Human rights activist and lawyer, Femi Oniyide, speaks to DARE ADEKANMBI on the import of the Court of Appeal judgment on Ogun Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) guber candidacy, rates the chances of the party, among other issues.
The judgment of the Court of Appeal on Ogun PDP primary and the nomination process has generated so much controversy. What do you think account for this?
There is no controversy whatsoever. It is [Chief] SegunSowunmi who is making a self-declaration of in his own imagination as the governorship candidate of the PDP in Ogun State. What he asked for right from the High Court in Abeokuta and the Appeal Court was simply that as aspirant like himself, HonourableLadiAdebutu, has an issue because he allegedly said on a radio station that his nomination forms were bought for him by the executives of the party. That was what he went to court for. He also prayed that the primary should not hold and if it is going to hold, the whole executive committee of the PDP in the state, from ward to the state, should be dissolved. The state High Court, without looking at the case, threw it away. I have the certified true copy of the judgment which was what I spoke to at a press conference I addressed in Abeokuta on Thursday. The state court said it would not be able to entertain the case because it is a pre-election matter and that the necessary parties, that is the executives who could be affected by the outcome of the case, were not joined in the suit. He only sued the PDP, the NWC and HonourableAdebutu.
A supposed democrat is asking that duly elected executives in the 236 wards and up to the state level and a three-member ad-hoc delegates should be appointed by the NWC of the party to replace them. The fact that he did not join the executives is one of the reasons his case was thrown out. The court also said as a pre-election matter, only Federal High Court can hear it because it is a technical issue. On all these points, the court threw out the case without looking at it and that was the basis on which he went to the Court of Appeal that his matter should be heard.
The Appeal Court in its judgment, on pages 27 and 28, even said the court of first instance was right at the level of saying the court will not look into internal affairs of political parties, that court can’t run the affairs of the party for the members. The Appeal Court even said at that level, the lower court should have thrown the matter away and should not have got to the level of requiring joinders or not. The Appeal Court emphatically said it was not a pre-election matter and that the lower court could hear it and on this basis, the ground of appeal which relates to the matter being a pre-election matter succeeded. It was on the basis of this that he went to town to say he has been declared the governorship candidate of the party. But there was nothing like that in the 39-page judgment. He even didn’t ask for anything like that in his suit, even at the High Court, no such request was made by him. As of the time he filed the suit, no primary election had taken place. So, how would a court declare him a winner in a matter where no election had been held at all? No court is a Father Christmas as to give someone a demand they have not asked for. You must ask for something before you will be given. At the state High Court, he never asked for it and ditto for the Appeal Court. So, how come he will be awarded something he did not ask for? The implication of the judgment of the higher court is that the state High Court can re-hear his case and does not in any way make him the candidate of the PDP. He did not even participate in the primary election. So, he is the one who has that figment of imagination that he has been declared the governorship candidate of the PDP.
Has he notified the other party that he is taking the case back to the High Court for re-hearing?
He has not notified the other party. Maybe he would have served them today, I don’t know and I don’t know the basis for which he will take the matter back to court. He went to court to ask that primary election should be held with the ad-hoc delegates and not the executives of the party. He went to court before the primary election which has since been held. The party has already done the primary and a candidate has emerged. So, I don’t know what he will be taking to court now. So, it is on him.
Are you saying even if he goes back to court, the matter won’t pose any threat to Adebutu’s candidacy since, as they say in law, the res has been destroyed?
Exactly, the res has been destroyed and so what is he going back to court for? And if he wants to go back to court, let us see what the court will tell him. The primary election has taken place and HonourableAdebutu has since emerged the candidate of the party.
When will peace return to Ogun PDP? After the second term of Chief Gbenga Daniel, the crisis that engulfed the party is yet to abate, even with the demise of Senator Buruji Kashamu.
The crisis then during the second term of Chief Daniel in whose government I served for about 10 months and with my involvement in the Gboyega Nasir Isiaka campaign then before [the issue of] Kashamu was with dealing with very big fishes. We had former President OlusegunObasanjo and Kashamu who were big guns. But Baba Obasanjo had since left the party by tearing his membership card. Then later, Kashamu himself was on, but before his death (may his soul rest in peace), he said he was ready to support Adebutu to be governor. There was a viral audio-visual where he begged Ladi’s father that they should work together to make Ladi the governor. But the Almighty in His infinite mercies called him home.
