Dep gov must resign his office as the ticket belongs to APC —Adetimehin

The chairman of All Progressives Congress, (APC) in Ondo State, Mr Ade Adetimehin, in this interview with HAKEEM GBADAMOSI, speaks about the activities of the party ahead its primary election.

THE party’s primary is coming up soon. How prepared are you for the primary?

Well, the APC primary will come and go but from your question, we are fully prepared. And you know that since inception of this APC-led government in the state, APC has been waxing strong. People come into the party on a daily basis. I can say this without mincing words that from the 203 wards across the state, the APC presence is being felt. We have 3,009 polling units and the same thing is happening. That gives you impression that the party is on the ground across the length and breadth of the state. As per preparation, meetings are going on in all the wards.

Considering the number of aspirants to partake in the primary, is there any plan to trim down the number ahead of the primary or pick a consensus candidate like it was done in Edo State.

Well, as for the number of aspirants within APC, it is normal. Before the APC came on board as a ruling party four years ago, more than 27 aspirants jostled for that position but today, they are not up to 10 from my record and that shows that the party is a popular party. If a political party is not popular, nobody will jostle for its ticket. That shows the party is a good organisation that can be used to fly aspirations and that is what is happening. And there is synergy among them and I can assure you that the party will give them level playing field that everybody will know that nobody is blocking them. After the primary, the party will get stronger.

Then, either you call it a consensus or a primary, there is still going to be affirmation as contained in the constitution. The one you referred to in Edo, a lot of people stepped down for the leading aspirant, but they still conducted primary and did affirmation. As for Ondo, I think it is good for every aspirant to show their popularity. There is nothing bad in that, but you must bear it in mind that the party is bigger than individuals.  You must guide your party jealously. Otherwise, other political parties may capitalise on that and take away your victory. But all the aspirants within the APC as of today are men and women of integrity and they are party people to the core. I know that after the primary, we will all come together to join hands to win the October election.

Do you see some of the party’s aspirants leaving the party after losing the ticket? Some left during the last gubernatorial primary of the party.

I don’t think such can repeat itself because we have learnt our lesson. Now we are more mature, better positioned than the other time. And I can assure you that after the primary, we will all come together and work for whoever wins the primary.  Whenever progressives govern this state, there is peace and you have progress in terms of infrastructural development, education and health. You always count this state as number one in the country. What we are witnessing in the last three years has been development. You can count the numbers of road that this administration has done. Take Akure for example, the total number of roads constructed within these three years are more than what we have for over 10 years of the previous administrations. Hospital road to Ijoka road, Gaga road, Abusoro road, Oda road just mention a few. Go to my town, Idanre. Since, I was born it was only one road that led to the town but now there are alternative roads. This is a thing of joy. All these things are happening across the state. Let talk of industrialisation, we have never had it so good like this. The last time we have this was during Adekunle Ajasin era when we had Ile Oluji industry,  Irowi, Premier and others. But now, go to Ore, you can more five giant industries erected in Ondo/Linyn industrial hub. There, they make clothes, cassava to ethanol, plywood and and so on. See our primary schools, no town that has not been touched by SUBEB. Ondo SUBEB has touched virtually all primary schools across the state and brought them to good standard and provided necessary facilities. These are things we will use to campaign, that our party is doing well and as a person, I am happy that I’m part of the success.

Recently, the deputy governor left APC fold and refused to resign his position,  don’t you see this as a minus for your party?

For me, it is a sad development. Why is it saddening? When we were in the trenches, this young man promised that we would be together. Having left us today, I can assure you that the party is not shaken. Our party is incomparable with others. Like symbol of our party, broom, you know in Yoruba adage it is said “bi esinsin se l’agbara to, igbale loko e,” (meaning a broom is more powerful than thousands of flies). The way we use broom to kill flies, that is how APC is to other parties. But before he left, a lot of PDP members had joined our party. People like Olabisi Johnson. If you mention PDP in this state, O.J is one of the people to be reckoned with. If you go to Ifedore, Babatunde Komolafe with other people has joined APC. Another person there is Sapetu in Ijare. These are people with integrity. The pioneer chairman of PDP in the state, very reverred leader, Col Awodeyi (retd) has joined APC even the former deputy governor in the state, Lasisi Oluboyo, has joined the APC. Big politicians too numerous to mention have joined our party.

Out of the 23 members of the state House of Assembly we met when we came on board, who were PDP about 12 of them have joined us now.  These are signs that the party is waxing strong and is healthy. So, I don’t think we will miss him. But we have said it that it is normal and for his own fundamental human rights if he decides to leave APC, but he must leave honourably.  Since he has resigned from APC, he must equally resign the office of the deputy governor because that ticket belongs to APC. It is not a joint ticket between APC and PDP. It is clearly stated in our constitution. It is a ticket on the platform of APC. We have told him that he is a comrade in APC, but leaving, should not go with our property. He must drop all our belongings. We wish him well in his future endeavours and if he still decides to come back, we will absorb him with open hands because our party is a party of principles, ideology and integrity. Those are the things that are guiding us.

Like myself, since I joined politics, I have never derailed nor left the progressive camp. It is inborn in me for I don’t believe in ‘chop and chop’ politics. You must have a purpose before you join politics and you can’t find it rosy all the time. Even life itself is full obstacles. You must wait for your time. Everybody has his own time. Like the interview we are doing now, if God does not ordain it, it may be. Either I’m not available or you have another assignment to cover. Wait for your time, that is the only way you can have peace in your mind.

Although APC has been calling for his resignation, he has refused to resign. Are you not bothered about this?

We are not bothered. He never told us that he would not resign. We have sent him a letter to that effect, that the onus is on him to give us back what he owes us. It is not a joint ticket between PDP and APC. Their ideology is different from ours. And I have told you that in APC, we worship integrity and honesty as our core values. People are saying that he is not going to resign, but I know that he will not do that. He is somebody that is very close to me. I know him, he is a man that will do the needful. He will resign .

The deputy governor is also jostling for the PDP guber ticket. What do you think will happen if he is picked as the PDP standard-bearer?

That question will be answered in two folds. One, I don’t know the workings of PDP. I have never been in PDP since I joined politics. If they pick him, good luck to them. But I can assure you that any candidate picked in PDP to face APC candidate, the election will be a walkover for the APC. I have told you that in APC-led government, we are proud to showcase our achievements.  And again, all aspirants in APC are men and women of integrity that have the capacity to govern the state. These are people who have credentials to showcase and have served in various endeavours. In public life, they have done the state proud; in private life, they have done the state proud. So, we have confidence in all our aspirants.

As the chairman of the party in the state, what are you doing to bring the aggrieved members of the Unity Group to the mainstream? Its members too want to contest for the ticket.

Well, you said it. Unity Group, not unity party. In a bigger political party like this, you can have small groups, but the only thing is that the party must not allow the small or splinter groups to derail it. That is the only thing that can cause friction between them. I have said it on several occasions that this type of thing is alien to Ondo State. It is only in Lagos State that we heard of that. You have Unity Group, Mandate Group and so on in Lagos APC. I want to quickly remind you that about three weeks ago, the party in Lagos State banned all these groups because they are not registered. The only thing recognised by law is APC and God in His infinite mercies gave me mandate to head it in Ondo state and I can tell you that we are doing well.

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