Chairman of the Senate Committee on Capital Market, Senator Ayo Adeseun, who recently dumped the All Progressives Congress for the Peoples Democratic Party in Oyo State, tells OLUFEMI ATOYEBI that PDP will win Oyo State governorship election in 2015
Are you returning to the PDP because you are interested in running for governorship position in Oyo State, knowing well that former Governor Alao-Akala, who is from Ogbomoso like you is seeking PDP ticket?
Sometimes ago, elders of the party in Ogbomoso met and adopted Alao-Akala as their candidate. I was still in the APC then. After I returned to PDP, there was a move to bring all of us together. In 2010 and 2011, the political landscape in Oyo State was turbulent and Ogbomoso was affected. Because of this Alao-Akala and I fell apart. I was voted in as senator but Alao-Akala lost. From a political point of view, our community actually lost because the governorship position was taken away from us. If PDP had remained in power in Oyo State, the state will not be in this mess we are experiencing.
A meeting was later called by Alao-Akala which involved all Ogbomoso indigenes without any bias to their party affiliation. It was resolved that anyone who had interest in contesting should signify his ambition and both of us made it known that we would like to contest for governorship. Ogbomoso’s vote is important in Oyo State politics.
Why didn’t you stay in APC and fight for the governorship ticket?
I was not thinking of running for governorship before; my ambition was to return to the Senate as APC candidate. But let me say that when Governor Abiola Ajimobi was elected, I told him that I would defer my own governorship ambition until he leaves office on the condition that he ruled with the fear of God and ran a collective government. When I left APC, I was called names; some said I was in the habit of changing party but I laughed over the comment. If I had not left PDP for the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (now APC), Ajimobi would not have won the governorship election. Ajimobi had no chance of winning, but my contribution gave him victory. As the chief executive, the governor should listen and not always preside. I left the APC because Ajimobi was not giving the people the kind of governance they deserve. I want to be governor, but I am not desperate. If I don’t get the ticket, I will support whoever gets the PDP ticket. God has been kind to me. I have been a major player in the past three administrations in Oyo State. In PDP we are working seriously to solve all problems capable of denying us victory.
What is your position on the clamour by the PDP aspirants from Ibadan that the party must pick one of them?
They have the right to their position. But whatever your wishes are, you still have to go through the primaries. Whoever emerges will be supported by others and I am certain that PDP will win in 2015.
Why did you say that Oyo State is in a mess because PDP is not in power, putting into consideration that until a few months ago, you were in APC which rules the state now?
All of us are part of the day-to-day activities in the state. If you go round and ask the people, many of them will tell you that between 2011 and now, the quality of their lives has not improved. When we put the government in place, we had different opinion because we felt that the past government was not doing the right thing. I regret being a part of the process that produced this present government. As a society, we have been short-changed and the wrong must be corrected. I don’t know what this government will tell the people when the proper politics begin ahead of 2015 election.
Is it true that President Goodluck Jonathan has a bias for the former Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin, as PDP governorship candidate in the state?
Folarin played a major role in the evolution of the present executive of the party in Oyo State. But when it is time to constitute the Electoral College, the executive will play only 10 per cent role. The delegates will be constituted by the party and not by the executive. Ayodele Fayose had no influence in Ekiti State PDP executive. He did his work outside the executive and won. Folarin worked with the President as Senate Leader but that was more than three years ago. The President has said that only the best candidate will be chosen by the party. The National Chairman of the PDP, Adamu Muazu, swore to me that he wanted candidates that can deliver. Oyo State is too complex for anyone to impose candidate. As I said, ACN had no chance to win in 2011, but they had support from aggrieved PDP members who joined the party. For the first time, the progressives picked someone who came from another party as their candidate because they knew he had a chance and they won.
What is your opinion about the presidential election in 2015?
I have heard people who said Jonathan was not performing. There will be a shocker in 2015 because it will not require any form of rigging for Jonathan to win with landslide margin. The election will be free and fair.
