You are one of those jostling to succeed Governor Abiola Ajimobi next year. What is motivating that aspiration?
I have been under the tutelage of Governor Ajimobi for the past seven years and he has mentored me and I have understood his style. Governance under him has been very open and knowledge-driven. There are so many things I have learnt under him and which are very useful and which will be in our care to use for the good of the people of the state from 2019. I believe I can contribute my quota to further development of Oyo State by engendering continuity in the governance of the state so that the lot of the citizenry will be better enhanced and dividends of democracy will further spread to all.
Are you not bothered that, with the seeming perennial shortfall in federal allocation which many governors are lamenting, this may not be the best time to aspire to the governorship of the state?
I am a progressive and progressives aspire to give to the people better life. States are not expected to be totally dependent on federal allocation under a federal system of government. As governor of Oyo State, I will look inwards for means of generating revenue to meet the yearnings of the people. Governor Ajimobi started this vision of increasing internally generated revenue and I will continue from where he will leave it. I will specifically follow the agriculture project of the governor and I know by the time we make agriculture, industrialisation and serious commercialisation our cardinal goal, internally generated revenue will be boosted. We have 100, 000 hectares of cashew plantation which can give us about N400 billion.
You are from Ibadan South-West where the incumbent governor is from. People will ask question why another candidate from the same council should be allowed to fly the APC flag.
This is democracy and I should let you know that under a democracy, there are many dynamic developments that happen. Nobody is insisting that South-West must be the council that will produce the next governor. There is going to be an open field for everybody to play and the best candidate should win. Some conservatives will talk about zoning, but we are really not zoning. Since we did not change the structure of the party, it is not likely that we will change the political positions too. So, this does not in any way foreclose the chance of any local government bringing up aspirants.
You must have saved a lot of money to prosecute your aspiration in a heavily monetised political climate that we have in the country.
You don’t know my purse, neither do I know the pulse of any of the other aspirants. Politics is not about money alone. There is what we call people-oriented personalities. Those who contributed a lot to the development of their areas, who have been known to be versatile and dynamic and have been involved in the activities of people. Money could be one of the factors, not the major factor.
APC in Oyo State is fractured with those who call themselves the real progressives and landlords now plying their trade in African Democratic Congress (ADC). What does this portend for APC in 2019?
In Oyo APC, no one is a landlord. In 2014, we all joined hands together to form APC which is quite different from the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). As a party, we were all taken to APC by Governor Ajimobi. We are all landlords in APC and if some people decide to move from an area, that does not mean they will take the land elsewhere. The land is still there. In fact, we are revitalising the land of APC in Oyo and State and we are ensuring that those who have gone can come back to work with us. We are expanding our frontiers and APC is growing. Many people had come into the party before those you mentioned left and more people are still coming into the party. Those who left the APC are a factor, but they are not the main factor. We are expecting them to have a rethink and come back. Governor Ajimobi has been preaching reconciliation.
Should the governor find you worthy as his successor, what will you do differently?
I will improve on what he has done. He has trained me and developed me. I will ensure there is proper accountability like he is doing. I will ensure I involve many people in the governance of the state and ensure party leaders contribute to the process of governance.
Are you prepared for direct primary which will be adopted in picking the governorship candidate in the state?
This is not the first time that this approach has been used to pick candidates for parties. It happened in the past and we were involved. We knew what we did to ensure our people participated. I am well prepared because I have been going on consultations and asking party members to see the reality of my intention. It is not a matter of jamboree, but a systematic way of getting to the hearts of the people.
The opposition appears ready for a showdown with APC in 2019, even the break-away APC group, the Unity Forum, is with others in ADC. APC won’t have it easy judging by this, right?
Have you forgotten that we have groups that have joined APC too, groups that were not with us in 2015 but are now in our party?
Are you talking former governor Adebayo Alao-Akala and former Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin?
Yes and others.
Are you banking on them for victory in 2019?
What I am trying to tell you is that APC now is not the way it was in 2015. We have expanded and grown bigger. I don’t want to be doing the calculations. If I do that, you will see the reality of what I am talking about. Our figures are higher and APC remains the party to beat in 2019 in Oyo State.
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