By Dr Adekunle Akindele is a leader of Peoples Democratic Party ,PDP, in Ondo State, and the immediate past Chairman of the party in Osun State. He is currently the Special Adviser to Osun State governor on Public Health. In this interview, he speaks on contentious issues in the party, saying he is confident of victory in next month’s election in Ondo State.
How prepared is PDP in Ondo State for November 16 governorship election?
My party is fully prepared for the election, and we are putting all machinery in place to ensure that the Peoples Democratic Party wins the governorship election in Ondo State. We know that for sometime we have been out of government in the state, and don’t forget the fact that PDP is one party that has internal cohesion.
We are very determined this time around, despite the fact that we had some issues in the past, which have been completely resolved. We are very much prepared to win the election.
You mentioned the party had some issues. How do you see the manner the party leadership is handling them?
I can tell you that everything has been resolved. We are united, unlike before, and we have all agreed that we need to bury the hatchet, and come together to win the election for our people.
As a leader of the opposition party, how do you assess governance in the state right now?
As I speak to you, I am in my village in Ondo State, I can tell you that governance has taken flight. There is no governance in the state. Everything is at low ebb and the people are down. Look at the roads. If you drive from Ore to Okitipupa, and down to Ilutitun where I hail from, the roads are death traps. Unfortunately, these are the roads leading to the town of the current governor. It shows you that they are bereft of ideas. It goes to confirm the fact that he came here by accident. He was not prepared and his ascension to office was a misnomer. He has no clear vision of what to do in government.
It is the same story everywhere. When I came to Akure last week, I came through Oyaregbulem, and there was this overhead bridge they have been trying to construct for the last four years. If you compare that with what is happening in Osun, and examine what we have done in two years, you will agree with me that governance has gone to sleep here in Ondo State, and we cannot continue like this. We cant wait to kick him out of Alagbaka House.
What level of confidence do you have in your governorship candidate ?
I can describe our candidate, His Excellency, Agboola Ajayi, as a politician who has seen it all in terms of governance. If you look at his trajectory, he started as a councilor; he later became a local government chairman, a member of the House of Representatives, and of course, Deputy Governor of our state. He has the credential. And one thing that he has going for him is that he is a grassroots politician. This is a man who has never for once lived outside Ondo State, except when he was in Abuja to represent his constituency at the Green Chamber. So I’m very confident that he will do well, because when you live among the people, you understand them, you know their worries and you know what it takes to resolve it.
Unlike the APC that brought in Lucky Ayedatiwa, he is an alien. Until now, I never heard about him until he became Deputy Governor of the state. So these are people that do not really have any relationship with our people. And I see them as aliens, and of course, you will agree with me that all their actions and inactions will be geared towards doing the will of their pay masters. Agboola Ajayi is a man who is after the heart of the people, and a man who the people are waiting for to make the fortunes of Ondo people better.
Governance is no rocket science. If somebody has gone through those stages of governance, you should know that this is a man that is tested and well prepared to ensure that this hardship in the land, this poverty that they are all going through is at least reduced to an extent.
Apart from the roads that are bad, I don’t want to go to the health sector in the state where there are few doctors. Infrastructures are dead. For example, the General Hospital in Okitipupa, doesn’t even have light at night, the doctors can barely work. These are issues that a very responsible and responsive governor should attend to, but he is busy appointing needless and countless numbers of Special Advisers and Personal Assistants. His own agenda for the people are quite different. His coming to power is an aberration and we are hoping that by November 16, we will send him out of the Government House.
Now , how has the PDP risen to its role as the leader of the opposition parties?
We have been providing leadership and opposition. You will agree with me that all is not entirely well with the party at the national level. But the National Working Committee has done the needful by setting up a reconciliation committee that will ensure that all those issues militating against cohesion in the party are resolved. As far as the PDP is concerned, we are sure that we are providing a very robust opposition.
You see, most of the problems we are facing in this country, like in the run off to the general elections, we of course, have analysed it, and we have a clear cut agenda, to solve most of these problems, unfortunately, the APC, through there abracadabra and shenanigangs were able to manipulate the last elections. For now, that is history, but going forward, we are determined and come the next election, we should be able to kick them out of power.
But how do you see the argument that there are some fifth columnists within the party, that even the Acting National Chairman is former Governor Wike’s stooge, and how do you see Wike’s threat to put fire in any state that intervenes in the Rivers State imbroglio?
Wike does not have the ability to cause fire in the party. He is no God. He is a former governor, and now we have a governor in place and he should give them their space and respect.
I won’t rule out the possibility of Fifth Columnist in the party but we have what it takes to tackle that. The National Chairman is doing so much. He is a democrat and a party man to the core. I think he won’t allow the party to disintegrate during his tenure. He is doing so much to resolve the problems in the party.
To what extent would you say Agboola has the support of PDP governors as he prepares for the election?
They are giving him fantastic support. All the PDP governors are solidly behind him. At one of their last meetings in Abuja, he was there to speak with the PDP governors, so we have no doubt about that. It has even gone beyond PDP governors.
I can tell you for free that even some APC governors are supporting him. I don’t want to mention names. Don’t forget that he has been in the Green Chambers, in Abuja and he has friends among the APC governors, because they know that he is a better person in terms of experience, service delivery and experience.
Now to Osun State, to what extent would you say the governor has imparted on the lives of the people?
Governor Adeleke, in the last two years, to me is the most impactful and successful governor of the state. If you look at the massive infrastructural renewal going on in the state, in terms of roads, in terms of hospitals, in terms of agricultural development and ICT and even civil service reforms. Those things make me happy and I am proud to work with him and for him.
In the runoff to his election, I was the party chairman there, and he has not disappointed anybody a bit, and I will describe him as a star God has used to bless Osun people. Even in security, Osun is the most secure state in the South-West and I call tell you everybody is happy. Salaries are paid as at when due, and debts incurred by the previous government are being taken care of. His performance is unprecedented, and he is loved by the people.
Even his brother governors have been asking ‘how have you been doing it?’ so his superlative, supersonic performance is impressive. We thank God for our governor. I will tell you that more is still coming. By the time we will be rounding up after our four years in office, Osun State will be well-transformed.
