By Brown Chimezie
Chief Abayomi Tella is the former National Executive Committee member of Peoples Democratic Party(PDP).
Recently, the PDP chieftain spoke about pertinent issues affecting the party and concluded that PDP would win the 2023 Presidential election, not withstanding the antics of Governor Wike and other three PDP governors. He spoke on various issues.
What are the chances of Atiku Abubakar winning the 2023 Presidential election on the platform of PDP?
Number one, you would agree with me that majority of the Nigerian electorate do not want to hear anything APC now because of the calamities their government has brought to the people of Nigeria, ranging from insecurity, hunger and poverty amongst others; this is a bitter truth. Atiku”s chances would range from here. All Nigerians would resist all efforts to tamper with the INEC chairman’s removal as being speculated; we would also resist the plan to change Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to return us back to the olden days when rigging was popular.
The APC rigging machinery has come to the understanding that you cannot rig under the BVAS system as this was evident in Ekiti and recent Osun election. As Asiwaju Tinubu tried hard in his state, Osun and yet lost to the PDP under a free and fair election, Atiku will win with large margin.
Again unequivocally, Atiku is a unifier and that he has displayed several times then, when the likes of Tinubu were rejecting restructuring, Atiku has always supported restructuring and of course, Nigerians know all of this. We do not need a mediocre to lead us. Thirdly, some unpatriotic Nigerians say Atiku is a Fulani trying to succeed another Fulani, only gullible people will say this, it is time to appreciate competency and stop promoting ethnics and religious bigotry; Atiku understands our problems and he is up to the task to solve it with the support of Nigerians. As I talk to you today, the British Prime Minister is an Indian, not only that , he is also a Hindu man by religion yet no one in Britain cares because they trust in his abilities to deliver. All we are concerned about is to elect someone who can lead the country aright. The era of tribalism should be over.
Today, if you assess the presidential aspirants, apart from the media hype and propaganda, Atiku remained the only candidate to beat. Every structure of the Nigeria state is nearly in comatose under this government; the APC National leader Tinubu according to his statement in Abeokuta majorly supported this government to take power in 2015; the question now is why has he not proffered the solutions he is having now to contest for President to his party over 7 years ago, rather he left Nigerian to suffer for over 7years; we need a sound and competent person to revamp Nigeria and clear all the mess created by him and his party.
Another bright person whom I think could be president of this country in the future is Peter Obi but I think the time is not yet ripe for him. Recall that anywhere he meets Atiku, he always refers to him as his leader meaning that Obi equally knows that Atiku is the most qualified candidate to rule Nigeria now.
The fact remains that Nigeria is too big to be ruled without a requisite structure. For example, where is the structure of Labour party in Ogun State? The governorship candidate of Labour party in Ogun, my respected brother and friend, Kehinde Shogunle, highly cerebral and an erudite scholar but where is the structure he is going to use to propel him to victory? When you think of the people clamouring for Obi, they are mostly from the South East and it is understandable because they believe it is their turn to produce the President. But the reality is that when you are in the minority, you need God, goodwill and the people to succeed. You don’t need to whip religious or ethnic sentiments because that can never give it to you. I want to give you a typical example from Ogun West Senatorial district in Ogun State where I came from; it will take the Grace of God for us to produce governor because the two other Senatorial districts, Ogun East and Central has 9 and 6 local governments, whereas the West has only 5 local governments; the meaning is that we are the minority in the state and as a result, since the creation of Ogun, we have not been able to produce governor; the only time we were close to call was in the last election but we lost that chance due to infighting as one of our prominent sons wasted over 100000 votes while we were beaten with just 19000 votes. But surely with the support and confidence of the other two Senatorial districts, we will get there soon as that is the way to go. So the Igbo people deserve to be President, yes but is that possible with five states without alliance with other geopolitical zones, the answer is no. They cannot be President with five states, so they need people to support them to succeed not by sentiments. What Obi is enjoying today is called street popularity which may not necessarily translate into the required votes at the end of the day considering how many states the so called popularity is visible.
When you look at the emergence of Peter Obi and his popularity, do you see this as a threat to Atiku’s ambition?
The truth of the matter is that politics is a game of numbers; I do not see Obi as a threat but of course, he is loved by some people, majorly from his clan but see the level of movement from APC to PDP especially in the North. The majority of the people backing Obi are from the East in the Southern part of the country, when you holistically look at the strength of votes where could be considered as Atiku and Obi’s strongholds, Atiku is far ahead of other candidates including Tinubu.
