Buhari’s govt has failed Nigerians –Oni, former Ekiti governor
A former Governor of Ekiti State, Chief Olusegun Oni, talks about the rising insecurity in the country and his plan to contest the 2022 governorship election in his state, among other issues in this interview with Ben Ogbemudia
Why do you want to return as governor of your state 12 years after you were ousted?
Well, I have people telling me and expressing how they feel about me that I haven’t accomplished my mission and they would like to see more of it. Everywhere I go people are expressing their views and I believe that is an indication that they valued the service I gave to them before. I never knew it would be that valued and I gave my service to them as simple as I believed I could, but what I am getting continued to excite and surprise me that people are saying this is the best they got. Anywhere I go and see what people say that the government did for them. So, I believe what they are saying is from their heart and I think because I’m still able to offer my service, I should not say no.
Do you think you stand any chance and what will be your promises to the people this time around?
First, let me say this, you can add everything together. What gives me an edge is the service I have given to the people. And I am saying that we should go to Ekiti to find out if you are in doubt and that is what gives me an edge over everybody. I went there and served the people sincerely and consciously. And I will continue to talk about it, it gives me an edge over everybody. If I go back, there are a lot of uncompleted assignments, there are a lot of uncompleted development projects that people will wish to continue and we went beyond doing a couple of roads, and yes nobody did as much road as we did, nobody has done as much hospital work as we did.
But that is not my primary objective. My primary objectives are things that can turn around the situations and lives of the people, especially the ones that we were not able to achieve. So, I believe that if you are in Ekiti, maybe your questions will be modified differently.
What is your relationship with the former governor, Ayo Fayose?
My relationship with him, I will say it is smooth. He has a preferred aspirant, but that is the way it should be. People must show interest and I know I have a lot of people asking for it. So, the fact that he has a preferred candidate does not make us enemies and he is right to do so. I don’t think that should constitute a crisis. The party had two factions when I came and I did not join any of the two factions because I deliberately stayed away.
I want to have an opportunity to bring people together and that is what we are looking up it. That is why we did not join any of the two factions. And I know that the people also know that the moment a ticket is given to me, the case closes and everybody will come around and even the majority of the people on the other side will come around and join their hands.
What was your feeling when you were ousted by the court 12 years ago?
It is only in Nigeria and an underdeveloped country that such a thing can happen because the election was conducted in the afternoon and not in the night and people saw it everywhere and you have not said we rigged the elections. The people who voted knew who rigged the elections, or who attempted to rig and couldn’t rig as much as they could be able to. But I am not bothered about that, I see it as an index of underdevelopment and that is where we are.
That election could not have been held even in nearby Ghana and it was annulled. I believe that if God does not approve of it to be annulled, it would not have been annulled. So, I don’t feel anything, don’t forget after that, I went on to join the All Progressives Congress (APC). So, if I had any strong feelings against it, I wouldn’t have joined.
Why did you leave the APC?
My experience in APC was good, I was fortunate, I was a Deputy National Chairman, South, of the party and I contributed by quota and after I left the office on my own to contest the election, I was told not to resign, that I should take a leave. I believe that is not the kind of example I want to set so I left and became a private citizen. While I was living as a private citizen, my ward suspended me and a couple of my topmost supporters, their wards suspended them and I felt that was outrageously wrong because somebody who has risen to such a position in the party should be beyond who you can be accused at a ward and tried at that level.
Our accusers became the judge and they suspended us. I believe that it is an aberration, a serious aberration and I went to my colleague, the then National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. I expected the national chairman of APC to call me or call us and hear a kind of response to show that our protest is being looked at. And I can tell you that up to date, there was nothing like a good response from Oshiomhole or his office and I felt that was not dignified enough. When I was deputy national chairman, the former governor of Cross River State returned to our party and something similar happened to him.
He was suspended in his ward and immediately I said this is not a party of disrespect. You cannot suspend this man at your level. I am not saying he cannot offend you but if he offends you, as a former governor of Cross River State you should report him to us and we will take up the issue and invite him. So, I said go and give him an apology and he is still at the party today.
Which former governor was that?
I won’t mention his name but he is still at the party today and he is in Cross River State. So, it won’t be difficult for you to find him. And that is what I expect, but the Yoruba will say “gods of nowadays travel in jet.” It doesn’t take time to catch you if it wants to catch you. Adams Oshiomhole was accused in his ward and you know at the level of the ward, you cannot expect that. They will handle anything like that and handle it well, they accused him and suspended him and that led to his exit from the party. If he had done something about my case, he probably would still be in office today. So, when people decide to use power at one moment without trying to adopt universal logic. That is what happened and that was why I left.
There had been debates over the rotational presidency, where do you think the pendulum will swing towards in your party?
Any person can contest for the position of president and the way the party executives that are leaving will shift, those are positions that are key now. Those positions that are in the north will go to the south and the positions that are south will go to to the north. I think that is the only formula that has not been implemented, when we get to the point of the president and so on, then we will know what will happen.
Do you think the south should have the presidential slot in your party?
A party that is not in power that does not have the luxury of seeing this is where I want my candidate to come from. They should be more interested in how they are going to get into power because it is not a routine civil service matter, do it this way, and consult it this away. No this is a tussle for power and you must adopt your best opportunities. So, I believe that when the time comes we will examine all opportunities, and whatever will bring us back to power in 2023 that is what we will go for. That should be my advice.
Insecurity has become one huge concern in the country, do you think the present administration is taking the right steps to address it?
Security, as it is now, is a global thing and one of the reasons why some of us are criticising the PDP so much then as because they allowed a part of Nigeria to fail and now the whole of Nigeria has failed. We thought that the President we elected with his experience as a soldier will completely solve the problem of security when he gets there. Some of us are so disappointed that if it were a gambling expedition we could have put everything we have in it and say for this guy we would gamble. Unfortunately, he has not fixed the problem of insecurity.
The whole of Nigeria has failed under his watch and I don’t mince words because I am not a diplomatic politician. Nigerians should now ask, can we trust these people with power anymore? The question you asked is on security, you have not asked about our economy, so, I will just see where we are but this score catches on that security is so terrible and don’t forget that we still have school children in the custody of kidnappers as we are talking now for some years.
I can imagine how their parents appear to be feeling, it’s not easy. Send your child to boarding school and suddenly you can’t get access to your child again. So, you don’t need to ask too many questions, you need to pass too many judgements to say that this government has failed. That should be the conclusion of every reasonable person that is not trying to play politics. These governments have not done Nigeria well.
