The question is, how do we manage Osun’s high debt profile? —Former SSG

Alhaji Fatai Akinbade is a former Secretary to the Osun State Government and the standard bearer of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2014 governorship election in the state. In this interview by Oluwole Ige, he speaks on the governorship election scheduled to take place in the state in 2018 and the high debt profile of the state, among other issues.

You were the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in the last governorship election in Osun State. The belief in some quarters is that the party has lost its steam and gone moribund in the state. What is your take on this?

I don’t want to believe that because I know that we are not moribund. We are very active in the politics of Osun. Majority of us are still very much involved in Osun politics and there is nothing like Labour Party has gone underground. We are solidly on ground here in Osun.

The next governorship election in the state is about one year away. Are you still interested in pursuing your governorship ambition on the platform of the Labour Party?

When an election is coming, you don’t know what is going to happen. Some political parties are already having talks with the Labour Party at the national level in Abuja and if there is alignment or realignment or merger, definitely one would have to go along with them. All I know is that I am contesting in the 2018 governorship election in Osun. With God on my side, I have the strong belief that I am going to be the next governor of Osun State come next year, by the grace of God.

Do you feel that you still have the popular acceptability of the electorate?

Of course, I still enjoy my popularity and support from Osun people. I was born and bred in Osun. I have never been indicted as a public officer or as a private individual. My track records are there and my people have the trust and confidence in me in the sense that I have what it takes to lead Osun State as a governor.

You were formerly in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before you joined the Labour Party. With the political realignment you mentioned earlier, is there any possibility of you going back to PDP, should the need arise in the nearest future?

Politics is dynamic. The dynamism in politics makes it what it is, ditto for democracy. Where was President Muhammadu Buhari before? He was in the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). But, today he is ruling us on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). If there is anything that brings us together again, there is nothing we can do about that. Nothing is constant in life, except change.

As a seasoned politician and somebody who had been in government before, what do you think is the problem confronting the country, economically?

When you talk of the economy, there are some things that are involved. The first thing is the source of your resources. Then, the management of the resources and your outlook, regarding the way you present yourself to the outside world. All these are very important because nobody can be an island unto himself. You cannot on your own get your money internally, manage it internally and spend it internally and you expect things to fall in place just like that. There are still a lot of corruption going on here and there. All these vices can be curbed internally with some mechanism that the government should put in place without making so much noise. Even, when they want to recover the looted funds, there are a lot of ways through which they can go about it without making noise. It all depends on the manager of the affairs of the country.

Do you think the APC-led Federal Government has the wherewithal to take Nigeria out of the economic doldrum?

When you talk of individual, party or government, everybody has his own approach to whatever he does. The way they are going is that they are trying to stop corruption. But, there are other ways that they are not looking at. What has happened regarding corruption has happened. We don’t know how much they have been able to recover so far. Before we can succeed, we need to carry along so many individuals, corporate bodies and adopt some kind of measures that would bring in money and investments. It is only through the investors that you can build the economy. The APC government is almost two years in the saddle and that is enough for them to show what they can deliver. But let us wait and see what they would do. The gospel truth is that you cannot offer more than what you have and you cannot go far more than what your knowledge can offer.

What do you think you will do differently if you become the governor of Osun State?

There are a lot of things that I would do differently. There are a lot of policies that would be changed in all sectors, be it agriculture, education, even the civil service. What have we got in agriculture? Nothing to show for it. The education has gone so bad that we are almost at the bottom of the ladder in the ranking of state performance in education. We have to start afresh with a move to reposition things. I have been in government before and I know what to do. Osun State is not being managed properly; this is a state where there is no tenders board and the due process is not followed in awarding contracts, even in borrowing money. Money borrowed are not attached to something that has followed due process.

There are fears in some quarters that whoever becomes the next governor of the state would find it extremely difficult to make a difference, considering the debt profile of the current administration. If you eventually emerge as the governor, how do you hope to wriggle out of this challenge?

In Ondo State, the people there are asking the newly sworn in governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, how he would match up with the level attained by the immediate past governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko. In our own case, it is how do we manage the debt incurred by the present government. You can see the difference by yourself. People are challenging Akeredolu on how he would match up with what is on the ground. In Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s case, you are asking us how do we manage the huge debt. It is very unfortunate. Nevertheless, I want to tell you that a good manager would strive to succeed. If I become the governor, I would definitely succeed in alleviating the hardship of our people because I know where the shoe pinches. I know what the problem(s) is or are and the approach to use in addressing it (them). Starting from the award of contract, we would save more than 50 per cent in terms of cost reduction. Through this, we would start making savings because there would be strict compliance with due process. There is no magic about it as everybody would be involved.