Bamidele: Why Voters Still Prefer APC
Aformer member of the House of Representatives and governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State, Opeyemi Bamidele, says come 2019, APC will remain the party of choice because it is not in government to steal. He sp
President Muhammadu Buhari has been in London for a couple of months. Will this not work against your party? In what way? Since President Buhari left Nigeria, government has not shut down unlike when the late President Umaru Yar’Adua had similar problem in 2009. When Buhari was leaving for medical trip on May 7, 2017, he sincerely transmitted power to the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, a capable hand. The Acting President has not disappointed Nigerians. He has carried out several policies to show that the presidency is still agile and functional. We even thank God that our president will return very soon to his table and begin his service to the nation. It could have been a different ball game if he had refused to transmit power the way the PDP treated Nigerians and took them for a ride. APC didn’t come to power to steal but to sanitise the system and Nigerians are already aware of this. To us in APC, Buhari’s giant strides in anti-corruption war, war against Boko Haram and the series of bailouts he has given to states to pay salaries will work in our favour. To us in APC and other reasonable Nigerians, Buhari’s presidency is a plus to our chances in Ekiti the way it happened in Edo and Ondo states.
You were invested as a patron of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Ekiti chapter. Was it part of the political strategies ahead of 2019? This investiture has nothing to do with politics or someone being a professional colleague in pharmaceutical line. It is about what you have offered to the society. Don’t forget that other eminent Nigerians were honoured by the prestigious medical body. They included the founder of Afe Babalola University and erudite lawyer, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), former Secretary of Health during the military government of Gen Ibrahim Badamasi Banbangida, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Wole Olanipekun. Recall that the PSN National President, Ahmed Yakassai while presenting the award said that it was based on my contributions to national development in terms of service to the people and the development of humanity. They said they appreciated my contributions to Nigeria and Ekiti State while at the National Assembly between 2011 and 2015 where I served as Chairman, Ad Hoc Committee on Media and Public Affairs and later Chairman, House Committee on Legislative Budget and Research. During that time I built two ultra modern medical facilities in Ado Ekiti and Igede. If you get to the one in Ado Ekiti, it can rival any other hospital around here. I did not only build, I put all the equipment and facilities in place.
Yakassai made mention of this achievement even when I didn’t make mention of it in my citation to them. I have served this country in so many capacities, I had been students’ leader, a commissioner and federal legislator. I want to appreciate the pharmacists for this honour. Pharmacy is one profession I respect, because my wife is a professional in that field. She has practised for 31 years in USA. She was licensed to practice in two states in US and that accounted for why I took the award with humility while also returning glory to God.
After the award, you visited your campaign office. When are you making formal declaration for the governorship seat? I only visited the place to assess the level of work done. But let me say this, having such palatial campaign office is enough body language that I will contest the governorship seat in 2018. As an experienced politician, I understand that there must be a place where my supporters can converge and intensify the legwork in our quest to get the ticket of the APC at the primary. You know we are going to be dealing with over 3,000 delegates and so that shows that we have enormous task ahead of us but I am not new in the game. I understand the terrain and I contested in 2014, so I am in a familiar path and by the grace of God, we shall navigate the path and come out victorious. It is one race we are going to pursue with vigour and all our strength, but not a do-or-die way because I don’t belong to that category of politicians that will kill or main or inflict injuries on the people to win party’s ticket.
Why do you choose APC that is divided against itself? Will that not jeopardise your chance? I am not too naïve to know that politics is about interest and conflict management. There is no way there won’t be conflict when people are having different and non-aligning interests and that is the situation we find ourselves. I don’t know what you meant by division, do you mean caucuses? Caucuses are allowed in a party and what you see the leaders doing was to create caucuses that will drive the vision and mission of our dear party. And if you call it rancour, let me assure you that all the differences among our gladiators in APC will be resolved to afford the party the chances of approaching the battle with well-fortified and united front. All the leaders are together. I interact freely with my brother and leader, Otunba Niyi Adebayo. I interact with our minister and former governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi and Chief Segun Oni and other leaders, particularly members of the state working committee led by Chief Jide Awe and all these leaders always interact with one another. Whatever crisis we have is not beyond what we can settle. We are all brothers with the same vision to make Ekiti great .
You contested the last election and lost and today you are back to your root in APC. What do you think qualifies you better than other contestants? In terms of antecedents and experience in governance, I am the best for Ekiti. There is no doubt about that. I have what it takes to win the party’s ticket, confront the PDP in the forthcoming poll and win resoundingly based on my antecedents and progressive politicking since 1999. People are just talking about the ticket, but election is broader than this. Getting the party’s ticket is not the end of the battle, it is just the beginning. You may win the party’s ticket and lose flatly in the general election and that is what the APC must think about deeply.
The governorship poll is not going to be contested on the basis of emotions, but on the basis of antecedents, records and what you can offer. The beauty of it is that, all the aspirants shall have the opportunity to tell the party and Ekiti people what we have in our manifestos. During my sojourn in Lagos, I served as special adviser, political matters. commissioner for sports and youth development and commissioner for information. During those years, I worked with 27 permanent secretaries and 76 directors among countless of staff. So, human management has been part of my life. I have also practised law for 25 years. Am contesting this election based on loaded experience on my side. I am prepared to win the ticket because our party too knew my values. We will tell our party people what our manifesto is. We will tell them how we intend to tackle the challenges of youth unemployment, the debilitating and depreciating health sector, the dwindling education sector, the non-payment of salaries to our people, because workers deserve their wages and how we will cooperate with President Muhammadu Buhari to fight corruption, because this government is passionate about reducing graft to the barest minimum and it has reflected in the ways some people who were regarded as sacred cows are being made to account for their past misdeeds through prosecution.
Your party has about 40 aspirants jostling for the ticket. Don’t you think this may cause internal crisis? People have expressed serious concerns about this, but to me it is a non-issue. The large number of aspirants in APC won’t spell a doom for the party, rather it will fortify it more. The large number shows that the APC has a lot of qualified hands. I see nothing negative about this. All I have fear for is how the party will manage the primary and once the primary is well managed in a credible and acceptable manner, the rest is immaterial. In Ondo State, the party has over 20 aspirants. However, there was crisis which should have been managed better but the party still won, so APC is going into this election based on solid background of our belief in progressive politicking and not on the basis of propaganda of the PDP. The PDP is in the saddle in Ekiti, can you compare it with what we had under the APC government during Adebayo and Fayemi? The answer is no. APC runs an organized government and it is on that basis that Ekiti will vote. In brevity, let there be transparent primary and once that is assured, APC is going to the election to win and not to participate.