A former Peoples Democratic Party Chairman in Lagos State, and one of the consistent advocates of good governance within the party Otunba Segun Adewale (Aeroland),who recently picked up the Lagos West Senatorial District form has harped on the need for PDP to unite and rewrite the political history of Lagos,lamenting the excruciating and harrowing experiences of average Lagosians under the APC led administration. Speaks on why Chief Bode George and Governor Makinde’s counsel were the best for the party now in this interview with Olanrewaju Adesanya.
Why are you aspiring for Senatorial seat at this particular time?
Actually getting a political position is not a do or die thing for me because politics is so complex, you will win election and APC knows how to use INEC and the judiciary to steal your sweat, so the main reason I just wanted to contest in this election is that I feel I might not come out anymore but a lot of our people are suffering in Lagos, there is no policy or law from the so called parliamentarians representing us in Abuja or even here in Lagos that cares about people’s welfare,there is no one.
So we are at the mercy of the economy and at the mercy of so many draconian laws. So I thought that somebody should be a voice for the masses and the less privileged.
Most of these people representing us collect allowances for their Senatorial districts running into hundreds of millions every quarter yet we can’t even see them,the one that stole my election twice now is operating in Ogun State while he got the opportunity to serve the people of Lagos from Asiwaju.
So I thought there is a vacuum already we need to go in and fill such that we can get a good representation at the National Assembly, people that will be ready and committed to serve. It is not all about sharing Okada,Grinding machine and tricycles alone but coming up with policies that can affect the lives of our people in their thousands and millions. What can we do? How can we bring the national, federal government presence to Lagos West Senatorial District? How can the constituents feel the impact of the national government?
Such that we will not rely totally on whatever the federal government is giving back to the state. Which to me I believe they have been failing, nobody is feeling the impact of the federal government here so it is just as if, if you are in Lagos West you are on your own. The other senatorial districts are faring well but I am talking about people living in Ajegunle, Badagry and other areas within the district, it is just like they’ve just been abandoned.
What will make the difference this time around because the last time it was alleged that you were rigged out, in spite of the fact that you have the popularity?
If I have the opportunity of contesting this time around I will make sure I tidy up the collation centres, because I was terribly rigged at the collation centre especially in Mushin, Ifako-Ijaiye and Alimosho because none of our agents were there at the collation centres. Even I recorded the issue when the results of the seven local governments came that we won, results from the three others were stepped down. I still have the letter that I wrote to the INEC boss that they should compel them to release the results but what made the matter worse was when Jonathan now announced that he is conceding to Buhari on Sunday and that was the end.
Engineer Deji Doherty now has the delegates who are factors in deciding who gets what as regards the tickets of the party at primaries and you seems to be at loggerheads, how do you plan to make edge way in this circumstance?
Although I’m at loggerheads with Deji Doherty group and my grouse is just to ensure we win at the general election, people are suffering,it shouldn’t be about PDP anymore now, it should rather be about the people of Lagos, the suffering masses in Nigeria. It shouldn’t be about us, I am fighting because I want us to do the right thing that will give us the much desired victory at the poll.
While they are more particular about grabbing the structure and system to themself which will give them the opportunity to make money. I am not about the money some people want to make owing to the position they hold in the party, because Doherty himself using the position as the state Chairman, also vying for the National Secretary seat of the party made a lot of money but I am looking beyond intraparty politics, I am looking at the hundreds of million of people that are in penury now, having lost their businesses because of this particular government so we need to change this government, from the ward, local government, state to national. So that is why I aligned with Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Chief Bode George that we should have a consensus so that it won’t be winner takes all. So we put the positions on the table and everybody come together and we share and amicably. If there are places where some people are not represented let’s look at it all together, but because they have the advantage during the defunct Secondus administration to garner most of the delegates to themselves they believe that they want to go to polls and have an elective Congress. Which we had but was not conclusive, about three or four positions were announced and thirty- five others were not even sorted, collated nor counted and announced, a development which invalidated that exercise.
So if at the end of the day the Abuja people decides to announce that they have won, that means indirectly most of them will make millions, some of them will start living in Ikoyi like their predecessors have done and we will still lose the general election. Same will apply in the state, maybe some Reps that have won their election will win again because members will work against the interests of each other, because at the end of the day you’ve taken the structure then go and win.
Let me tell you in Alimosho alone we have almost 2,000 polling units so in Lagos that means we are talking about more than 20,000 polling units and if we are fighting each other how will one group be able to produce 20,000 polling units officers to man the polling booths? That means we’ve lost, that is the reason why in most of the polling booths there are no PDP agents. That informs why we are losing the elections every four years, you are talking about 20,000 polling unit agents so can one group churn it out? Chief Bode George group cannot produce 20,000 likewise that of Dr. Bimbo Ogunkelu, we have to come together. Not only in producing the state exco but in producing the polling booth agents too.
