We are doing everthing to keep APC together in Oyo State —Peller, Rep-elect

The member-elect to represent in Iseyin, Itesiwaju, Kajola, Iwajowa federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Mr. Shina Abiola Peller of the All Progressives Congress (APC), speaks with SAM NWAOKO on his plans for his constituents and issues around the House leadership. Excerpts:

What is the post-election experience like, after you had to tour the nooks and crannies of your constituency to canvass for votes from the people, in a way that you never did before?

It’s an awesome experience and it’s an exercise I as a person really appreciate because I had to visit the nooks and crannies of my constituency. During such visits, I was able to know the problems that are bedevilling the people of the area. I saw that there are no good roads, there is no potable water and the poor state of the health facilities and the other infrastructural deficits that we have in my constituency. Apart from campaigning for their votes, what I was able to do during that time was to demonstrate to my people that I am ready to represent them and that I am also able to provide solutions to some of the problems. I remember that I hadn’t even received my party’s nomination when I provided 16 boreholes to four local governments. Even after the elections, we inaugurated some projects like a library, and a laboratory that I donated to a secondary school. Also among the projects was the NYSC hostel that I donated to the state. So, the time I have spent reaching out to my people and seeking their support is worth the while really.

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Having seen the enormity of what is expected of you, even though you were not elected into an executive office, you would have made projections. What would be your charge to the government on the current level of poverty, going into the National Assembly?

Simply put, my main focus would be to propose bills and laws that would positively affect the lives of my people. I have demonstrated to my people that I understand what they are going through but I will still focus on my primary responsibility as a lawmaker. However, my first point of contact would be to carry out an audit of the laws that have been passed already which have not been implemented, and try to find out why the executive has not implemented such laws. I want to use my influence as a lawmaker representing my people to see to the implementation of such laws.

Your party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) came out with a mixed bag of results in the last elections in Oyo State. For instance, you were elected on a platform different from that of the governor-elect. Does this create any kind of ripples in your party and where does this leave you?

It depends on how we look at it. They are actually different things because election process is different from governance. The election process is different because, since we are not practicing independent candidacy, it means that once you are interested in contesting for a position, you will have to come on the platform of a political party. So, that is one thing. After the election, I believe that governance should not be centred on the differences of political parties. We should be able to come together and be able to represent our people. The most important thing is that I’ve been elected as a member of the House of Representatives to represent the people of Iseyin, Itesiwaju, Kajola, Iwajowa and not the APC members in Iseyin, Itesiwaju, Kajola, Iwajowa. So, whether I like it or not, I am compelled to work with the governor at the state level to be able to bring development to the state.

The foot put forward by the coming 9th National Assembly is that of leadership. Your party APC has contacted its members on who to vote for and otherwise, on who should lead the National Assembly. This has ruffled quite some feathers. Don’t you see this as something that could affect the productivity of the coming Assembly if not properly handled?

Yes, I see it as something that might affect the productivity of the 9th Assembly and we don’t want that to happen. We do not want a repeat of what happened in the 8th Assembly, this is very important. It is important that the parliament works in line with the executive in order for our people to be able to get the dividend of democracy. My party, the APC, worked hard to be able to achieve the successes we recorded in the last elections. We won the presidency and the majority in the National Assembly, and it is only normal that we should produce the leadership of the House.

The party has shown preference for Femi Gbajabiamila and you are seen to be in the mix of the politics of who becomes the Speaker. What is your take on this?

For me, in whatever I do, I always like to be two steps ahead. It is one thing for us to have a Speaker emerge, it’s another thing to have the House to be in peace and unity. So, what I am focussing on is to seek God’s guidance for us to be able to achieve a peaceful House of Representatives where we will be able to give the necessary support to the president so that our people can have dividend of democracy.

Your Assembly is going to work with the government of a President Muhammadu Buhari that many have come to rate variously. You know that many have scored him very low because of their belief that his government has performed poorly while others disagree. What is your assessment of the outgoing administration? What are those areas you think need improvement in governance in Nigeria?

In assessing the outgoing administration, we need to first of all put certain things into consideration. The first is the size of the nation. Nigeria is not a country of 5 million people. This is a country of about 200 million people and the APC has just got power from an administration that was in power for 16 years and was not able to do anything. We should not expect a miracle. I believe that what the president is trying to do is to build a sustainable economy. A sustainable economy is based mostly on the export power of that economy and that is what the president is trying to work on. I believe that we will be able to see the productivity of the administration more in the new government that is coming on board, compared to what we have seen in the last administration. And in comparison, I don’t think any previous administration has performed at the level of this outgoing administration, even when we had a South West president, he did not fix the Lagos – Ibadan expressway and we can see what President Buhari is doing. So, i think what we need is to be patient and work together to give the government the support it needs to take us to the next level.

Your party is not going to be forming the government in the next four years. Where do we expect Shina Abiola Peller and the APC in Oyo State going forward from May 29?

I would have wanted my party to emerge at the state level so that there would be some sort of synergy between the state government and the federal government. But as it is, what we need to do is to understand that we are representing the interest of the people and not our personal interests. So, my first point of interest now is for this administration to perform well and I promise to contribute my own quota to work with this present administration to perform. Inasmuch as I am still a bonafide member of APC, we are doing everything within our power to keep the party together and to make sure that come 2023, we will be able to form government in the state.