PDP must avoid unknown candidate to win Osun —Akinbade

FORMER Secretary to the Osun State Government (SSG), Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, was the second state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former commissioner for works. In this interview by KUNLE ODEREMI, he speaks on how the main opposition party can regain power in the state, basis for his fresh bid for the PDP governorship ticket.

You have consistently run for the governorship over the years. Why are you taking a plunge again?

My consistency is based on my vision for Osun State. I pray that God will help me to deliver it because I have been on it for a very long time and at no point in time have I been discouraged.

Certain challenges must have encumbered your aspiration in the past. Are you saying they longer exist?

They are still there but the situation is better now. What I meant by obstacle is that we have been deceived a lot in the past, and so many have come to the corridors of power and gone. And the people have seen their lack of capacity and vision.  For the period I had in government in the past, I was able to contribute my own quota to the economic growth and development of the state. People have seen what I am capable of achieving if I am given the opportunity to govern the state. And, for the first time, people, especially politicians are saying this time round, it is not about money politics; it is a matter of what you are capable of doing to take the state to higher heights; that it must be about ideas, as ideas rule the world. The questions now are: how many lives have you touched positively? What role have you played in making sure life is more meaningful to the vast majority of our people?

As a former Secretary to the State Government, can you confirm things were better during the period you served?

It was by far better. There are many indices to confirm it. Imagine what is happening in all sectors of government today vis-a-vis what happened in the past; you will discover a lot of disparities; just mention any area of governance. Nothing is happening in agriculture. We procured tractors then to assist farmers and we provided other forms of incentives towards boosting agriculture. Nothing has been added to that effort in the last 11 years. In the sector, every month we procured drugs for all the health centres. The records are there and since we left office, nothing has been added to sustain the achievements. In education, teachers were being paid regularly and they were sufficient in all cadres, including primary, secondary and tertiary institutions; all these things are longer there.

During our tenure, the local government system functioned very well. But today, nothing is happening at that level of government, the closest government to the people, due to funding. And things are not the way they should be even in the state civil service.

What are those factors that should determine who picks PDP ticket this time if it must win the election?

One, every major stakeholder in the party should be carried along in the process that will produce the candidate of the party. Two, the capacity and vision of each and every one of us should be paramount; what you can offer is very important. Some of us grew up in the system and know where the shoe pinches. People have made their marks in their professional careers. Others have retired and now want to be governor. I have been tried, tested and found to be honest and transparent. So, I can be trusted with the mandate of the people. People know where I come from; they know my background and records either in private or public life. I had my humble beginning from the state. I had my education in the state; I have spent my political life in Osun State because if you have been a public officer without a blemish, then you can be trusted. I have served as a commissioner for works. Imagine how critical and demanding that office is! It has enormous challenges. I served three military administrators in the same capacity. Each retained me in that capacity even when other commissioners in the cabinet were dropped. After the tenure of those administrators, there was no time I was asked to come and answer any query. It is one ministry in government that is subjected to serious public scrutiny.

Later, I became the state chairman of the PDP and it was when we had one member in the state House of Assembly. He was from my local government cum constituency. It is to the Glory of God that when I became the PDP state chairman, we won almost all the constituencies; we won the governorship; the state House of Assembly constituencies; nine seats in the House of Representatives and we won all the three senatorial seats. And there was no crisis in the party. I had about 23 governorship aspirants then. By the grace of God, we managed them to the extent that there was no grudge after the exercise. These are the testimonies of what I am capable of achieving.

The office of the SGG is the engine room of any government. It supervises all government machinery and we discharged that responsibility responsibly and efficiently and the evidence abound on our clean record while in office. My principal, former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, have never had a case before any anti-graft agency. Members of the public adjudge us as the best government Osun has ever had because we touched every aspect of governance. Having done all these by contributing my own quota to the progress and development of the state, without anybody pointing accusing finger to me since then, I think I should be given the chance to serve the state as the next governor.

You are returning to the track at a period most states are going cup-in-hand to the centre for financial bail out to keep their states afloat, due a global economic downturn. Isn’t the situation sufficient to discourage you from contesting?

Not at all. I am not discouraged. In fact, it makes it imperative for me to come and salvage the situation. You cannot give what you don’t have. I know what I am talking about. The other time, I spoke about the significance of due process in the scheme of things, including governance. If you undermine the  principle in governance, you are bound to run into trouble. But the moment you strictly adhere to it, things take shape and form. One, you will do the most difficult task at a minimal cost. Two, you will achieve a maximum result with little effort and push, as the mechanism for monitoring will function well. Three, you will bring joy and happiness to the greater number of the citizens of the state. Four, you will achieve great and enduring quality and standard because you will employ the best hands to carry out the task. Through that, you would have saved a lot of money and other scarce resources. Before you know it, you will begin to discover other avenues through which you can generate more funds to be deployed in other critical sectors that can impact on lives positively across board. However, when there is the absence of the mental capacity and acumen to drive the process, your programme will fail.

Having been out of political power for 11 years in Osun, why do you believe the PDP still has the chance to bounce back to power in Osun this year?

The outcome of previous elections reaffirmed that Osun is a PDP state. In the last election, there were five parties or so in the governorship contest. You will recall that Senator Iyiola Omisore and others that left for other parties were in the PDP. Then, the pdp had split into three places: Omisore had his own; I picked my own and of course, you had the third camp. So if you add the PDP votes in all these blocs, there would have been nothing like a rerun of the last governorship election in the state. I can assure you that all these the people that make things happen are still there to  re-enact the winning era of the PDP. As I said, Osun has been a PDP state right from 2003 and if I am made the candidate of the party for the 2022 election, I will harness all these great opportunities. I will make sure all of them rally round the PDP because they are only looking for a rallying force, candidate that galvanise the team to victory. Don’t be surprised that majority of the All Progressives Congress (APC) APC members in Osun state today were once in the PDP and we talk regularly. In fact, I was instrumental in their joining the PDP in the past as the chairman of the party. I lobbied and convinced them to come onboard so that we could take our state to where it truly belongs through good governance and accountability.  And honestly, they reasoned with me and joined the pdp and that accounted for the remarkable success the party was able to record as the governing party in Osun.  The PDP will win again in a free, fair and credible poll.  All we have to do is to make sure we get the right individual as candidate.

I believe we have learnt our lessons. This time around, we are poised to avoid a repeat of history because the lack of unity and understanding denied the PDP the opportunity to regain power in the last 11 years. Many of us are victims of the crisis that caused the party victory at the poll. The late sage, Baba Obafemi Awolowo said, you stoop to conquer and all of have made up our minds to stoop to conquer; to win the forthcoming election. How do we do it? We have good leaders; they are holding meetings with us (aspirants) on how to achieve a seamless process. They are holding consultations across board to avoid a repeat of past mistakes. They have met with us on a number of occasions and their message has always been on the necessity to exhibit a spirit of sportsmanship and one family as only one person can become the candidate of the party; that they do not want such individual to emerge through rancour. They want us to agree on who will take us to the Promised Land. And we have been cooperating with them because at the initial stage, people were not ready to listen to the words of wisdom coming from the leaders.  Today, we have realised that only a united force and front can win the election.