*Says incumbency will be a factor but factor of failure in coming election
*Adds issues in Ekiti APC won’t affect success of party at polls
By Kemi Kasumu, General Editor
“From traditional rulers to market women, to workers, to NGOs, to our party members, they are determined and have decided that this time around, an Ado Ekiti person must be governor, and they are ready. Right now, if you look at it, Fayose is demolishing houses all over. Nobody has done anything to him. He will wake up from Government House and call bulldozers to demolish houses without prior notice or compensation. These are houses that are not on the road. What has happened to him, nobody knows. But I think, and I suspect that it is because the people of Ado have removed their support for him and he wants to punish them before he leaves.”
As the Ekiti’s governorship election rides into a start, an Aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Babafemi Ojudu has assured that issues among members of the party, particularly those jostling to emerge coming primaries as torchbearer, will not affect the chances of APC from emerging victorious at the main election in July later this year.
Ojudu, who was speaking in an interview with Vanguard, admitted however that Fayose, as an incumbent with strong interest in seeing his candidate to victory at the election, will be a factor but maintained that “he is going to be a factor of failure”, even as he said the Ado-Ekiti people are now set to produce the governor of the state and that it was because they withdrew their support from Governor Fayose over who his successor would be that he had been demolishing their houses, not for anything but, to punish them for not supporting him in accepting his Ikere-Ekiti born candidate.
Senator Ojudu, a seasoned journalist and member of 7th Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is currently Political Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Use of Federal Might
Asked if it was true that his party was going to use Federal Might in getting to power at all cost in the Ekiti State gubernatorial polls, he said it was not the way of APC to do so, adding by referring the questioners to Anambra election where, despite the chances of APC government to give it to itself, transparency was allowed for All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)’s Willie Obiano to have his way and was even allowed his full security and others.
Ojudu proved further that President Muhammadu the leader of the party and President of the country does not believe in the use of Federal Might.
“No, we don’t do that. You all witnessed the election in Anambra. Did you see Federal Might or Federal power? You have witnessed elections everywhere, President Muhammadu Buhari, the leader of our party and President of this country, does not believe in Federal Might. He will tell you ‘go and work.’ If today, I contested with his wife, Aisha, he will not raise a finger in favour of his wife. He will probably advise her on what to do to win the hearts of the electorates,” Ojudu said assuring that it was not the way of APC to use Federal Might to get to power as it used to be known with People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
On how his party will scale through the hurdle that Fayose’s stomach infrastructure programme has endeared him into the hearts of Ekiti people that it would be difficult for them to see any new person coming other than whom he anoints, Senator Babafemi Ojudu said there was nothing as such.
His words: “There is no longer stomach infrastructure again. It is a myth. People have not been paid in 12 months. Salaries have not been paid; civil servants and local government officials have not been paid. You are talking of stomach infrastructure if I am a civil servant and you have not paid me in 12 months, what is stomach infrastructure in that? If truly, you are doing stomach infrastructure, you must regularly pay the workers so that they can feed themselves. This last Christmas, he didn’t even give them rice as he used to give them. It is a government of deceit. Fayose is just deceiving the people. Go around with him now; nobody hails him anywhere again.
“I am his husband. The Yoruba people have a saying that the mad man has a master. In 2006, I chased him out of this place. I took all his lawmakers who were members of PDP; I took them to Lagos for two months. I kept them there. When I was ready, I brought them back to impeach him. In 2011, he contested against me for Senate; I defeated him. I had 68,000 votes; he had 21,000 votes. So, forget about all these myths he sells to you out there. I am back again, and I know I am the one who can chase him out. If there is anybody he fears, it is me. We will take care of him on July 14,” he said.
On how he thinks he can win in event that he gets the ticket of APC to face the interest of Fayose, who defeated an incumbent even from outside government, he said it was not a big deal as he remains the only person to have either impeached the Fayose as an incumbent governor or to have defeated him in an election.
“Mind you, he is not contesting; but even if he is contesting, I am telling you now that I have defeated him many times over in the past. If somebody is an incumbent and I was not a politician then, I was a journalist like you, and I was able to impeach him. Also, I was not an incumbent; I defeated him in a Senate election. I am telling you that I am the one who is capable of defeating him and I will defeat him again.
“I can tell you this too. I am from a constituency that if you don’t have, you don’t win in Ekiti State. If you have my constituency, you will win. From 1999, whoever Ado- Ekiti supports becomes the governor. Whoever Ado- Ekiti does not support is taken out of Government House. I am from that community. That community has never had somebody as governor before. They have always conceded deputy, but now they are saying ‘we want to be governor,’ and they are ready for that.
“From traditional rulers to market women, to workers, to NGOs, to our party members, they are determined and have decided that this time around, an Ado Ekiti person must be governor, and they are ready. Right now, if you look at it, Fayose is demolishing houses all over. Nobody has done anything to him. He will wake up from Government House and call bulldozers to demolish houses without prior notice or compensation. These are houses that are not on the road. What has happened to him, nobody knows. But I think, and I suspect that it is because the people of Ado have removed their support for him and he wants to punish them before he leaves.
On whether the chances of Ekiti APC will not be affected perceived problems in the country, Ojudu simply replied, “APC is electable. I am standing before you as an accomplished journalist, as someone who has been in the Senate, who is now working in the presidency, that APC is electable. What you are seeing is what you see when change is about to happen.”
On Ekiti APC disunity
“Don’t worry about that. We are a party with an agenda and goals. Our people are tired of being outside of government. We regret what happened the last time. We don’t want it to happen again. We will take government and be friendly with the people. We will take government and do what they want. We will take government and sustain the government so that we can build very solid foundation and whosoever comes after can build on it.
“Our leaders at the national level and those in South-West have committed to organising a free, fair and credible primary. Two days ago (last Friday), we met with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande, Aremo Segun Osoba, Otunba Niyi Adebayo and the Vice Chairman, South-West, Chief Pius Akinyelure, all the aspirants were there except a few, and we had a very useful discussion on the need for a transparent primary. If it is transparent and it is free and fair, all of us would queue behind the winner of the primary.
“Our people are poised to take over government here, all of us are victims of bad governance here, and so it is incumbent on us to put our best person forward for this purpose and win the current election,” Ojudu said.
