African Democratic Congress (ADC) senatorial candidate for Oyo North and former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Oyo State between 1999 and 2003, Chief Bayo Lawal, spoke on the neglect of Oyo North by the state government, what electorate should look for in political aspirants and the bastardisation of electoral process by political parties. LANRE AKINMOLADUN sums up the excerpts.
Why the interest in Oyo North senatorial seat?
There are many reasons why I volunteered to contest for the senatorial seat under the banner of African Democratic Congress (ADC). Oyo North is one senatorial district that is most backward, vilified and most taken for granted. For these reasons, it is incumbent on us to come out and fight for the people of the senatorial district. To tell the powers that be that Oyo North senatorial district must be reckoned with, listen to and be appreciated at federal and state levels.
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Certain things are lacking in Oyo North which happens to be one of the largest senatorial zones in the country. It consists of 13 local governments with three in Ogbomoso zone and 10 in Oke Ogun. The zone lacks institutions of higher learning, good healthcare centres, electricity, with large unemployment ratio, empowerment and industrialisation. We have Ikere Dam unattended to and the International Market in Saki abandoned and wasting away. If you have travelled to the nooks and crannies of the zone, you will see that the road network is nothing to write about due to neglect by the state government over the years.
In the last eight years of APC administration, attention has not been paid to Oyo North senatorial road network. The only roads constructed by the Governor Abiola Ajimobi-led government in the zone are the Iseyin to Iseyin road, Ogbomoso to Ogbomoso road and the Saki to Saki road being constructed. That is the way I can describe them. Road that starts from Iseyin and ends in Iseyin. The length of each is even not up to five kilometres and if you add them together, they total about 15-kilometre roads constructed in eight years of APC administration in Oyo North. No one should be proud of that abysmal performance.
If you look at employment generation, it is zero. It has degenerated to a level that youths roam the streets because no attention is paid to employment generation by the government. This portends security threat in the future. Those are the things we saw, which informed my decision to come out and salvage my senatorial district through quality representation.
How would you score the state government in terms of development in Oyo North?
If I were to assess Governor Ajimobi-led administration viz-a-viz performance in Oyo North, I will give it 10 per cent just because of the Iseyin to Iseyin and Ogbomoso to Ogbomoso road construction. The zone has not been properly recognised by the government.
ADC appears new in Oyo State, so why the issues on candidature?
Having issues to resolve within political parties is not strange, especially parties that have the prospect of winning election. Mind you, ADC has a high prospect of winning election and so the competition is keen for the platform. In the just concluded primaries, we have 13 gubernatorial aspirants; the highest in the primaries conducted by political parties in the state. For senatorial seats, we have about 12 aspirants, House of Representatives 55, and 14 will emerge as candidates and for the state House of Assembly, we have 155, and only 32 will be elected. So, you can see from the competition that ADC is a viable political platform and so you cannot but have pocket of crises. But these are internal issues which the leadership of the party is looking into.
How will ADC being a new political party tangle with APC and PDP financially, considering the fact that money plays a dominant role in the country’s politics?
Since this republic started, money has been a dominant factor in politics. But mind you, in 1999, PDP got a lot of money comparatively but at the end of the day, Alliance for Democracy (AD) won the election in Oyo State. AD capitalised on its goodwill and the credibility of its candidate, Late Alhaji Lam Adesina though from a humble background defeated the then PDP governorship candidate who had much money. What is important is for people to appreciate the goodwill and pedigree of each candidate.
I know the candidates of ADC were carefully elected to contest in the 2019 elections. In terms of qualifications, exposure, experience and what they have to offer, they are the type that will win elections anytime any day. Some of them have held political offices with shinning record of performance. They are not greenhorns in politics like in some political parties. Some people want to be governor while they have not held any political office or contested and won any election. All they are just trying to put into political arena is money.
If people voted based on money, the individuals that put money on the table will first recoup their money, even with profits because to them politics is an investment. In the progressive fold, starting from Chief Awolowo, elections are not won simply because a candidate has money. They look at your pedigree. Late Chief Bola Ige and Lam Adesina won elections not because they had money but because of their pedigrees and what they had to offer the electorate.
Don’t also forget that by Electoral Act, the issue of monetisation of electoral process has been dealt with. People should ensure that their votes are not bought by moneybags. Looking at the cases of Ekiti and Osun states governorship election, it is unfortunate that APC and PDP have bastardised the electoral process in the country.
What is ADC going to do differently if given a chance in Oyo State?
We have gone into research and we know that as progressives, there are some basic things of life that must attract the attention of government. They include quality education, healthcare delivery, infrastructure such as roads, security, employment and opportunity for people to actualise their God-given potentials. The state will go back to the era of Chief Awolowo when the clamour was ‘more life aboundant.’ Everybody will be happy.
and then