*Wants Nigerians to vote APC for Federal, Ambode in Lagos, himself for Lagos Assembly in Agege in 2019

By Kemi Kasumu, General Editor

A serious challenge steers in the face, the National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in the looming political turmoil that is already gathering storms in Agege Local Government on which the sitting Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashir Obasa, climbed in 2015 to emerge as number three citizen in the Centre of Excellence.  Members in the wards of Constituency I complained that boys allegedly working for the Speaker have been using guns to threaten their lives unless they agree to vote for him to return to the House or they get eliminated. These boys, some of the ward executives revealed, claim Obasa is anointed candidate of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and that whoever would dare to vote or work against him would have himself to blame. The situation is now tense that people appointed as council employees by the past administration of Honourable Jubril Ayodeji Abdulkareem as Chairman Agege Local Government are allegedly being sacked and that those yet to be sacked are being profiled for same.  It is worse as some council officials volunteering information to The DEFENDER on this development did so in fear even after being promised their names won’t be revealed.  As at Wednesday afternoon, asides the campaign posters of Governor Akinwumi Ambode, only Speaker Obasa’s posters were allowed in Agege, as those boys had been removing posters bearing pictures of Honourable Jubril Abdulkareem.  For Asiwaju Tinubu, it is excepted that he rises to the challenges posed by situation where these are happening under his own political domain of Lagos and do the needful.  It is for this reason that Honourable Jubril Abdulkareem is featured as Political Guest of The DEFENDER this week with a view to unraveling the truth of the matter.  He spoke on general issues, but exonerated Asiwaju Bola Tinubu from the claims of those described as destroyers.  He said they are only using Tinubu’s name to have their way, adding that they have instruction to do what they are doing from no other person except the Speaker. Excerpts:

“It is true that such development, where some boys working for the Speaker, Mudashir Obasa, are using guns to run after the lives of my supporters, happens now…Well, that has been the way they like to do their own politics.  They are not such people who believe in taking things lightly whenever they want to achieve something.  They use whatever means ranging from intimidation, falsification, all sorts of wrong methods in achieving their aims has been their own way of life.  And that is why they always instruct the boys working for them to run after people’s lives intimidating them to either vote for them or get eliminated?”

When we spoke on phone and you said we should meet in your office in Agege and that you live in Agege, one had expected that, as Chairman of one of Lagos State most endowed Local Governments until recent time, this meeting should hold somewhere in Ikoyi or Lekki or Victoria Island like your colleagues do.  How not to believe that you are feigning low profile?

You see I was born and bred here in Agege Local Government.  Apart from going for higher education, I don’t think I have stayed outside the local government unless I was away for service or programme, later in life, from government arena.  Apart from that, all my life has been in Agege.  I am a man of the people, so why should I leave them here in the local area and say I want to go and live in high profile area?  So, I have been a man of the people before government, while in government and after the government, I remain the man of the people.  My people, therefore, believe in me and I believe in them.

What about the security implications for doing that, considering the challenges we heard about?

There is nothing. I have belief in God.  While I was in government I had no security, talk less of after I left government.  Sometimes you need to develop your people whenever God gives you the opportunity to do so.  Then your people will be at peace with you and become a shade over and around you even after you no longer have such opportunity.  Also sometimes you need to have confidence in your Lord, God Almighty.  He is your creator; he is the giver and the taker.  He is the one who owns life and only He can take life.

The second thing is that you should do good to the people and do it all the times.  If you are constant with evergreen Ebenezer Obey, in one of his songs he says, “T’oba ku die k’omo oloore jin si koto, monomon a sise imole f’om’Olohun” 2x… (Meaning that if it remains a little for righteous one to fall in deep pit, lightening will provide light for son of God).  If you believe in God, He will not leave you and He will not let you down and He will be sufficient for you.  Asibunallah wani’moliwakeel!  As a Muslim, that is what Allah says: God is sufficient for me and He has been there for me.

So, while in government this is where I lived and now that I have left government, this is also where I continue to live and I find peace with my people.  I love them and they love me.

You started your political career as Chairman Agege Local Government…?

