‘Ogun West May Not Get the Governorship in 2019’
Oladunjoye...Ogun West must close ranks to achieve their goal
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Ogun State and former Ijebu East Local Government Chairman, Mr. Tunde Oladunjoye, spoke with Femi Ogbonnikan, about the intricate politics of the state, amongst other issues. Excerpts:
Your travails in PDP began when you were a council boss for Ogun East Local Government and the, then Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, removed you from office. What really happened?
I don't think I want to talk about Daniel. I don't think I want to talk about PDP. I believe that the rest, as they say, is now history. I thank God that, I am alive today. I thank God that most of these things. I have been vindicated and God has fought for me. When God has fought your battle for you, you don't need to fight again. So, I thank God, and that is all that I can say.
I don't think I want to talk about Daniel. I don't think I want to talk about PDP. I believe that the rest, as they say, is now history. I thank God that, I am alive today. I thank God that most of these things. I have been vindicated and God has fought for me. When God has fought your battle for you, you don't need to fight again. So, I thank God, and that is all that I can say.
But you went to court to challenge your removal from office, and were you compensated, having won?
I went to court and the court gave an order that 'status quo' should be maintained, but they went ahead and still stopped us. We went to court when the new government came in and the judge gave a very funny judgment in Abeokuta, that we weren't dissolved, but we were only suspended and therefore, we could not get compensation. We decided to take the matter to the Court of Appeal, but we didn't have money to pursue the case at the Appellate Court. And that was how the thing stopped.
I went to court and the court gave an order that 'status quo' should be maintained, but they went ahead and still stopped us. We went to court when the new government came in and the judge gave a very funny judgment in Abeokuta, that we weren't dissolved, but we were only suspended and therefore, we could not get compensation. We decided to take the matter to the Court of Appeal, but we didn't have money to pursue the case at the Appellate Court. And that was how the thing stopped.
The fight wasn't for me, but for my people and for our society. We were trying to ask whether the state governor had the power to remove elected local government chairman or not. We were asking whether the governor had the power to deduct from the allocations meant for the local governments, which were germane questions. And they are still topical issues today. The issue of deduction of local governments’ allocations is still raging in many states of Nigeria. So, more than ever before, people must still talk about autonomy for local governments and the issue is relevant in our democratic setting.
Does it mean that the genesis of your travails, culminating in your removal, had to do with your objection to the deduction of allocations meant for local governments?
It is the same thing, whether it was the deduction of allocations meant for local governments. It was one of the main issues. Politics was part of it, but the main issue was that, I didn't submit my own local government to that kind of deductions of allocations and I protested, with written letter of protest to the governor, the PDP leadership and so on and so forth. But I have moved on.
Do you still subscribe to local government autonomy?
Yes, because if the local governments are not autonomous, there won't be development at the grassroots. A governor can't know what is happening in the remotest part of any given state. The local government is the closest and it is the creation of the constitution. So, anything outside that is against the constitution.
You were a PDP Chieftain and a former running mate to Ogun State PDP Governorship candidate, Gen. Adetunji Olorun (rtd), in the 2011 general election, what informed your defection to APC?
I didn't defect to APC. When I left PDP, I went to Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) which was, then headed by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), now the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I left PDP, because it was like I was in an enemy's environment. I was humiliated. I was persecuted. My elected administration was dissolved, illegally. The judge pronounced a very fraudulent judge of sentencing me to six months imprisonment for contempt.
Though the judge of the Federal High Court, Lagos, was later sacked, but what if I had been caught or sent to jail in a miserable manner? I left PDP, because of hostility. To be honest with you, our party politics is not on ideological basis, whether you want to believe this or not. I went to CPC, because I believe in Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
I was detained under his regime as a member of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) when I was a national officer. I was Lagos State chairman. But I look at Buhari's lifestyle, his modest style of living and compared to other Heads of State, and the kind of genuine fellowship he has and that informed my decision to go to CPC. Of course, CPC later merged with ACN and ANPP to form APC.
Do you think it is in APC, that your political ambition can be actualised?
I don't know what people call political ambition. I don't believe everybody is in politics for political ambition. We have collective political ambition. We have individual political ambition. And I have said I don't need to be in politics to be relevant to my people. Four weeks ago, I gave back to widows in my own local government, with all humility. Recently, too, in all modesty, I was at the SOS Children Village, where I go every year and reach out to the less privileged.
Does it mean that the genesis of your travails, culminating in your removal, had to do with your objection to the deduction of allocations meant for local governments?
It is the same thing, whether it was the deduction of allocations meant for local governments. It was one of the main issues. Politics was part of it, but the main issue was that, I didn't submit my own local government to that kind of deductions of allocations and I protested, with written letter of protest to the governor, the PDP leadership and so on and so forth. But I have moved on.
