Sunday Akere served during the first tenure of former Governor Rauf Aregbesola, as Commissioner for Information and Strategy. Akere, who is the current Special Adviser on Political Affairs to Governor Gboyega Oyetola, in this interview with TIMOTHY AGBOR, argues that Oyetola has the support of about 75 percent of the total membership of Osun APC and that nobody can stop his re-emergence at the July 16 governorship election. He speaks on other issues. Excerpts:
How has the ongoing internal crisis in your party, the All Progressives Congress, affected the delivery of the mandate of Governor Gboyega Oyetola?
I will not want to say that the government has not felt the impact of the distraction that all the noise has caused. I call it distraction because when a promise is made and you are not there when the promise was made, and you are now expected to fully back up the promise, I don’t think that can be workable.
Oyetola came in on the basis that some people want to help him in order for them to get positions in his government, but all of us cannot be in positions. We should know that even if a thousand of us worked to get a government in place, definitely, all the 1,000 can’t get positions at the same time. What I will appeal to those that feel that they have not had their own share should be patience. The sun that is up in the sky is still sufficient enough to dry the cloth. That is why they must allow the government to concentrate and continue to deliver the dividends of democracy which he has been doing.
Aregbesola’s public alignment with The Osun Progressives, a group working against the re-election bid of Oyetola reignited the crisis in the party, won’t this affect Oyetola’s chances in the forthcoming poll?
It has nothing to do with Oyetola’s re-election bid. A greater percentage of the party members in Osun, let me say 75%, are behind Oyetola. In a democracy, the minority must be allowed to have their say, while the majority will have their way. If the minority feels they want to say this or that, they are free to say it. But I want to assure you that the re-election of Oyetola is not going to be affected by anybody’s position or anybody’s indifference to the success of his administration. The governor is focused and he has ensured that nothing should be done to distract him from what he is doing. We are getting closer and preparing for the primaries. By the grace of God, by the 19th of February, everybody will give his mandate to Governor Oyetola and I know that by the 16th of July, 2022, Oyetola will emerge victorious at the governorship election by a greater percentage of margins. We are not saying that those that are on the other side should not come, but they should see that all of us have roles to play in ensuring that we contribute to the continuous entrenchment of progressive governance here in Osun and that is why we are saying that the hands of the governor as a father are widely opened and stretched to those that are feeling bitter or aggrieved to join him and ensure that good deeds of the government continue.
Has Oyetola invited those that are aggrieved personally for a peace meeting?
The issue is that the Governor met with some of them before we got to this stage. When it got to this stage, the governor formed reconciliation committees across the nine Federal Constituencies but our people insisted that they are not ready to sit with any reconciliation committee in the state unless the committee comes from Abuja and the Abuja committee came and listened to them and after listening to them, they said no, they are going to court. I think sufficiently the governor and the government have done enough to ensure that they are all brought back on board. But it’s better late than never. I know that some of them still see reason and join hands with the governor to ensure the success of the party.
But the aggrieved party members have given Governor Oyetola some conditions for peace. Part of which is that he resigns from the Caretaker Committee, that he cannot be a judge in his own case.
Are they the ones that put him in that position? He (Oyetola) was never a judge in his own case. Was he part of the reconciliation panel that came around here? A lot of people just concoct stories and fly them around anyhow. Some of them keep on saying that the governor influenced the committee that came for the congresses. Why will a committee come for congress for the Ward, same for Local Government? In 2014, I was the chairman of the Congress Committee for APC in Abia State. I conducted the ward congress, I conducted the local government congress and the state congress and everything went well. They (aggrieved members) are not in the position to demand his resignation. The President brought the committee and the forum of APC governors passed a vote of confidence in the committee that they should continue. So, what is their own right now to start saying that the governor should resign his position? Are they the ones that put him there?
“But I want to assure you that the re-election of Oyetola is not going to be affected by anybody’s position or anybody’s indifference to the success of his administration”
So, you see Oyetola emerging victorious in this contest without the support of Aregbesola and other aggrieved bigwigs?
By the grace of God, Oyetola has entrenched himself into the mind of the people in the state and he is going to emerge victorious on July 16 by the grace of God.
We read a report that some APC lawmakers visited Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Pastor Enoch Adeboye in order for the duo to resolve the crisis between Oyetola and Aregbesola. What has been the outcome of the efforts?
As you read about it, I also read about it. The APC legislators, in the spirit of working towards peace, approached some leaders and sought their support in bringing an end to the crisis. They met Pastor Adeboye and he tried to meditate but I don’t think it has worked out yet. They met Bola Tinubu and I don’t think it has worked out yet. But let’s just believe that there will be peace. Those that are maintaining the hard stance, their hearts will be softened and they will allow peace to reign.
If they agree to make peace, would the governor redeem his promise of compensating them with political offices?
