Bolaji Ayorinde a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and the flag bearer of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) for the 2019 gubernatorial election in Oyo State, speaks with YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE on his campaign strategy, what his party will do differently and vote buying, among other issues.
Y OU continually say your party will not do money politics. Are you sure of success with this?
Yes, the SDP is a party founded on social justice, equity and good governance. You will agree with me that money politics cannot produce what I just listed. What is money politics? We are simply talking of vote buying. Vote buying is evil. We will not buy votes because anyone who does so is only buying the office of the governor as a commercial venture. We will run a campaign that is real; we will go to the people, knock on their doors and explain to them to vote their conscience. We shall appeal to them to vote for us because we are bringing sincerity to governance.
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How do you then intend to do it?
We shall be asking the electorate to choose between us and others who have jointly with their sponsors put our people in abject poverty despite the enormous resources at their disposal. We shall demystify government. Our administration will be people-oriented and all-inclusive. Government has become a drain on the people Residents and people of Oyo State have no business being poor or in want, as the state is blessed. We will be running a campaign of ideas and policies while we will reorder the priorities of government from a contract-happy one to one that focuses on the people.
Oyo State is not poor; we are suffering from leakages due to diversion of funds to wasteful ventures. Past governments have made finance and inability to pay workers’ salaries an issue of regret and pain for the people, particularly in the civil service. There is no rocket science in dealing with this. We shall reduce cost of governance and public procurement.
And you can block the alleged leakages?
Transparency shall be our hallmark. If we plug wastes and don’t indulge in grandiose projects, you will be surprised at how easy it will be to pay salaries. If there is no waste and corruption, the resources of the states, including internally generated revenue, will be sufficient for all. Transparency and integrity are hallmarks of leadership and that is what I am bringing on board.
Infrastructure development must be impactful on the people. We shall eradicate all slums in our cities. Innovatively, we shall form a partnership with local government and resident associations all over the state to tackle environmental issues across the state. It must be centred on agriculture; we will set up a strong cooperative movement to be managed by the farmers and open up farm roads. Governance is simple, it is simply about the people and individual community needs.
How do you want to convince the people on this ideology?
Well, like I said earlier, it is what our campaign is about. I reiterate that we shall run a campaign that is real. We will go to the people and knock on their doors and ask them to vote for their conscience. We shall appeal to them to vote for us because we are bringing sincerity to government. We rely on the media to enlighten the public not to sell their votes and mortgage the future of their children. We rely on you to educate the people not to sell their votes; to say no to vote buyers who cannot mean well for our people. Let us all be vigilant with our electoral agency, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the police, army, DSS and other security agencies. We all have a stake in the future of our state and country.
and then