In this interview by AKINWALE ABOLUWADE, the governorship candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Oyo State in the last elections, Mr Hakeem Alao, appraises the polls, vis-a-vis the complex electoral system.
As a contestant in the last general election, what is your assessment of the exercise?
As an eyewitness and active participant, my general assessment was that of satisfaction. Though, there were pockets of disappointments here and there like the issue of violence, snatching of ballot boxes and some other electoral vices, yet they were not enough to cast aspersion on the entire exercise. One can only appeal to all the relevant agencies to up their game and plug all the identified loopholes to make the exercise better next time. Another issue worthy of mention is the number of political parties. The number, to me, should be reduced to manageable size to save cost and man-hour.
Before the governorship election held in Oyo State, it became glaring that it would be a straight battle between two political parties yet you stood your ground and refused to join any of the coalitions, why?
I did not see it as a two-way battle the way you painted it. And, it was not necessarily so because the media painted it so. I went into it with everything it required. If I saw it as a contest just between two parties, I would not have committed myself into it that much. Now to your question, my sustaining power was nothing but my conviction and strong belief in my vision and mission for the state. From day one, I never set out just to make the number or to use the opportunity as a ladder for negotiation or bargaining for anything or position. I set out to contest election and win. Though I contested, I did not win and so, life continues. When people were making offers on which of the coalitions to align with, I just looked at them as people of mean consequences. I cannot be on the same page with people without character and principle.
Are you saying it is only by being the governor that one can serve his people?
Not necessarily so. Even, as a state governor, one cannot do it alone, which is why commissioners, advisers and other aides are appointed. However, individually, people are entitled to make different choices and, in this instance, the choice I made was to contest for the governorship position which I had done and for which I have no regret.
Fresh twist in Onnoghen’s trial, as star prosecution witness makes damning revelation
Your performance was adjudged low abysmally. Did it meet your expectations?
It did not, but I can say it with every emphasis that the results were not actually the reflections of the people’s choice as far as my party, the Alliance for Democracy (AD), was concerned. But I was not bothered because the contest was not a matter of life and death to me and it was partly because of that reason that the idea of aligning with either of the two coalitions did not attract me. As I told some of your colleagues during the campaign that my own brand of politics is not a professional one; I have a second address which is where I am heading to now. I was not idle when I came out to contest and nothing has changed.
You had earlier expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the elections. How come that you are now picking holes in the exercise?
I have not retracted my earlier submission and if you can still recollect, I did remark that there were pockets of disappointments here and there of which I listed some. I did not bother about the figures I was credited with in the election because I knew it was not enough to discredit the entire exercise and might not substantially alter the final result, so why making mountain out of a molehill? What is more? I do not subscribe to a typical Nigerian mentality of throwing away the baby with the bath water. Whatever problem I might have noticed was not induced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and it should not be made to carry the blame.
What accounted for the low performance of your party in the election?
The problem did not lie with the electoral agency as noted earlier but with some people who, out of desperation to deliver for their paymaster, hoodwinked our supporters, saying that I had overnight crossed over to their side and that they should not waste their votes but to cast it for them. That was aside another game of impersonation which they played by appointing party agents for AD from among the members of the party they collected money to work for. I was getting reports of all the malfeasances from the fields across the state and I had to, at a stage, appeal to my people who were fighting it out with them to leave the scenes. When people are desperate, there is no length they cannot go but, just like the former President Goodluck Jonathan said, no ambition is worth the blood of another person. In short, I might not have won, but not that I would score that low votes.
You sent a congratulatory message to the Oyo governor-elect. Does that signify your readiness to serve in the new administration, if invited?
Does it mean that everybody that has congratulated the governor-elect would serve in the new government? The answer is definitely no. I congratulated him as a matter of courtesy and civility. Anybody likes it or not, the governor-elect would serve the people of this state, including me, directly or indirectly for the next four years, by the grace of God and he deserves our well wishes so as to be able to serve well which was what I had done; no strings attached. I must add it that, politics apart, both myself and the governor-elect went to the same university and graduated from the same faculty, though not the same year and we had equally met on the field of business. So, even if only on those basis, he deserves my good wishes. By the way, don’t forget that I had earlier told you that I’m not jobless; my second address is there, waiting for me.
What are your expectations from the incoming administration in the state?
I don’t think my expectation will be different from those of the generality of the people of the state who voted for the governor-elect. What did the people want? Good governance and that is the expectation anywhere in the world, it has no duplicate. So, let the governor-elect give the people good governance and they will rejoice. Let him be focused and shun all forms of distractions. Like some of us did during the campaign, he moved round the state and saw things for himself; let him apply himself to the problems identified in the course of the campaign and take things in his stride. I wish him the very best.
What are your political plans for the future?
What it means to me lies in the belly of time. It is too early to start saying I will do this or I will do that. The future belongs to the Almighty Allah. As I said, I would be going back to my country of residence and start where I stopped as a professional. I have not retired as an engineer; I only came into politics to offer service and I felt it was not yet my time. When the time comes, Almighty Allah will lead and direct me accordingly.