As the September 22 gubernatorial election draws near in Osun State, which kind of candidate is your party looking at for the next dispensation?
In the first instance, we want a candidate who will succeed the present governor Rauf Aregbesola to be one that will continue with the good works that he has been doing in this state. Looking at all the nooks and crannies of this state, there is nowhere you will not see his hand. He has touched lives in visible areas, and Osun is now better off. And anybody that will succeed him must be a hardworking and development-oriented person, so that the good work started will not stop. An example of what we want can be seen in Lagos State. People are saying Lagos is good today because when Tinubu started, there was continuity through Fashola and now through governor Ambode. We want that too, for everything to be going smoothly, not a situation where a governor will say this is not my own project and abandon ongoing works. So, we want someone that will succeed him to be one that will embrace continuity
There seems to be an agitation within Osun APC that it is time for the West to rule. Do you align with the clamour for zoning or you are one of those asking for capacity? Is zoning part of the state constitution?
Truly, people are clamouring that it is time for the Osun West Senatorial District to rule the state, but since the beginning of politics in this era, there has never been a time when the leaders have sat down to decide that they will zone leadership to a particular zone. Going by example, during the time late Isiaka Adeleke came in as governor from the west, though he spent little time, people from other zones contested with him; it wasn’t zoned to the west, When it came to the era of Baba Akande, nobody stopped the west or central from contesting. The fortunate aspect was that a candidate of choice emerged. This same situation applies to other parties, not only APC. Even PDP that is the main opposition did not limit their candidates to a particular zone; people come from different districts. By saying it is time for the west and no other zones should contest is wrong. It is nowhere in the constitution that it should be zoned to a particular area. In my opinion, it is a general thing that should be open to whoever wishes to contest, irrespective of senatorial district; and that is the situation now even in other parties.
The opposition claims your party has done nothing in Osun State and should not be given another chance to rule. What will you say about this?
They are liars and are only joking. These are things that are physical and cannot be hidden. Even people that are indigenes of Osogbo in particular and have been away from home for a while can attest to this. When they come home, they miss their way because things have changed. So anybody standing somewhere and saying that Aregbesola has not done anything and should not be allowed to come back to power as a party is only delusional and is a liar. They are not being realistic. People can come to Osun state and move round to see what is happening. It is a physical project that everyone that isn’t blind can see. In fact, people in town are ready to vote for APC because of what they can see, but in spite of this love, we as a party must be careful to present a candidate that will continue the good work the governor is doing. That is what people are even saying in town. They say they have tried APC and PDP and they can see what APC has done to transform the state.
What is the unique selling point of your party?
It is mainly development, infrastructure development and people-oriented programmes. But our party leaders should also try to ensure there is a free and fair primary election to select our candidate so that there will be no dissention and we can work as one. This will further stand us out.
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