You should ask yourself first, who promised them what? That is the question you are supposed to ask. I was talking to one of our friends on the other side one day and I asked him, what was the offense the governor committed? He said the governor did not give official cars to them. And I asked, did those people serve under him (Oyetola) that he was supposed to give them official cars? It was the governor (Aregbesola) that appointed you that was supposed to give you official cars. And they said the governor didn’t pay a severance package. Assuming they were due for a severance package, the law says that before you will be given a severance package, you would have served for a period of three years. They only served for one year and a half. If the person (Aregbesola) that appointed you feels that you deserved it, he is supposed to have given you (former cabinet members of Aregbesola) before he (Aregbesola) left. They said each of them was promised N10 million each. And I asked, who promised? All these blame games and excuses weren’t things committed by Oyetola.
Are you saying there was no agreement between Oyetola and Aregbesola before the 2018 governorship election?
Was there an agreement that was signed in your presence or anybody’s presence? There wasn’t. We are all politicians. You don’t sign an agreement like that. The only thing is that…even if there were promises, they should be on trust. The allegation that Oyetola doesn’t want to see some of the people that served Aregbesola is not true. About four of five people that presently work with Governor Oyetola had worked with Ogbeni Aregbesola for eight years. The Commissioner for Works served with Aregbesola for eight years; the Chief of Staff also served with Aregbesola for eight years; Commissioner for Budget worked with him and quite a number of people that are presently working with Oyetola. Everybody cannot be in a position at the same time. In 2014, I led the campaign team of my party. In Ila Federal Constituency consisting of Ila, Ifedayo and Boluwaduro Local Governments; there was no village that we didn’t touch, even in the dead of the night. Aregbesola won the election and he said I should go away, I didn’t die. And I didn’t say because of that, I should start fomenting the crisis. If you are religious, if you believe in God, you should know that God has a plan for everybody. At any point in time, your own destiny will not pass you by. You don’t struggle and kill yourself because of things that are not worth it. So, let our people believe that everyone cannot be in a position and those that are in positions should be magnanimous in releasing those that are not there. If you have not gotten what you are supposed to get now, you are still going to get it.
The Ekiti APC recently had its governorship primary election and it was greeted with crisis. It was a direct primary mode. What mode of the primary would APC adopt in Osun?
The national leadership will determine the mode of the primary to adopt. But personally, I want direct. Because one, it’s cheaper; two, it allows every member of the party to have the opportunity of partaking in who will be their flag bearer. Three, it reduces the risk of litigation because if every registered member of the party that has a membership slip took part in the primaries, what do you want to take to court to challenge the result? So, personally, I would want us to use direct primary in Osun. But the national leadership will determine the mode we are going to use in Osun.
Ademola Adeleke of the PDP almost defeated Oyetola in the 2018 governorship poll. Is Oyetola threatened by the return of Adeleke?
The APC here in Osun is not bothered by whatever PDP is bringing. PDP today, they have about six aspirants and they are in what you will call the house of commotion where no one understands the other. The issues are clear. We are ready. The one in Ekiti, in which you said there was a crisis, there was no crisis because the governor that headed the panel said there was no issue. All the seven aspirants had marks recorded for them after the primaries. So, that is to tell you that it’s better than indirect. And as for the PDP, in 2018, there were terrible crises in APC which led to some of us leaving the party then, but now, I know that our house is in order and our governor has impacted on the lives of the people here. We will defeat Osun PDP with nothing less than 100,000 votes this time around.
Since the emergence of Oyetola in 2018, what are the achievements of his administration that you think would make people consider him for a second term?
Contrary to the expectations of the majority when the administration of Gboyega Oyetola was coming on board, the general populace has benefited a lot from his administration. You will recall that even before the first six months of his administration, the governor conducted rehabilitation and reconstruction of 332 primary health centres across the state. That is to tell you that there is no ward in Osun today that you will not see a workable health centre with staff and drugs. That’s an achievement in the area of the health sector. When you look at the General Hospitals, Ejigbo General Hospital and Asubiaro were reconstructed. In Asubiaro, the governor is nearing completion of the doctors’ quarters there. Added to this is the creation of the Osun Health Insurance Scheme which has made accessibility to health very easy for the general public in Osun. All you need to do is to pay a token.
In the area of education; when some reformations were introduced by the former government, there were a lot of hues and cries across the state;
demonstrations, fighting over uniforms, merger of schools and change of name of schools. When the governor came, based on the promises he gave while seeking election, the people wanted him to change the policies. Also, the same promise was made by his predecessor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, during his last ‘Ogbeni Till Daybreak’ programme where he said that if the general public feels that there are policies of the outgoing government that the new government needs to touch, that he was free to do it. That was what brought the reformation in the education sector. And you will agree with me that since the reformation was done, there has been total peace in our educational sector in Osun. The uniform of the schools was restored, the names of the schools were restored, the merger of schools was looked into. You will see that we the people are the beneficiaries of this reformation which was done. For example, for the 6-8 years period of Ogbeni Aregbesola’s administration, our primary school students never had a certificate because of the change in the policies of the government which we introduced but with this reformation, there is now absolute peace in the education sector in the state.