(Cuts in) Even before I became the Chairman, I was once Supervisor.  My political sojourn started as Supervisor for Environment and Health.  I contested as an Aspirant for the House of Representatives seat in 1998/1999.  Invariably, the party (Alliance for Democracy) did not pick me but I was compensated with appointment as Supervisor for the Environment and Health combined together under the leadership of Honourable Kolapo Boye Ajiboso, who was the Chairman, Agege Local Government then.  I worked with him.  After then I got appointment as Deputy Executive Secretary and later on metamorphosed to Vice Chairman of the local government before becoming the Executive Chairman.

So, all my life has been in Agege with my people and therefore I know what my people need, which was the, while I was in office Chairman, I touched every nook and cranny of Agege Local Government as far as development was concerned.

In what sense?

In all ramifications; when you talk of construction of roads and drainages, I was there.  When you talk of construction of schools, health facilities and human development I was there.  All facets of human development I was there.  That is more reason I was given the nickname: The Architect of Modern Agege.  That was what they were calling me because I brought development to my people and showed them what development was all about.  That was what it was before all these new developments came to be added to it.

There is this talk about Local Government system not functioning hence the call for its scrap.  To you, how far of a truth can that claim be?

Local Government system has always been functioning in Lagos State.  I cannot say of other states and I can say that categorically because we do have seminars where meet and discuss.  Local governments can still work better if they are empowered constitutionally.

But as it is today, it depends on the individual.  Even if you are constitutionally empowered and you are given a constitutional role to play and you don’t play it, who is going to play it for you?  Some of these people are hiding under the claim of lack of autonomy for local government.

And you don’t think it can in a way hinder their ability to perform?

I agree to a certain extent that there is not much local governments can do without autonomy but it is not the reason for them, as things are, not to perform.  Because we have done it in Lagos and I had done it in Agege yet there was no autonomy at that time that I did all of those things.

It is all about the mindset and will of who the chairman of the given local government are, despite all of the issues about lack of autonomy, local governments can still perform excellently well.  For instance, if a market sweeper exploit his or her position very actively well, he can be more important than the president of that market.  So it is depends on the individual like I said.  And it is the more reason I said Local Governments can work better than they are doing.

But here in Lagos State we have autonomy to a certain level compared with other states.

Having finished with Local Government leadership you have just indicated interest in going to represent your people as lawmaker at the Lagos State House of Assembly come 2019.  What should your Agege Constituency I be looking out for?

They should be looking out for more dividends of democracy from the government and from myself as an individual.  As a lawmaker you are there to make law for the executive based on the yarning of your people.  Apart from that, individually there should be a sort of assistance from you to your community as well.  What it means therefore and generally is that, for anything you want to do for your people, you must be in touch with them and be very close to them in ensuring that you have their inputs before you do anything.  And you get there inputs by carrying out needs assessment to know what they need and once that is done and the people know that you are not giving to them what you think they need but that you doing things to them based on their needs, they will love and God will be happy with you always as well.

We received a complaint at The DEFENDER that some people said to be working for the Speaker of Lagos State, Right Honourable Obasa, are using gun to be after the lives of your supporters.  How true can that be?

It is true that such development where some boys working for the Speaker, Mudashir Obasa, are using guns to run after the lives of my supporters, happens now.

In a state where all members of All Progressives Congress (APC) should be seen as working together in unity to keep their win 2019?

Well, that has been the way they like to do their own politics.  They are not such people who believe in taking things lightly whenever they want to achieve something.  They use whatever means ranging from intimidation, falsification, all sorts of wrong methods in achieving their aims has been their own way of life.  And that is why they always instruct the boys working for them to run after people’s lives intimidating them to either vote for them or get eliminated?”

Some of my supporters being intimidated are even afraid now but I have told that it is God that takes life and that they should put their faith in Him and that He will protect all of us from their evils.  That is the encouragement that I have given to them.

But what is the Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, doing about this serious problem because, most of the people are claiming to have the backing of the APC’s National Leader?

Let me be frank with you here; little are known by Asiwaju.

So, are you saying all of these intimidation by guns and the rest of that are just being done in Asiwaju’s name because of the claim of imposition of candidate by him?