As I am talking to you now PDP don’t even have a secretariat in Lagos and we want to go and win elections and by extension win Lagos and everybody is claiming that we have won, but we are not even coming together to say okay let us have an office. If the foundation is destroyed what can anybody do and that is why I am fighting, it might cost me my senatorial ticket I don’t mind, I will be happy losing the ticket as a sacrifice for us to come together and win Lagos, produce more Assembly members, produce more Reps and be Governor, I don’t care.
I care more for us taking over Lagos and Nigeria, so if I am fighting for us to unite such that some people will not take advantage of their group to hijack the structure which cannot produce 20,000 polling unit agents alone, that is tantamount to us losing the elections. Because it is the collation of the 20,000 that will give us the Governor, it is the collation of part of it that will give us senate, same will deliver Reps and others.
So in essence given the inconclusive nature of the last state Congress you still await the intervention of the party at the national level, are you asking for cancellation or ?
I am asking for outright cancellation or we all come to a round table to have a consensus if we didn’t agree we then go to the polls, if as terrible as APC is that even inside APC there is implosion but they still have consensus, so what is wrong with us having consensus in Lagos, if APC can have consensus, if the PDP national can have a consensus during our national convention, what is wrong with us having the same thing here? But if all those ones fail then we can go to have an elective Congress. I have no problem, you can imagine even on that day because our emphasis was on Fawole, the vote margin between him and the Aivoji was very close just less than 30 so who told them that if all delegates are ready for an elective Congress they would win?
The margin was just 23 votes for crying out loud and alot of the leadership didn’t even vote, Chief Bode George himself did not vote that is minus one leaving us with 22 and all others, most of the BoT’s did not even vote, that means if the leaders waited and voted we would have won the election.
But we did not even bother ourselves to vote we just said for record purposes let’s make sure that the remaining people around vote for Fawole only because we were not interested in elective congress, our emphasis right there was that if they are shifting the goal post in the middle of the game let us make an impression, we were not really there for Fawole to win and if the margin between the candidate of those with the delegates and Fawole was just 23, I am not even sure I can be defeated during the senatorial primaries. I know my decision to align with Governor Makinde and Chief Bode George on the need for us to reach a consensus is giving the people that believe they have the advantage of the delegates sleepless nights.
Till date INEC has no data or results to give to the party’s NEC that is why we are stranded, we need to fix another date and vote, sort, count and announce since you claimed you have majority of the delegates let’s have a fresh congress,where the constitutional procedures will be adhered to.
Some hated me for that, some will prefer that APC win even within PDP now, so I am surprised that is how bad it is now in PDP, I don’t know what they want, I was branded a violent person in time past all because I stood for what I perceived is the right thing for 11 years but I discovered those against me get their say at the polls even after I emerged victorious at primaries they ended up scuttling the progression at polls because they were against me, back then I had issues with Chief Bode George who advocated the need for consensus on principles, but at close quarters I realized what he was saying- importance of working as one formidable party. I then felt it is important to yield to the counsel of Governor Makinde that we come together and I did but I am surprised that people are now on the opposing side for me it is a shock. What do we really want? Our combined force in Lagos State cannot even handle Tinubu.
They can’t even handle him at regional level let alone the national. In Nigeria,he singlehandedly produced Buhari twice that is the person you are fighting with a divided house, they have Governors,Senators,Reps, House of Assemblies, Local Governments Chairmen, councillors and what have you. While I was the chairman Lagos PDP because of the path I toed a lot of people were against me believing that I am a traitor that I am supposed to be on their part and be fighting the leadership I can’t continue on that turf, while I was vehemently toeing that path 99 per cent of those against me now were beneficiaries, I joined the leadership particularly Chief Bode George not because I benefited anything but because we want to win Lagos.
Everybody should come together so you that were ministers, chairman of a board, chairman PDP under him. You bought houses in Ikoyi, you became billionaire under him and now you guys are fighting him. They are the one who betrayed him, I did not betray anyone, because I feel that we should come together as one. We should harmonize and reach a consensus and if we now decided that we don’t want consensus then we go to the field. So if we are defeated in a normal election we will know that this people are the majority but not in a congress where we agreed to have a consensus and in the middle of the process around 11-12pm you decided that it would be an elective one and later when you are counting, you counted only four and the 35 remaining ballot boxes was not announced and I even complained that for the 35 ballot boxes let’s have the agents representing Fawole and all other candidates follow it and be sure that there is no other ballot papers of Fawole and others there,because there is the need to first sort out the papers before counting. You did not sort out but only counted ballot boxes 1,2,3,4 and you left, so that invalidated the election on it own, as our plea was refused.
How can you go and count and announce result on your own without the representatives of the people contesting to verify the ballot papers?
That was not allowed and you want to announce that Congress was held in Lagos,it would divide the party. In fact when Doherty became Chairman the party was more polarized than ever before, it was just too much so that shows that emphasis of Doherty is just to make money.
Reinventing the will in the absence of Jonathan factor as in 2015,how possible now that the federal might is no longer available and the internal wrangling persists?