“Contrary to the expectations of the majority when the administration of Isiaka Gboyega Oyetola was coming on board, the general populace has benefited a lot from his administration”
Let’s talk infrastructure, the administration of Oyetola has touched areas where everybody feels it’s impossible. For example, Ede/Ejigbo sector of the state, in the 22 years history of democratic rule, from 1999 up till date, they produced the number 3 man in the state for 20 years; Mojeed Alabi was the first Speaker of the House of Assembly for four years, followed by Adejare Bello, from Ede, who was there for eight years, followed by Najeem Salaam who was there for another eight years, making 20 years. For that period of 20 years, the roads across their areas were impassable. Within a year and a half years of the administration of Oyetola, life has been made easy. From Ede, you now have a smooth ride going to Ejigbo, the same thing with Osogbo to Ejigbo. Go to areas like Alekuwodo where people feel they can’t feel the impact of the government, they have tarred all the inner roads there. I will use my own town as an example, the Ada/Igbajo road which was abandoned for well over 35 years. The government of Oyetola promised to put it in shape and within nine months, he did it. Also, look at the experience of the people of Origbomeje, Ipetumodu, Moro, Asipa, Yakooyo, Akinlalu and all those areas, Oyetola has been doing wonders there even without money.
A lot of people keep asking where Oyetola is getting the money for all these projects and to crown it, workers’ salary has been paid fully since the inception of this administration. The case of half salary is a thing of the past. He has been paying salaries in full and he has been paying pensions.
Yes, you can say that some people have not been getting their pension arrears but he is not the one that owes them. The government today commits N780 Million every month to the payment of pensions and gratuities. That’s just a part of Oyetola’s achievements and he has surpassed what people expect from him. That’s why they refer to him as the silent achiever. For this, the people have decided to give him four years tenure to complete all that he started.
Oyetola claimed he has not been borrowing, so how has he been getting money to execute projects?
To the glory of God, I want to say that he brought into governance the several years of his financial management which he gathered from the private sector.
Governor Oyetola up till today has not borrowed a Kobo to fix anything here in Osun and we know that the little he has, he has been managing them well and he ensures that all the leakages that the government has been experiencing in the past are blocked. There is no wastefulness in this government. Before you are able to get approval to spend N10 from the governor, you must be ready to prove that you are genuinely spending it on what it is meant for. That’s the kind of administration that we have now. The governor has succeeded in restoring the hope and the belief of the people that yes, he can deliver. A lot of people say he goes about gently and we say he doesn’t have to be radical and jump on a vehicle before people will know that he is performing.
Does it mean his predecessor’s administration was wasteful?
It’s not a matter of his predecessor. There is this belief in democracy that people can just do anything they like. But, look at the manner in which Oyetola has been delivering. Take for example the construction of a road network across the state. Today, the average amount of money being spent on a kilometre of the road here in Osun Is N100 million and it’s not that the government has that big money to pay for all the roads it has been doing. They enter into partnership with contractors that as you are doing it, we pay you gradually and the contractors accept. That is why they are able to do what they are doing and they are still continuing. Look at the flyover, it’s a wonder of the century in the centre of Osogbo. Osogbo can now beat its chest as a capital city.
So, no contractor is being owed?
No, the government does not owe any contractors. Any contractor that gets any contracts from the government, there are agreements that this is how they are going to be paid and the government sticks to it religiously.
But people have said that Oyetola has jettisoned the roads embarked upon by his predecessor?
Our people should be ready to face the fact and say the truth at all times. There is no road that his predecessor started that has been abandoned. The one they are mentioning is the By-pass, when Ogbeni (Aregbesola) left, the By-pass was around Ilesa Garage, and it is now at Testing Ground, what government is doing is that they don’t have sufficient money to throw about on the road but they are releasing money gradually to the contractor. They have ensured that a side of the road is almost completely fixed. It is now getting to the roundabout in Testing Ground, the government concentrated on a lane, almost finishing it to Ikirun. Look at the Osogbo-Ikirun road. The Gbongan-Akoda road, the government didn’t abandon anything but the manner in which the project is being handled and done now shows clearly that there is a difference between how you manage and execute roads. Look at Gbongan junction, coming to Ode-Omu, we see the area that has been fixed during the administration of Oyetola and they are far better than what was there before. It’s not a matter of abandoning; he is doing them gradually. As money comes, they are releasing it piecemeal to ensure that they fix those projects, it’s not that they have been abandoned. I know that by the time they finish the second lane of the bypass, they will come to the other side.
