Vote buying will destroy Osun State —Ex-HOS

A former Head of Service (HOS) in Osun State and candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2014 governorship election in the state, Mr Segun Akinwusi, speaks with OLUWOLE IGE on the September 22 governorship election, among sundry other issues. Excerpts:

You were the standard-bearer of the SDP in the 2014 governorship election but it seems you are not really involved in the preparation of your party for the September 22 governorship election, why?

People have been asking me where I stand and who my candidate is for this coming election. Except when I say certain things on Facebook, I have not really made any position known. Yes, I did contest under the SDP four years ago and our party had some hiccups which we had actually solved before the so-called talks between the SDP and some groups, especially the PDP. By the time the PDP came around, we welcomed them with open arms. But I think the SDP made a big mistake from the onset, even at the national level. The general thing now is that some people of questionable characters, who do not have the interest of the party at heart are jumping from one party to another looking for greener pastures. I am only interested in the future of this state. I have always thought that coming into politics was to make a difference and that the SDP should do things differently from other political parties. If you condemn the PDP, if you condemn the APC and some other parties that have come on board and we don’t show some ideological bases for pursuing our interest, then we have failed and, therefore, do not deserve to be given any recognition.

A High Court sitting in Osogbo recently dismissed a suit instituted by some individuals against the candidacy of Senator Iyiola Omisore, who is the standard-bearer of the SDP in the coming poll?

It was dismissed on the premise that they were having consultation and I can show you certain things posted on the social media by some people they were talking about. We knew that there were some moves to get the case out of court. The presiding judge struck out the case. That out-of-court settlement was strange to members, some of whom came to me and I said I didn’t know what happened because they were the ones that went to court. They said they never sent the particular person to push for out-of-court settlement. But I knew what happened. That out-of-court settlement was not with the concurrence of everybody, especially those who went to court. I understand that it was a particular individual who is one of the so-called governorship aspirants that they negotiated with and he said he was going to settle out of court. Like I told you, the aggrieved persons came to me and said they didn’t know anything about the negotiation. But I think there have been pressures outside the state, especially the particular aspirant that I am talking about. There are cleavages they can’t dismiss with mere shrug of shoulders.

There are fears that some desperate politicians may engage in vote buying to curry the favour of the electorate in the coming election. What does this portend for our democracy?

That is one of the things that have been giving some of us concern. When you ask the ordinary person on the street, they will tell you that they are tired of this government and that they have been enslaved for years and they want a change. But it is a different story on Election Day. We knew what happened in Ondo State. In that state, it was dibo ko sebe, meaning, vote and cook soup. In Ekiti State, it was also dibo ko sebe. But I understand that in Osun, it is dibo ko kole, meaning, vote and build a house, which is going to be an ill wind that will blow nobody any good. That is why I want to encourage the electorate that it is not about money. INEC should also be very sensitive and proactive about checking all these things.

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I was in the United States in May 2016. Immediately I entered that country, the GPS captured my number. They have since been sending me emails. A day to the American election, I was in the US but what I want to say is that from that time, they have been sending messages to me. They thought I am a member of the Democrat. They are sending messages to me that ‘Segun, we have not seen your donation this year. Donate $10, donate $5 or $20’. That is the way they do things there. It is people that donate money for campaigns to candidates of political parties. But the sad aspect of our situation here is that people now buy votes and it is very dangerous and that is why the best candidate in this election may not emerge eventually. Something must be done. I want to appeal to the sensibility of Osun people that this is what they did in 2014, for which we are suffering. We have brought ourselves back more than 25 years today and I don’t know whether any vote buying would do us any good. I have always told people that if you have conscience, let them perish with their money. But if you don’t have conscience, take their money and don’t vote for them. So, I want to appeal to our people that it is not about money but the future of our children. The soup that they cook with N5,000 will be exhausted and they will put you in servitude for the next 25 years. The one we are in now, I don’t know when we will be out. This coming election should be taken seriously. We are in a precarious situation in this state and, therefore, the next government must be a very serious one that is coming to serve and make sacrifices. It is not about enjoying the way people think. I spent 35 years in public service and served 16 different governments. I was Head of Service for eight years and eight months, which is a record in this country. I know what goes where. That is why I say any vote buying is going to do us ill. Any government that is coming today, I give them euphoria of six to nine months maximum. People will come with the goodwill of a new government and all other things associated with a new government. But after nine months, the reality would dawn on them. If we are paying N2.4 billion now to pay back our debt and by 2019, 2020, the additional would mount into it for which moratorium we have taken which are being serviced now, then we can see what is happening. That is why the coming government must be a very serious one. They have to make sacrifices and so do the people of this state. I am not saying they should make life difficult for the people because they must, first of all, address the welfare of the people. And on the economy of the state, they must take some very tough decisions.