What about Kwakwanso? Won’t he also erode some of PDP stronghold in the North?
The Kwakansiya movement cannot be underestimated that is the truth but the interest of Nigerians goes beyond that of an individual. Alhaji Atiku would have unexpected high votes even in Rivers, Benue, Abia and Oyo despite efforts of some people to sabotage his chances in those states. Those individuals can’t speak for every electorate, why do some governors lose election in their state with power of incumbency? They could have rigged but with the BVAS machine, rigging is impossible now, all votes will and must count. Gone are those dark days they will mobilize machineries to snatch ballot boxes but today every vote counts. That is the beauty of BVAS. For Kwakansiya, yes, they are mostly in Kano and for a Shekarau to pull out, which would also affect Kwakwansiya’s movement. What I know in this election is that Nigeria is going to elect good leaders because their votes are surely going to count this time around.
Won’t the rift between Atiku, Gov Wike and other 3 governors affect his chances in the election?
My personal opinion is that Abia from 1999 for example has been a PDP state and this temporary fight won’t change that narrative. As far as I am concerned, Abia will vote Atiku ditto, Benue and I have told you about Oyo State and also mentioned Rivers. However, it would be nice if these governors who are leaders of PDP could have a rethink and come back home. I am using this medium to appeal to His Excellency, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to use his father figure and allow further room for reconciliation between Dr Iyorchia Ayu and others. For me, I am against Dr Iyorchia Ayu resigning as a panacea for reconciliation, a southerner was chairman of PDP when Obasanjo became president and the northerners never complained.
Tell us why you want to represent Ado Ota Constituency 2 in Ogun State House of Assemby
I am not new to government and governance. I have been sworn in 3 times as chairman of Ado-odo/Ota local Government.
Things I think would work for me include my performances when I was the council chairman and secondly my manifesto to take the cosmopolitan constituency to reckoning. Also the people have been commending me for a job well done while I was in office as chairman and they have scored me between 65 to 70% in this regard which is far above average. Then again, my personal relationship with people will also help. I have virtually spent all my years of existence in my constituency from my elementary period up till when I became a Masters holder, it has always been around here. So I am a grassroots man.
And what is representation all about?
You knowing your people and people knowing you well and your capabilities.
That’s why in my manifesto, first in my agenda is “Effective feedback mechanism “ because that is what people, most people representing us today have been missing out; there is no how you can be representing the people and for a whole year or more, you will not visit the constituency to know what issues or problems they are facing. I live in the midst of my constituents and as such, I know their problems and how to solve it.
As a council chairman, I went round the whole council areas campaigning and also commissioning projects and up until now, the projects remain visible in the areas.
What’s Ogun State PDP chance of winning the election?
Just as I mentioned earlier, Nigerians are tired of APC. The major problem we have in Ogun State with the ruling party is that governance is far from the people, they have rendered local government administration comatose. The people that took over from me are good but they lack support needed perhaps because of bad policies of the government they’ve been serving with. Under the PDP led by Otunba Gbenga Daniel, OGD policies regarding local governments are people-oriented and friendly, we got the required support from the governor, as such good performance was institutionalized, so we are able to key in and we performed well. The incoming governor, Oladipupo Adebutu will also leverage on this and return the local governments to the people to allow for developments at the grassroots level for the betterment of our people.
What’s your take on Suspension of PDP Guber candidate, Jimi Lawal from the party?
If you are part of the people that built a house, you will find it difficult to destroy same house that you built with your sweat. Jimi Lawal joined this party barely 3 months ago; I don’t know if he has a waiver to contest this election but let’s assume he has a waiver, why should he doctor delegates list and also forge documents as reported recently?
The information we gathered and of course his activities since joining PDP suggest that Lawal does not have the genuine intention to pursue the governorship ambition but we learnt that he is been used by the ruling party in the state to destabilize PDP and don’t forget Lawal is an ally of Governor El Rufai of Kaduna State who is also a chieftain of APC; he affirmed this fact at a meeting in Ota.
Well the good thing is that the weeds are being separated from the chaff and this will make the party stronger as the 2023 election approaches. I would not like to talk much about his case as some of the issues are before the courts of competent jurisdictions. All I like to tell the Ogun people is that come 2023, Ladi Adebutu will be on the ballot and by God’s Grace, he will become their governor as they have always wished.
In conclusion, I would like to appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to preserve his legacy and ensure a free and fair election by stamping his feet and make sure the BVAS machines are used for the 2023 elections so that the Nigerian electorate votes can count. This will in no small way be his standing legacy after the end of his tenure in 2023.