Former Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party in Osun state and Ex-Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Fatai Akinade Akinbade, in this interview speaks on a wide ranges of issues including the current crisis rocking the PDP, assessment of two-year old government of President Bola Tinubu, declaration of State of Emergency in Rivers State, among others. Hammed Shittu brings excerpts:
In view of the present situation in the PDP in the country now, being the major opposition party ,what is your hope about the party getting back on its feet ahead of the 2027 general elections?
Well, thank you very much. When you look at the party, you know it’s a party that has a very broad base. The only problem we’re having is the leadership. And I want to tell you that even the ruling APC does not have the kind of followership that PDP is having. And I want to assure you that whenever that single man is fished out, you will see major positive changes because people are everywhere in all the wards, in all the polling areas, so it’s difficult for PDP to just go down the drain like that. I believe that with time the leadership will come together and get somebody that will fix the problems.
With some of these issues we have highlighted between now and 2027, are there hopes that PDP in alliance with some other political parties can make it in 2027 general election?
It’s not impossible. It is very possible that the alignment will come. But let me tell you, alignment or no alignment, you know, I’m one of the foundation members of PDP and there are so many times that some of us have left the party for another party.
So, when people decided to leave PDP for whatever reason as it’s being currently experienced, the party will always bounce back, it’s not new it has happened several times before now. The fact of this issue is that the PDP has so many things to make it bounce back. It’s purely a democratic party.
Honestly, unlike other parties, this is a party that was built on the understanding, with the understanding that everybody has equal rights. The slogan says it all – PDP, power to the people. Honestly, power belongs to the people in PDP.
When you look at every other political party in this country, especially the ruling party, APC, I want to tell you that more than 50, 60% of APC leaders today, were groomed from PDP they were at one time or the other in the PDP, and I want to tell you that there are so many of that type. Underground works are ongoing, we are not keeping quiet,we are all waiting for when the whistle will be blown for all of us to come around. You will see that PDP cannot die.
So let’s talk about FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, some of the roles he’s said to be playing within the PDP to ensure that the party is not stabilized. What’s your reaction to it?
Well, it is not his fault. I think the fault is that of the party itself. You see, how can an individual no matter how influential you are, be allowed to hold party to ransom. But because the country allows it. I understand there was a time he rushed to court to get an injunction that he must not be sacked.
He did the same thing to the Acting Chairman. And because PDP is a law abiding party yes, they just allow it to happen, but there is a limit.
The man himself who is being used to destabilize the party is not the only one destabilizing the party but we also have the problem of the head at the moment.
If you are fighting with anybody, the moment you are able to razzle the head you have already captured the person. He was able to razzle the head. I mean what I said, the moment the head is taken back from him you will see what will happen. There are so many people in PDP. There are so many strong talented people everywhere in all the states, you will see with time positive changes that will happen in PDP.
What is your take on the recent declaration of the State of Emergency in Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu?
Well, I am a democrat and at the same time when you look at the Rivers state crisis, you will discover that it falls into one of those things that I used to inculcate in our followers. It has dire consequences when people see politics as everybody’s business. With particular reference to the suspended Governor of Rivers state, Sim Fubara, this is somebody that has never attended a ward meeting or local government meeting, he has never been Councillor, has never been Honorable, has never been Commissioner, etc., and you gave him that opportunity to become the governor.What do you expect? Nobody does above his knowledge.
You see, I’m happy that it happened to Nyesom Wike, it’s like one Yoruba proverb that says “ajá gbe, olè gba”(Birds of a feather flock together). He was trying to run away from his co-politicians .That is the wickedness of our people – our co-politicians. People are so wicked.
Somebody that has been following you over the years, maybe you even started together, you might even met him on the way, instead of you to give them a trial, then you just corner your Accountant General and said you are safe. How safe are you? He doesn’t know anything about politics. It is good that he was given that opportunity, but he has misused it. But let me say this emphatically, all of them will regret it.
Even Wike himself will regret it. The Fubara himself will regret it but he has nothing to lose because, he didn’t really request for it.
He’s Accountant General, he must have stayed some 25, 30 years in service and be expecting his full salary to be paid till the end of his life. And now you called him to come and paddle the canoe of the party. You see, I used to tell people, look, let us be our brothers’ keeper.
Politicians, we are too wicked. If not for wickedness, how can you give such an executive position to somebody who was never a politician.This cloth that I wear, can anybody who does not go through an apprenticeship or whatever just go to the table and cut the clothes, even if you cut it and give it to him, he will not know where to knit it. The carpenter, if he has not been an apprentice somewhere, master the game, and you say you want to remove a house, it’s not possible. And that’s the problem we are having in this country.
Some people that have never opened a file like this in any office, they will come with their money bag in most states. And that’s why we have not been stabilized. Instead of the leaders to sit down like our leader, late Chief Sunday Michael Afolabi will do. Sit down, check everybody, bring everybody together. Look for somebody that will give you devotees. Somebody that is popular. Somebody that on his own, we are hearing his name.
By hearing his name, you already captured 30% or 35% of the total votes. You just bring somebody who has the money, who has greased your pocket without being tested anywhere, anyhow. You bring them into the game and they mess it up. Many of them have no clue, they don’t know where to start. Majority of our governors, majority of our chief executive, they don’t have their own blueprints.
They don’t know even where the wards are, the local government. Ask them to list all the local government off-hand, they don’t know, yet you give them the tickets.
It is not a game that you do without being taught of what you want to do. So that’s the problem. When you talk of Wike, Fubara, I used to be very, very sorry for this country because not only him, there are so many of Fubara and Wike everywhere, and they want to claim that they are master of politics.
What is your general assessment of the PDP led administration in Osun state in the last two years?
Well, to the best of our ability, when I say ability, to the best of the fund accrued to the state, I think the party, the government is doing very, very well. And you can see it.
I mean, you know, from the faces of people. You can see it, even the opposition, they are jittery now, they don’t know where to start because the governor is doing very well because he’s listening to the people’s advice.
But can that give Governor Ademola Adeleke the opportunity to be re-elected in the 2026 election?
Well, with one man, one vote, he will return easily. When I say one man, one vote, what I mean is that with the people’s votes, Adeleke will return very, very easily. And there’s no doubt about that. He has the party, its mandate, and the party itself is entrenched everywhere and there’s no crisis in that party. The civil servants are there, the retirees are very happy with him, the market women, farmers, everybody is happy and those are the people that are going to vote. So I want to tell you that he’ll be victorious come 2026.
What can you say about the Federal government in the last two years, the assessment of Bola Tinubu’s administration?
Well, like I said the other time, you see, every governance has its own system.
Every government, or I mean people in government, they have their system and the way things are being done. Like I used to say, nobody does above his knowledge. I think they are doing to the best of their knowledge. Yes, that’s just it. Because the federal government is so big, so wide and that unless one goes into specifics that’s only when you know.
Unfortunately, we Nigerians – I don’t want to use gullibility – we don’t sit down and ask question or assess the government. Even at the local government, you won’t see people assessing the government, asking questions about government activities. If they say they executed a project, at what price? You understand then what does that mean in the percentage of the budgets? How many of these type of thing is done?
So, all of us should be more proactive stakeholders, we should be more proactive in the running of any government around us. It’s not a fight, just ask question and let them see what they have done wrong.
Source: ThisDay Newspapers