case of Nigeria that is just trying to come up?

When you were contesting to represent Ekiti Central federal Constituency I in the House of Representatives, you had some things in mind. What would you say are the differences between what you had in mind and what you have encountered so far in the House?

When I was running for the House of Representatives, I had a lot of good plans for my people to ensure that I made a lot of good laws that would positively impact my people. I also had plans to attract good development to my people and to my state. It was also my plan to bring about good laws that would revolutionalise areas of unemployment and infrastructure in the country. I also had it in mind to do something to bring freedom and security to every part of the country. But on getting to the House, the way we thought that things were easy is not the way we met it.

What are those things you can readily highlight as holding the country down from your experience as a member of the National Assembly?

If our constitution is properly implemented, I believe that we have good laws that can take this country to the Eldorado we are looking at. A lot of bills and motions are being passed on each business day at the National Assembly but the implementation of all these bills and motions is the problem we have as a country. The quality implementation of bills and motions is lacking and I think that until we work on that, most especially the executive arm of government which is expected to implement some of these laws and policies, if they can be on their toes and do what is expected of them, I believe the country would be a better place to live for each and everybody.

Despite these challenges and poor implementation of our laws and motions, what have you been able to do to make life easier for your constituents?

Members of my constituency can attest to the fact that the little time I’ve spent in the National Assembly has been of a great benefit to them. Beyond boasting, many of them are saying that they never knew that some of the benefits that had come their way were available and that it had been far better compared to anything they had witnessed since 1999. I have attracted a lot of projects and a lot of constituency projects have been executed and it they are there for them to see.

I think a combination of factors have helped me in making a difference in my little time in the National Assembly. A good rapport with the leadership of the House to ensure that whatever I’m doing at the House is primarily for the benefit of my people is a factor. I found that the budget has always been there, but perhaps, my predecessors from the constituency might not have managed the budget very well. I have ensured that I bring physical projects which the people would be enjoying even after you might have left the office. I believe everybody in my constituency is happy with that and they are happy with me for bringing such projects.

Coming home to Ekiti State, it is an election year. On June 18 a new governor of the state is expected to emerge. How prepared is your party All Progressives Congress (APC)?

Our party is fully prepared. The desire of an average Ekiti citizen now is that they want continuity. They have realised that it is when there is continuity that the kind of development they are yearning for would be accomplished. We had been doing ‘turn-by-turn’ in the time past and it is not taking the state anywhere. Compare Ekiti State with its peers, I think Ekiti is one of the least developed states. If not for what the current government in the state under Dr John Kayode Fayemi is doing, which is bringing the state out of the woods, we would still have been so backward. I strongly believe that with continuity we would get there and we cannot get there without having a kind of consistent and continuous system. So, our party is well prepared and come June 2022, the Ekiti people would troop out en mass to vote for our party which is APC.

Are you one of those eyeing the governorship of the state?

Not at all, but I have interest in one of the aspirants. We believe he is the one God will give the mantle of leadership of the state come 2022.

Ekiti South district has been clamouring for the governorship of the state. They have also raised their voice this time round to call for the support of the other districts of the state. What do you make of their agitation? Do you support it?

Ekiti has always been one and it will continue to be one indivisible entity. Turn-by-turn of a thing or zoning might be good but we should look more at the need for the development of the state. That should be paramount to any patriotic citizen of Ekiti State and indeed any state in Nigeria. What if we resort to turn-by-turn and it happens that the person thrown up is not competent enough to run the state effectively and put it on the path of development? We need to sustain the development that has started in the state. Anybody can come from anywhere. Why are Ado Ekiti people not talking of being cheated? As the state capital, since inception, no Ado indigene has ever emerged as the governor. None has even been given the chance to run for the governorship. We too as Ado people can say ‘we have the population’, but we don’t do that. Anywhere a person might come from, so long as the person is competent and can deliver irrespective of the area or district he is coming from, that is what matters.

This appears to be your contention for the national election too, as the nation is gearing up for a general election in the near future?

The way presidential election is arranged is a bit different. Some of the political parties have rotation in their constitution, so we cannot take that away from them. In the APC, although it is not written, it is written in the heart of every member. They know that come so or so time or turn, it is going to so or so place. Now the presidency has been zoned to the southern part of the country, it could be South South, it could be South East, it could be South West. That is that as far as our part is concerned. In Ekiti, there may be an understanding that it should go to the South, but this time round, the leadership of the party will decide what they want. As a loyal party person there is nothing you could do other than to support whoever your party is fielding, knowing well that that person is capable, competent and  experienced enough to continue the good work that is started by the current government in the state.

Should we take that as a piece of advice to the people of the state and your party loyalists?

It is my honest advice to continue to support our government both at the federal and state levels, and to continue having that trust and belief in our governor, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi. They should also trust me whom they have sent to go and represent them at the National Assembly and support me and the governor. By so doing, we will continue to do more.