Exactly!  Asiwaju will not be the one to come and vote for us.

You mean Asiwaju does not impose as we learned?

At all!

He doesn’t impose Obasa?

At all!

So, we can be right to say that what we heard about Obasa running after your life now is not pleasing to Asiwaju?

At all! Asiwaju neither imposed Obasa on us nor asked Obasa to run after my life.  They are just dropping the name of Asiwaju because they know that when people hear “Asiwaju” they can easily succumb.

But I do tell them (Agege people) that, “Asiwaju will not come and run our local government for us.  We are representing you not Asiwaju and so, whoever you want, it is you that will determine.  If you want Obasa, so be it.  If you want me, so be it.  But that I know with you people I will be there.”

Moving forward to national, this is the first time the progressives are in power at the Federal level and the people you ousted from power are already telling Nigerians how and why you have failed as a party, APC, and how they will return to continue from they stopped after 16 years.  What is your take on that?

You cannot stop having surprises about such people talking the way they are talking.  All of them had been empowered financially, physically and with a lot of resources at their disposal.  Some of their elements are still in various places within the government.  Don’t forget that they (People’s Democratic Party) had been in government for 16 years from 1999 till 2015 and they ran the government non-stop.  So, you can see how and why they had rooted themselves within the government.  And hardly you see that most of them in government are not their benefactors.

So, I want you to realize that they cannot but say what you heard them saying because they have tasted power and they saw what they derived.  That is why they are trying to pretend to Nigerians as if they did not know about how things got to the worse condition that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government is now repairing.  Whereas, they were the ones that killed the system to the point APC took it over.

APC planned to take off based on what they handed over but invariably, getting there they discovered that the economy was greatly in shamble.  They (PDP) were not providing the right information to the APC they wanted to hand over to about the state of the economy; even during the transition period, the Buhari’s team was not given the opportunity to know the true state of the economy.  It was after he got to office that a lot of things were discovered to have rotten.

Everyone knew that under them (PDP) the state of Nigerian economy was too bad.  Even most of your people, the media, were writing to express fear about the state of the economy under them adding that anybody that would come and take over after Jonathan will come and take over a seriously damaged economy.  They were saying and writing about it right from their time because they saw the way things were going.  So, it is surprising that those same people are now saying that APC has failed and so that they want to return to power.  In Nigeria or where?! (Laughs)

Now, to fix all of those damages done to the national economy by the PDP people, do you think it is an easy task?  Easily you can destroy things but to rebuild is very difficult job.  And this man (Buhari) from his antecedents is a man of his words.  He is trying to rebuild Nigeria as if there was no Nigeria before.  And when you want to rebuild, a lot of forces will rise against you.

It was during their (PDP) government that I was executive chairman of Agege Local Government and I faced a lot of challenges.  When you want to do good, people are not ready to support you.  Nigerians love good but they don’t want people to do good.  When we see good things we love them but for you to support people that are doing good, Nigerians don’t do that.  And that is because 90 percent of the people are beneficiaries of corruption.  I must be sincere with you.

So, for those who have benefitted from corruption, they will not want corruption to stop.  But for we that know that without killing that corruption we cannot move forward, we should be ready to kill that corruption and at the same time have it behind our minds that the 90 percent who have benefitted from corruption will hate us. It is now left for you that have chosen the path of killing the corruption to remain resolute.  Whether you like it or not, the little ones that will support you will support you and the support of God Almighty will continue to strengthen and given you victory over the enemies.

What would you like to give to Nigerians at the three levels of your political concern, as take home message about your party?

I will like to Nigerian people is that they should continue to have faith in the APC.  Despite the fact that we are seeing some of them that are not doing the right thing, with the leadership in place, everything will be corrected.  So, at the Federal level, the APC government is doing well and so we should continue to have faith in them and vote the APC as Federal Government at all times.

Here in Lagos State I am calling on the people to vote for Governor Akinwumi Ambode.  The governor is doing well, let us vote for him.

In Agege Local Government, the people should vote for Jubril Abdulkareem for the House of Assembly so that we can make the law that will give the executive leverage to continue with the good job he has started and support him to do better.