Why are you still nursing the fear that the state is in a financial mess when the outgoing governor maintained that Osun’s debt is in the region of N143 billion and that part of it would be defrayed by year 2020?

This sustainability has been on since 2014, if you remember. They brought the DG, Debt Management Office, to lie. Look at the capacity of Osun to borrow money. They have exceeded that capacity to borrow money by 486 percent. We are servicing our debts for now with N2.4 billion monthly. If we don’t have anything in excess of N2.4 billion in a month, we would come up with zero allocation. How sustainable is that for us? They can tell that to the marines. These are all lies and gimmicks. I pray that this government doesn’t succeed itself because a lot of revelations would come. They called me a liar but I know I am not one.

INEC has vowed to deliver a credible election, do you have confidence in the body?

They call themselves Independent National Electoral Commission. In all honesty, everybody expects that they will do things transparently, normally and in a civilised way. We are taking about vote buying, it should be their concern. Today, people are saying that INEC is collaborating with those that are transferring their PVCs to Osun State. This should be their concern.

The hacking strategy that the APC has been using is another issue. They have been using it in connivance with officials of INEC. They have insiders and these are young boys — under 30. They use them on Election Day to breakinto the system. Let INEC probe into it to know how some of their staff are engaging in manipulations. This hacking is my greatest fear. It is not done on the field. That is why INEC itself must be seen to be transparent and truly independent in this election.

As an insider who had worked with various governments, what is your advice for the incoming government in Osun State?

I want to keep that to my chest for now. I want to see the person coming in. There is a difference between you having the original conception of ideas and the person you want to sell it to. Oftentimes, you tell politicians this is the way to do things, they will just gloss over it and hardly chew it before they swallow it and they get stuck midway. When [Rauf] Aregbesola came with his green book, that was one of the reasons I decided to work with him. Then, I felt that if what was in the document could be done, the state would be transformed. Go an look at the document today, not one percent of what is in it has been implemented. That is why when I assess him, I score him below average. Don’t just make some flamboyant or sensitive promises and fail to see the problem on ground. Today, every institution of government is comatose. Is it health that you want go talk about or even the civil service? Any government that must succeed in this state, the first thing that it would tackle is the civil service. Except the civil service is well situated, the government cannot achieve anything. It is not payment of salaries alone. They came as a repository of everything; that they had the panacea for every problem and we have seen today that they have come to compound our problems, because they are going to leave this state far worse than they met it.

What is your take on the fortune of workers and pensioners in the state?

I want to say that it is only pensioners that I pity. This is because workers are the architect of whatever has befallen them today. I was Head of Service in this state and the government was on board for seven and a half years and there wasn’t any strike for 24 hours. All those guys were my boys. They would come to me and table their demands.

You mean, during the administration of former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola?

Of course. There was no single strike. Teachers would just make a threat and in less than 12 hours, they would call it off, because the then government knew how to take care of civil servants. Pensioners don’t have a way of mounting pressure on the government like civil servants. This is quite unfortunate. In other climes, these are the people that are supposed to be taken care of.

Let me tell you that what we call Consolidate Funds Revenue is the first charge of the government expenditure. The composition is pension and gratuity, salary of judges, salary of auditor-general and the security vote of the government. Any money that comes, that is what they deduct before you spend any other money, especially pension. These are people that have used the best part of their lives to serve the state and they should not starve in retirement. A lot of them have died. In better climes, they are given priority. This is their rightful entitlement but when they are now being owed, it is ungodly. When I got the information that the labour people were on strike, I said it is their usual gimmick. I don’t know whether they needed money from the government. They knew how we did things in those days, but they have sold themselves out and they cannot talk to the government. Let the labour leaders come out and speak to us. If you are indeed a labour leader, your interest is to protect your workers. Some of them are protecting the interest of the government and have mortgaged their consciences.