Do you still subscribe to local government autonomy?
Yes, because if the local governments are not autonomous, there won't be development at the grassroots. A governor can't know what is happening in the remotest part of any given state. The local government is the closest and it is the creation of the constitution. So, anything outside that is against the constitution.
You were a PDP Chieftain and a former running mate to Ogun State PDP Governorship candidate, Gen. Adetunji Olorun (rtd), in the 2011 general election, what informed your defection to APC?
I didn't defect to APC. When I left PDP, I went to Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) which was, then headed by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), now the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I left PDP, because it was like I was in an enemy's environment. I was humiliated. I was persecuted. My elected administration was dissolved, illegally. The judge pronounced a very fraudulent judge of sentencing me to six months imprisonment for contempt.
Though the judge of the Federal High Court, Lagos, was later sacked, but what if I had been caught or sent to jail in a miserable manner? I left PDP, because of hostility. To be honest with you, our party politics is not on ideological basis, whether you want to believe this or not. I went to CPC, because I believe in Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
I was detained under his regime as a member of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) when I was a national officer. I was Lagos State chairman. But I look at Buhari's lifestyle, his modest style of living and compared to other Heads of State, and the kind of genuine fellowship he has and that informed my decision to go to CPC. Of course, CPC later merged with ACN and ANPP to form APC.
Do you think it is in APC, that your political ambition can be actualised?
I don't know what people call political ambition. I don't believe everybody is in politics for political ambition. We have collective political ambition. We have individual political ambition. And I have said I don't need to be in politics to be relevant to my people. Four weeks ago, I gave back to widows in my own local government, with all humility. Recently, too, in all modesty, I was at the SOS Children Village, where I go every year and reach out to the less privileged.
In two weeks’ time, I am going to commission a borehole I did for my Secondary School, Itele High School. So, I don't really need to be in politics to be relevant to my society. I am not ambitious. For an instance, somebody was trying to persuade me, saying I should come and work for him during the last year 2015 general election and I said, "I can't work for you, because I am in APC. You are in PDP". He said, "It is a Senatorial candidate thing". He said he was going to give me N10 million and a jeep and I said I was not interested. He said, "don't you know who I am?” That he is going to give me something, but I insisted I don't want anything from him.
What do you mean you don't want anything?
That he would give me a position where there will be money, but I insisted I don't want anything from him. He said, "Are you serious you don't want anything"? And I said, "Yes, I don't want anything". I am waiting for what God will do for me. I am not waiting on human beings. And at the point God wants to do something for me, definitely, He would do it for me. Day in, day out, I look up to God. It is not compulsory that, I must run for office or that I must be in a political position.
What do you mean you don't want anything?
That he would give me a position where there will be money, but I insisted I don't want anything from him. He said, "Are you serious you don't want anything"? And I said, "Yes, I don't want anything". I am waiting for what God will do for me. I am not waiting on human beings. And at the point God wants to do something for me, definitely, He would do it for me. Day in, day out, I look up to God. It is not compulsory that, I must run for office or that I must be in a political position.
I attended a meeting in Abuja last week and the lady coordinating the meeting on behalf of our group (it is a new professional group) told me she wanted me to be a member of Board of Trustees and I said, no! I don't want to be a member of the Board of Trustees. I said, go and pick this woman and let her be a member of the Board of Trustees. God has plans for everybody and that is the way I have been doing my life. If it is possible I didn't wake up this morning, which court am I going to contest that? So, the earlier we realise that God has plans for everybody, the better it is for all of us.
What could be responsible for the poor performance of your party, APC, at the last 2015 general election in your Ogun East district?
If you are saying PDP is strong, that is your own view. The last general election, a lot of things happened. Some were reported, some were not reported. Most of the elections were challenged in court and judgments were given. The ones the courts have ruled, like somebody who believes in the rule of law, once the final court has ruled, I am barred from doing anything contrary. But on the fields, we know 'who is who'. I see all parties will continue to engage in solidifying their structures, preparatory to the next elections.
Opposition parties in Ogun State think Governor Ibikunle Amosun is not living up to his electoral promises. Do you agree?
It is very funny. I believe Governor Amosun has done a lot in Ogun state, but there is the need to do more. You see, in a democracy, we keep expanding the democratic space. If he gives us road, we will ask for water; if he gives us water, we will ask for light; if he gives us light, we will ask for clinic; if he gives us clinic, we will ask for school and so on and so forth. The man is trying. In terms of infrastructure, he has laid a solid foundation that Ogun State will rely on in the next 50 years to come.
What could be responsible for the poor performance of your party, APC, at the last 2015 general election in your Ogun East district?