But those who are trying to create confusion in the party now are our friends. You can’t compare Sowunmi to Kashamu or any other person. The truth is that all hitherto factions in the party have come together. Sowunmi does not even have a faction in the party. He is a personal friend of mine. He was given the House of Representatives ticket for Abeokuta South or so, he could not win. So, what are we talking about? Because he was once the spokesperson for former Vice-President, Atiku, can he dictate to the whole of Ogun State PDP? He is no issue in Ogun politics. He is a very fine orator, brilliant man, but politically, he is a featherweight.
Politics is a number game which is why they say the more, the merrier. Ogun PDP needs people like him, even if because of the attributes you pointed he has. Why can’t the party leadership reach out to him?
The other party is really reaching out to him. I have even decided that by tomorrow [Friday], I should be talking to him myself. He is on the general PDP platform and he comes to talk and raises issues there. So, it is an in-house matter and you know this is democracy and not a zombie world. In a democracy, you have different people jostling for space and you would think there is brouhaha, but there is really nothing like that. People are only jostling for space. We are going to settle it. Sowunmi is a very reasonable man and I believe when he sees there is no way forward, he will drop the fight.
Does PDP stand a good chance in Ogun where the governor is being supported by two former governors of the state, Daniel and Chief Segun Osoba in the APC?
I disagree with you. I give all political honour and respect to those you mentioned. I was part of Chief Osoba’s team when he lost to Chief Daniel in 2003 and I also had the opportunity to work with OGD for about 10 months. These are political juggernauts. But APC as a party both in Ogun and at the federal level has really not done anything. Nothing is on the ground. Thank God that with BIVAS, people’s votes will really count this time round. The people of Ogun State are angry. As I am talking to you, I am on the Abeokuta to Lagos road at Sango Otta area. The road is horrible and there is always a terrible [traffic] every time. One lane is being used as two. There is virtually nobody working on one part of the road. Look at the level of hunger in the land. We know because we have done our research and have seen that nobody really wants APC again. With Chief Osoba and OGD, Ogun people will decide their next governor. The most beautiful thing in it all is that votes are going to count. This is the greatest chance that Ogun PDP could ever have after the tenure of OGD. You saw what happened in Osun State. It will definitely be much more than that in Ogun State where people are strongly yearning for good governance. When Governor DapoAbiodun saw what happened in Osun, he has been running helter skelter, calling ward meetings and all kinds of meetings. But the roads are still not being done. Issues of governance are not being addressed. So, what are we talking about? Is it OGD that will feed the people? Is it Chief Osoba? They have done their tenure and have left. Ogun people are really angry and they want a new fish in the water of the state. Ogun PDP is not afraid and I don’t think anybody should be afraid.
What then makes you think Honourable Adebutu is the new fish you claimed the people of Ogun State are yearning for?
We have gone around and seen he is the only capable person for now that can take over from the governor. As an activist, I believe in one thing. If we vote in somebody now and by four years people don’t see good governance, we will remove him. Thank God votes now count. I don’t believe anybody can stay in office and will not do well and expect people to re-elect him.
Both the APC and the PDP guber candidates are from Iperu in Ikenne Local Government Area of the state in the Remo division. Don’t also forget that OGD was governor from Remo too. So, there are those who say the current governor might be allowed another four years instead of allowing another person from his town to start afresh and be demanding a second term…
I will answer you with just one sentence which will be in form of a question. Does hunger tell you to wait for four years? People are hungry and not looking at those permutations. They want a new day. We want to bask in the sun once again in Ogun State.
When you said people are hungry, is Adebutu going to do Operation Feed Ogun people if he becomes governor?
It is about opening up the space and when the space is opened up and a government can think outside the box, then the people will prosper. Governance is not about moving about in flowing Babariga. Good governance is a function of people who can think being in government. We need thinkers who can open up the space. In situations of third world countries, it is government that can open up the space. Let there be security, good roads down to the farms. The farm settlements created by Chief ObafemiAwolowo are there abandoned. There is one in Ado Odo that has been abandoned. Why can’t we go back to the farms? We will not feed ourselves? Will the youths not go to work? These are some of the things we have to look at.
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