Authentic Yoruba Leaders Have Endorsed Atiku As Next President – Babatope
Osinbajo’s comment on 2023 Presidency, a personal opinion Chief Ebenezer Babatope is one of the prominent politicians in the SouthWest and a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The former National Secretary of the PDP in this interview with Dail
Chief Ebenezer Babatope is one of the prominent politicians in the South-West and a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The former National Secretary of the PDP in this interview with Daily Trust
on Sunday speaks on sundry issues on the forthcoming 2019 election and the chances of the PDP. He also bares his mind on the raging debate over which zone will take over from the North in the 2023 Presidential election.
What do you make of the comment by the Vice-President that the Yoruba should vote for APC in 2019 to regain power in 2023? I do not think much about that statement. It is a political statement made by the VicePresident. He has a right as a politician of the APC to make that statement but all I know is that the Yoruba people will vote for a candidate that is credible; a candidate that will guarantee them free and fair election and a candidate that will serve their interest. I don’t subscribe to that statement that the Yoruba should vote Buhari because they want the position in 2023.
I don’t agree at all. I know that the Yoruba will vote very well. They will vote according to their conscience and they will vote for somebody that they can rely upon. Atiku Abubakar has already given his undertaking that he is going to support restructuring, a restructuring that will not upset the balance of the federalism that we operate; a restructuring that will give the people of Nigeria a fair hearing and a clear chart.
So what the VP has said is a matter of his own opinion. It doesn’t represent the view of the Yoruba people. The statement does not hold water at all. I have nothing against the Vice-President of the country, I have nothing at all. Don’t forget he is in-law to Awolowo and the Awolowos is a credible family in this country. All I know is that the Yoruba people will vote for somebody who will carry them along in matters that affect the general interest of the Yoruba people and that of the Nigerian people.
But some people believe the PDP in the South-West is not really united to take over power from the APC because of discordant tunes among some of your chieftains?
The PDP is united, we did a colloquium that brought the Yoruba leaders together and we expressed our wish that we want Atiku to be president and we have told the Yoruba people to go and vote for Atiku and they should not vote for any other person. We are going to see the result very soon.
How do you see the manner in which the campaign of Atiku is being conducted, some people are saying they are not being carried along?
Nobody can accuse Atiku Abubakar of not carrying them along. We have to organize our region very well so that we can even carry Atiku along with us. I can assure you that we are very much united and we don’t speak in discordant note and we are speaking with one voice, with firmness that the Yoruba people will vote for Atiku Abubakar who has promised to restructure the country.
Atiku is a party man and Atiku will abide by whatever the party decides. But then Atiku is a candidate that nobody can rubbish and I know that he will never rubbish the South-West. He knows the South-West people are determined to have restructuring even if there are dissenting opinions, those dissenting opinions are nowhere near the determination to have restructuring and he has supported it. He knows that it is the legitimate aspiration of the South-West to have restructuring. And the restructuring is not one that will undermine the federal nature of our country but the one that will consolidate our federalism and that will ensure that all regions of the country move forward in a manner that suits the best interest of their areas.
But a faction of Afenifere recently endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari for the 2019 presidency?
Any person or group of persons has the right to say what they want to say. Don’t forget that there was this colloquium held in Lagos by the South-West PDP which brought together Yoruba leaders where we endorsed Atiku. If the other side said they are endorsing Buhari, fine. What we know is that the authentic Yoruba people that met at the colloquium at the Muson Centre in Lagos, most of them had worked under the leadership of Obafemi Awolowo. As I see it the endorsement of Buhari you are talking about was the APC’s reply to the colloquium that was organized by Chief Bode George and the South-West PDP.
We have taken a position to support Atiku because Atiku has come out clearly to endorse the programme of the Yoruba people.
Do you see the South-West being sufficiently compensated with the Atiku presidency?
I can assure you that the South-West will not be rubbished in the coming dispensation. We will fight all within the party. It is an inner party struggle and we will fight within the party, within the PDP to ensure that the South-West is not cheated and I want to assure you that we will not be cheated. Don’t forget that Atiku Abubakar is married to a Yoruba woman, an Ilesha woman for that matter. His wife Titi is an Ilesha woman and there is no doubt by which he can say, Titi Abubakar, the wife of Atiku Abubakar should go and sit down somewhere… So we are going to have our share in the South-West. The mere fact that some people conspired to rub the SouthWest does not mean that they are going to be having their way all through like that because we are united now in forging a formidable front to remove Buhari from power. And when the APC led by Buhari defeated us in the 2015 election, we agreed. The then President submitted to defeat and surrendered power. The APC people including Buhari are now finding it difficult to abide by the supreme will of the Nigerian people, that is why they are beating about the bush, they have not signed the Electoral Bill and all kinds of things. I know very well that the truth will prevail and we will triumph in the election with Atiku Abubakar as the President by the grace of God.
Some people believe the APC government led by Buhari has done so much for the South-West. For instance there is the case of Lagos-Ibadan expressway which is ongoing under Buhari and the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail. What do you say to this?
The APC lays claim to what does not belong to them. The Lagos-Ibadan express road was started by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan of the PDP and the standard gauge that you are talking about was started by the Abacha regime with me as Minister of Transport and Aviation. That is the truth of the matter. In any case what they claimed they want to complete is what was started by others.
Talking about the running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, it appears some governors in the South-East and SouthSouth are not happy with the choice of Peter Obi and they are even threatening to work against the interest of the party, what would be your appeal to the aggrieved governors?
I can assure you that there is no dissenting voice about Atiku’s choice of running mate from the South-East and if anything at all, this is an inner party affair and political party system gives allowance to inner party struggle for power. We are going to resolve everything and the party knows where the shoe is pinching Nigerians. I want to assure you that the PDP will resolve all the issues and when they resolve the issues, it would be in the interest of Nigerians. Don’t forget that all these governors you are talking about, they are human beings. Look at what is happening in Akwa Ibom, APC has declared war in Akwa Ibom. They want the Akwa Ibom governor to surrender to them, it won’t happen. And the same thing is happening in almost all PDP states. Any PDP governor that says he wants to go and collaborate with the APC will find himself to blame because he would be embarking on a wild goose chase. We are going to resolve all our issues and we are going to solve all our problems. For example, there is a new trail being blazed now by the Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriaka Dickson. And with him and others like him, we are going to have consolidated PDP cohesion.
We know that the APC does not want to leave power, Buhari does not want to leave power but posterity will compel them to bow down to the reality on the ground.
But do you have confidence in the ability of INEC to conduct free and fair elections in 2019?
INEC has to justify itself as a group that can be relied upon. You can imagine INEC saying, “ASUU strike will have effect on election.” We believe that INEC must do its job very well in a way that free elections, fair elections are guaranteed.