Omoniyi Salaudeen
Ahead of the inauguration of the Next Level administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, speculations are rife about the composition of his new cabinet.
In this interview, Senator Fatimah Raji Rasaki, an ardent supporter of the president, berated political hangers-on who are parading the corridors of power, suggesting that only trusted and seasoned technocrats should be considered for ministerial appointments to help the new administration deliver on its electoral promises.
You are one of those people who worked assiduously for the re-election of President Buhari in Ekiti State. What is your expectation of the next level of the administration?
The president should be ready to take the bull by the horns and go out of his way to pick those people who are competent among those that worked for him to make his new cabinet. There are a lot of hangers-on who have relocated to Abuja now and desperately looking for one position or the other. He should run a security check on all these people so that they will not be a cog in the wheel of his progress in his second coming. He should try and work with those people who are loyal to him so that they will be on the same page in order to take the country to the next level. He must look for a round peg in a round hole in terms of seasoned technocrats that can assist him to put the county on the path of enviable glory.
But during the primaries of your party, you were denied the return ticket as earlier promised by the president. How did you feel?
As a human being, l felt bad. At that level, l believe that if you give a promise, it should be fulfilled since l did my own part. When l got to my state, it was a different ballgame. Some people believe that they are all in all in the party and they are an Island who can do whatever they like. This set of people believe that no matter what was agreed in Abuja cannot be binding on them as a party. Unfortunately, this set of people have nothing to offer in terms of contribution and mobilisation to win an election until l joined the party and brought in my political experience which in a very big way assisted us to win the gubernatorial race in the state. Everybody knows the political integration of Fayose and my constituency – Ekiti Central – which encompasses Ado Ekiti, the state capital. It was a keen political battle which with the people at the grassroots as my pillar we won.
The most interesting aspect of it was that when the chips were down, the so-called people who said they are the owners of the party and that Abuja could not dictate to them were found wanting when it matters most. They could not mobilise the people to vote, they had to rely on people like us to do that. As a party loyalist, l did not want the president to see me as a spoiler. Therefore, whatever political scheming the party did to me, l took it in a philosophical way that if we could win all our elections, there would always be other positions.
The Senator-elect, Opeyemi Bamidele, who is from the same constituency with you was not on ground in the build up to the National Assembly election in the state, yet he won the election. What would you attribute this success to?
Everybody knew in the state that Opeyemi Bamidele was incapacitated and could not move around as he would have done due to his health condition. But with the help of the party and my people at the grassroots who believe in me, we all went out to campaign for him. As a serving Senator, l campaigned vigorously that anything they did was for me. Even some of my supporters who thought that l had been cheated was of the opinion that l should play a spoiler’s role. But l told them that in party politics, the party decision is supreme, no matter how unfavourable it may be. I told them that we should work for the success of the party so that posterity would be on our side. Thank God that l took that decision and l am happy that the president appreciates my little contribution towards his electoral victory.
You dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for APC. Do you have any regret so far?
No, I have no regret as long as President Muhammadu Buhari appreciates my little contribution towards his victory. In the National Assembly, we had a group that was supporting the aspiration of the president then, though we were not from the same party. One day, we had cause to visit the president and l told him that ‘though we are not in the same party, but l will always support his aspiration because we are from the same constituency.’ The president is from the same military background with my husband. Therefore, there is a meeting point and l cannot do otherwise.
When my husband was contacted, he told me straight that the president was his boss and that l have no choice than to support his political aspiration no matter the party affiliation. Politics is a dynamic game and at times all things work for good. The PDP then in my state was more or less a theatre of war. There was only an emperor that symbolised the governor of the state who did not want to recognise anything about party politics. He was all in all, nobody could talk to him and anybody who had any meaningful opinion that was contrary to his view was tagged an enemy. There were about four factions of the same party in the state. It was a chaotic situation, no respect for elders of the party. Because of what the few ones who called themselves executive of the party were benefitting from the crumbs from the table of the master, only the governor was dictating where the party was going. No meetings, no discussion, no dialogue, there was no rallying point. In fact, things fell apart to the extent that the centre could not hold. At this stage, l had no choice than to leave the party for APC. When l joined the APC, some people thought that l was committing a political suicide, but l had made up my mind and there was no turning back. A lot of offers were made, including the promise of a return ticket to those of us in the National Assembly if we support the political aspiration of the president then. That was why immediately l decamped; l went home to my constituency because l carried them along as l was negotiating. l told them that l was fully ready to work for the re-election bid of the president. I am happy that l was able to mobilise and actualise this dream.
The All progressive Congress (APC) is now in full control of Ekiti State. What do you think can be done to erase the agony of the past?
Since Ekiti State has just emerged from a previous reign of terror and perfidy which nobody will ever pray for again, it is very pertinent that the APC should try to run an all inclusive government where everybody will have a sense of belonging.
Ekiti people have witnessed the year of holocaust and uncertainty when Fayose was the governor. This time around, the music has changed for the better, likewise the dancing step. APC should prove to the people that it is different, that it has a mission and a purpose in government. That purpose should be tenaciously followed so that all those who worked for the party are integrated. Also, the party should avoid the pitfalls of the past where hangers-on who contributed nothing to the success of the party were parading themselves as warlords over the party. The party should make sure that it has a listening ear to all the needs and aspirations of the people, particularly in the area of employment generation in order to ban poverty and penury from the state.
There are many tendencies within the ruling APC in the state. What do you think needs to be done to close the ranks?
We should be able to tell ourselves the naked truth. All members of the party knew that without the contribution of the forces that joined the party at the tail end, success could have eluded the party. Therefore, the party should go back to the drawing board, give everybody a common sense of belonging, identify all those who contributed to the success of the party and rally them together for a common aspiration and future electoral success. Those few people who thought that they were an Island and the owner of the party should realise that a tree cannot make a forest. These are the people who were nowhere to be found when the chips were down. If we did not put all the political machinery that we assembled, it could have been difficult to beat the incumbent governor. We need to have a round table discussion and tell ourselves the bitter truth so that we can move forward. Another four years is lurking around the corner and there will be another election. The earlier we harmonise and come together as a force, the better it will assist us in our future elections.
How would you summarise the last tenure of Governor Fayose in the state taking into cognisance that you were once in the same party-PDP?
The people of Ekiti State was very unlucky to have witnessed such a draconian era in their history when Fayose was their governor. It was a whole four years in the wilderness. When he wanted to come back to the party the second time, l was one of those who took him round to sell his candidacy that he had changed. But along the line, he pretended to have learnt his lessons and perhaps coming back to make a difference. But alas, he came back as an emperor and grounded everything that was good in the state. He had no single manifesto to follow, he will just wake up from the bed and whatever idea that ran in his head was what he followed. We thought that he would be matured and take Ekiti State to a greater height, but unfortunately he did not understand anything about good governance. The money he spent on the so-called overhead bridge he built could have turned around the fortune of the state in terms of economic viability and the multiplier effect could have been massive. But he left a legacy of poor governance and political clownish. If he had a dream of eating corn, behold, immediately he wakes up, he would drag all the state apparatus out and be looking for where they are selling fresh corn. And before you knew it, that was what would be done for that day. In fact, Fayose era was like a bad dream that nobody would ever pray to experience again in Ekiti.