APC’ll come out of National Convention stronger, united —Aleshinloye

Ahead of the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Convention scheduled to hold on June 23, 2018, a member of the Media and Publicity Sub-Committee for the convention and chairman of Oluyole Local Government Area of Oyo State, Prince Ayodeji Abass Aleshinloye, speaks with MOSES ALAO on issues surrounding the convention, the disagreements within the party in many states and his plan for the local government.

Looking at the situation of things in the APC of recent, with cases of parallel congresses across states still being dragged, as a member of the Media Sub-Committee for the APC National Convention, don’t you exercise fear that things may not go as planned on June 23?

There is no fear at all. The convention will go as planned and it is going as planned. We are about to have the last stage of preparations and you would recall the position of the national leadership that parallel congresses, where held, will not be recognised. I think what we should be looking at is to see how the crisis arising from these are resolved amicably. These disagreements are not unexpected of a party like APC; they show the popularity of the party and show that the party is relevant, hence the agitation by everyone to belong. So, the crisis is not unexpected. And as I use to say, when we talk of being a good manager or knowing how to manage things; one will know a good manager when there is crisis. If you listened to the press conference addressed by the chairman of the Media and Publicity Sub-Committee and my boss, Governor Abiola Ajimobi, in which he said that the party has put in place a comprehensive mechanism to deal with the issues of parallel ward, local government and state congresses in line with the party’s constitution, you will agree that there is no cause for alarm as far as the National Convention is concerned. Like Senator Ajimobi said, we will emerge from the National Convention stronger as one big happy family.

You would also recall that there is the Senator Bola Tinubu committee that has been working of mediation and reconciliation within the party. And again, I have to say that the fact that people are having parallel congresses does not mean that the party has split; it shows that people are interested in being in the party.

But don’t you think the party will be shutting out a lot of members if those who held parallel congresses are not recognised?

No. Let me tell you, there are some states where some people who do not even have followers just wanted to show that they existed and went somewhere to say they had a parallel congress. The moment it is reported in the media, even when the mainstream of the party had its congresses attended by APC and INEC officials from Abuja, they will also be making claims to having held a parallel congress. There are cases like that. But having said that, it will still not stop the party hierarchy from bringing everyone under one umbrella and this process has already begun.

Are you making reference to Oyo State where the APC Unity Forum has been in a running battle with the state governor?

Yes. I can tell you that the Unity Forum in Oyo State; of course, you can mention a few people and say this one is a senator or former this and that, but try and go back to how things all started. They have different interests; some of them are aggrieved because they did not win local government primary, some are doing it because they want to become governor. But go to the local governments today; go to the party secretariats and you will see where the people belong. I can tell you one or two local governments where those who parade themselves as leaders of the Unity Forum are not in existence in the local governments.

But wait till we have the National Convention, you will know who held the right congress and who did not.

Is there any ongoing effort to reconcile the factions in the state?

There is always an ongoing effort to reconcile all sides and I am not talking about only Oyo State. I am talking about the party at the national level. There is an ongoing effort nationally to unite the party. Don’t forget that the president inaugurated the Senator Tinubu committee, which has been working and will continue to work: reconciliation is ongoing at any time. We will continue to reconcile, because politics is about having different opinions, different ideologies. So, there is a reconciliation process going on, not only in Oyo State. I can tell you that the APC will have a National Convention that is second to none in the history of the country. We will have a successful convention where all interests will be protected.

How true is the news that the national leadership of the party has set up a committee to reconcile and harmonise the APC executives in Oyo State?

As of now that you are asking, I have not heard about that. What I have heard, which everyone heard, was that no parallel congress would be recognised. But even if it is true that such committee has been set up; it goes to confirm what I have been telling you that reconciliation is ongoing. There is nothing bad in reconciling. We cannot wish anyone away; we are all in the same party. We cannot go it alone. So, it will be a welcome development. I know people in the Unity Forum who have been sending emissaries to the governor, trying to reach out to him and he has told us that he was ready to bring everyone on board so that we reconcile. So, reconciliation is not adhoc thing; it is ongoing all the time.

In the last few days, the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun withdrew from the race for the post while the National Convention Committee’s secretary, Senator Benjamin Uwajumogu, resigned his position, don’t you think this is bad publicity for the convention?

No. There is nothing to these issues you raised. The National Chairman said he withdrew from the re-contesting in the interest of the party. He said he is not interested in rerunning for the post but he is still part and parcel of the party. He even said he is only interested in how the party would have a successful convention. That is honourable enough. On the part of the convention committee secretary, he said he was not resigning from the party and that he remained a loyal member of the party. He said he resigned for personal reasons. So, the National Convention of the party is on track and it is going to be the best, most cohesive and most well-organised convention Nigerians have seen in a long time, because the APC like Governor Ajimobi said in his press conference, is committed to entrenching democratic principles and ideals and changing the narrative about politics and governance in Nigeria.