I don’t think so, I think I was the factor then,people say it was a coincidence if true what now happened in 2019? In 2015 we had eight Assembly members and six Reps members, some believed I didn’t contribute no problems but I know that I did contributed and worked tirelessly. In fact let me tell you today we won in ten local governments that is why if you go to INEC today, when you ask that you want to see the result of 2015, they will not give you. We won in the ten local governments same goes for the assembly seats but they choose to give the few that was declared in our favour. In 2019 I didn’t contest, I came back from Ekiti but decided not to contest because I was really angry because some people were saying they did it on their own back then, that was why I felt okay if you did it on your own go and win this time around, and from 8 Assembly members we don’t have one, from 6 Reps we only had two. The sixth only got lucky sharing boundary with Ijora Badia and Co in the Surulere axis, so our victory trickled towards that side too but people believed it is not Aeroland and I said okay so in 2019, we allowed them be and the records are there for all to see. It is not me or Jonathan per se but all those in the Senatorial District worked together as one. I was the one leading them imagine Atiku even did more than Jonathan, when the kind of money we have not seen before was in circulation. Then we have enough money to win anything but at the end of the day the money was stolen.
We couldn’t win in 2015 in spite of the where withal and federal might because we were not together, the trickle of victories recorded only surfaced where we worked as a team and that was in Lagos West Senatorial District. I campaigned with all our candidates even within Oshodi where you have MC Oluomo, Ajegunle,Badagry,Ojo and more, that was not the case in 2019 even the governorship candidate could not campaign in Oshodi and other areas how do you want to win without rigorous campaigns? When there was no unity nor cohesion, so it is the matter of unity, cohesion that I am fighting for now.
I would rather lose at the primary because I am going to still maintain my stand let them vote me out for that than for me to win the primaries, become a candidate and there will be no platform upon which victory can be feasible, because without us coming together we will be defeated no matter the amount of billions given to the party,you need people to help man your electoral progression. The polling units is even more than 20,000, you need about forty thousand people a minimum of two per polling unit, so if one of your agents decided to work with APC, the second one would say no, you need two so if you don’t have it how do you intend to win elections ? We need to come together, we need to raise money first have an office, call all the warring factions together, what do you want? All of you cannot be youth Leader, woman leader and more it can’t work. That is the reason we are very active at congresses in PDP but docile on the day of election.
Is it right to say what the APC has been saying about the PDP being non existent in Lagos state is true,going by all you have cited lack of unity,oneness cohesion and all that does PDP exist at all?
PDP exist in Lagos but within ourselves moves to grab positions of power and get wealth through it caused the mess we are in and PDP is not existing for the people that is the reason I am clamouring for us to come together and exist for ourselves and for the people.
This party since I joined we can’t even count ourselves during the elections, we can’t count our finances before and after election and during the elections we can’t even count our votes. So if we can’t count ourselves,we can’t count our money, we can’t count our votes how are we going to win? Emphasis of alot of people in PDP is to grab political power inside PDP to make money, to hell with general elections.
When I was the Chairman of PDP in Lagos it was divided this same Doherty and co went to Labour party all against me you are much aware. I singlehandedly fought and we had six councillors when the party was divided, when the party was now together under Doherty we managed to have one councillor, the second one that won in Amuwo got his ticket back via a lawyer that I contacted to get the victory restored so where was the energy?
I am in Alimosho and I want to win even on election day PDP members will go and join Accord and Labour to ensure they thwart our efforts that is it. Seeing that we are about doing the same thing in 2023 that is why I am saying that let us come together.
Don’t follow Doherty. Doherty wants to be chairman he contested for chairman the second time they collected money from Governor Makinde, he said he want to do National Secretary he stepped down collected money from Tambuwal so if the same Doherty wants to be Governor who says he would not collect money again?
That is the point and now he is saying he wants to be Governor, so we have lost it again if granted and people still follow him gullibly all because they too want to make money through him and they’ve forgot that if they make money privately that does not translate into millions of people that are suffering within the party. Let’s go and get Alausa and for that we need to sit down and fight on the table to share and be happy with ourselves. If we are not happy with ourselves we cannot win this election. We can’t raise 40,000 people at the polling units.
Contrary to your stance we have been winning elections but PDP had been the one APC is using to truncate those elections at the polling units and the collation centres. I have won election in Alimosho where the person representing me told them I lost. Though INEC results showed we won but my collation agent denied it, so we are winning but PDP is the one winning for APC and to forestall that happening again having the understanding of the game and I don’t want us to lose again that is why I say let’s come together.
I collected the Senatorial forms which is close to 4million naira with the believe that before the general election we will come together I might lose the primary but let whoever wins go ahead and also win in the general election. Not to win because you want to collect money from the presidential candidate. I have seen my Reps in Mushin who sold out to a disabled person who did not even contest. He ran away with election monies collected from PDP and APC, since 2015 till today I have not seen him same happened in Alimosho the Reps there collected almost about 300million and at the end of the day went about the polling units to retrieve the 10-20m given earlier back. So those are the kind of people we have in the party.