If you are saying PDP is strong, that is your own view. The last general election, a lot of things happened. Some were reported, some were not reported. Most of the elections were challenged in court and judgments were given. The ones the courts have ruled, like somebody who believes in the rule of law, once the final court has ruled, I am barred from doing anything contrary. But on the fields, we know 'who is who'. I see all parties will continue to engage in solidifying their structures, preparatory to the next elections.
Opposition parties in Ogun State think Governor Ibikunle Amosun is not living up to his electoral promises. Do you agree?
It is very funny. I believe Governor Amosun has done a lot in Ogun state, but there is the need to do more. You see, in a democracy, we keep expanding the democratic space. If he gives us road, we will ask for water; if he gives us water, we will ask for light; if he gives us light, we will ask for clinic; if he gives us clinic, we will ask for school and so on and so forth. The man is trying. In terms of infrastructure, he has laid a solid foundation that Ogun State will rely on in the next 50 years to come.
There can be no economy that can develop without infrastructure. All good economies are built around infrastructure. He just recently constituted the Board of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB). With the man he appointed, Alhaji Olatunji Okewole, as chairman, I believe our primary schools will more than ever before witness a new lease of life and massive refurbishment. That is my subscription.
But one thing I know the governor for is his ability to raise the state's Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from below N1billion by the immediate past Administration of Otunba Gbenga Daniel to between N4 billion and N5 billion now. If the governor has not done that, probably the state would have collapsed and it would have been unable to meet some of its responsibilities. It takes somebody with financial acumen and financial engineering to be able to do that.
That is why despite the odds, roads are being constructed and bridges are being built. People have seen the projects. People whose areas are yet to be touched by the government are asking for their own. Like my own now, we are pleading with the government to come and fix Ijebu Ode/Ilese/Itele/Ijebu Ife road up to Ogbere and Ajebandele/Imobi, that stretch. We want the government to do it for us and the governor himself has promised that he would do it. Our traditional rulers have also approached him. We thank the governor for all that he has done so far.
Do you subscribe to the agitation by the people of Ogun West senatorial district to take their turn in the governorship, come 2019?
What I know is that, no section or community is giving a political position on the basis that they have not been there before. It is not done. I am the first person from Ijebu Itele to become Ijebu East Local Government Council chairman. As at the time I was elected, we didn't get that ticket because we had never done it before. We got the ticket based on the quality and capacity of the candidate, our ability to resolve our internal differences, our ability to mobilise and lobby other stakeholders, persuade them to see reasons with us.
Do you subscribe to the agitation by the people of Ogun West senatorial district to take their turn in the governorship, come 2019?
What I know is that, no section or community is giving a political position on the basis that they have not been there before. It is not done. I am the first person from Ijebu Itele to become Ijebu East Local Government Council chairman. As at the time I was elected, we didn't get that ticket because we had never done it before. We got the ticket based on the quality and capacity of the candidate, our ability to resolve our internal differences, our ability to mobilise and lobby other stakeholders, persuade them to see reasons with us.
In fact, we had a pact with another ward, Ogbere ward, when people from my own area were going about saying: "Vote for him (Tunde Oladunjoye), vote for him (Tunde Oladunjoye)" and my own machinery was going about meeting with political leaders, traditional rulers, traders and others. And by the time we were able to persuade a lot of those leaders and by the time I was able to change my own song too, 'vote for Tunde Oladunjoye", and those who had been going around saying, "Vote for him", we had no new song.
What I am saying in essence is this, if the people of Ogun West senatorial district are agitating to get the governorship slot in 2019, I have said it several times and I am not saying it for the first time, that they will never be able to get it again if they don't put their house in order and fight for it. It is good to resolve internal differences and the thing about this 'pull him down'.
What I am saying in essence is this, if the people of Ogun West senatorial district are agitating to get the governorship slot in 2019, I have said it several times and I am not saying it for the first time, that they will never be able to get it again if they don't put their house in order and fight for it. It is good to resolve internal differences and the thing about this 'pull him down'.
They will need to forget the 'either me or nobody' syndrome. And the youths from that area, who are very saddled on the internet, should be agents for unity, and not hostility. All those youths on the internet, who were bought Black Berry to abuse people all over the internet and things like that, where are they today? How have their lives fared? They have been used and dumped. So, the youths need to get themselves creatively engaged.
Some of these people they were following could not even be our fathers. Many of them have been in control and have had opportunities and they are even younger than us. Why must we subscribe our lives, our aspirations to their beck and calls? That is the way I see it. The youths need to be agents of change, agents of unity, agents that you can win spirit for which youths are known for all over the world. When I am talking of youths, I am talking of Ogun State youths in particular and the youths of this country in general.
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