In this interview, Mr. Tayo Ayinde, the campaign Director-General of Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the candidate of All Progressives Congress in the forthcoming governorship election in Lagos State, expresses confidence that the APC candidate has all it takes to surpass the performance of the current administration in the state. He also speaks on other issues concerning the state. Excerpts.
How has it been so far in the campaign for Sanwo-Olu?
We have just started the programme today as you can see. After the just-concluded primary, we are meeting with all our structures as we met them before the primary. We are sensitising them on how to mobilise the electorate for the coming elections. We are aware of the challenges ahead, so we are grooming every party member in the needed requirement to achieve our desired result. Already, we have met with all the 57 local government party secretaries, simultaneously with all the ward secretaries. We brainstormed together. We ate, we drank, and they are all happy and willing to work.
How has the journey been so far as the DG of the campaign?
Well, it is not an easy task but I thank God. I have people and seasoned politicians around me. Some of them are directors, heading all the 32 directorates that we have under BOSCO. BOSCO means Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu Campaign Organisation. Each directorate has a director and the director is the head of the directorate, looking after the affairs of designated areas.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu is a man of integrity that I respect so much. He has been in government with us for 17 years. He came into government when Mr. Femi Pedro became the deputy governor to Asiwaju. He was his special adviser. So, he has been with us since then
Being the campaign DG, what can you say about Sanwo-Olu, especially out of many party aspirants?
Babajide Sanwo-Olu is a man of integrity that I respect so much. He has been in government with us for 17 years. He came into government when Mr. Femi Pedro became the deputy governor to Asiwaju. He was his special adviser. So, he has been with us since then. After that, he was a commissioner under Babatunde Raji Fashola and also before he joined the gubernatorial race, he was the Managing Director of Lagos State Development and Property Corporation.So, he is a grounded politician in Lagos State and we believe that he has the capacity to take the state to the next level. That’s why I am happy to be his DG in this campaign because I believe in him and all the politicians in Lagos State believe in him as a candidate that can deliver the expectations of the party and Lagosians at large.
There is no doubt that Lagosians’ expectations on Sanwo- Olu are very high. How are we sure that they will not be disappointed in him?
For me to have accepted to be his campaign director-general, you should know that I so much believe in him. We have other aspirants outside there, and the question is why would Tayo take up the post of a DG of Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s campaign ? That means there are more to that because I see him as an upright man; a man of integrity.
Come 2019, what do you think Sanwo-Olu will do differently from what we have in Lagos at the moment?
Jide is going to improve on our health sector in Lagos State; he will improve in the construction of roads in Lagos state. We will have good road construction of international standard and he will also improve the educational sector in Lagos State. He will work on the social benefits of the nation, then the area of youths and sports. He will improve on a lot of things for the people of Lagos State, we have a blueprint that all the governors of Lagos state follow and he is going to follow it to the letter.
One of the issues against the current administration is based on his team playing skills. How are we confident about Sanwo-Olu in this aspect?
A lot of people know Sanwo-Olu very well. He’s a nice man. He is a man of the people and he has touched so many lives; directly or indirectly in Lagos State. You can imagine I took him to visit a leader in Ikeja for consultation and the leader said, “Sanwo-Olu, you don’t need to come to me. You see the paving stone in my compound, you did it for me. But you have forgotten. I am going to support you and I’m going to tell all my leaders and followers to support your administration because we know that you can do it. Sanwo-Olu is going to carry everybody along.
You know, Sanwo-Olu is a party man to the core. Look at what we did today. It has not happened in the history of Lagos State that a flagbearer after winning the primary, will call them all the party function, to thank them. That shows the kind of person that we have as our candidate.
How do you intend to go about your campaign to ensure victory for Sanwo-Olu in the contest in 2019?
I assure you it’s not going to be the regular kind of campaign, it will not be a jamboree type that we will be moving around, dancing and going about with vehicles in a circle. We shall be working from the grassroots. Instead of paying for mobility, logistics, security and all we will use the fund to mobilise the people so they will have enough logistics to canvass the people.
Considering the number of years you have worked with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, what kind of person will you say he is?
Asiwaju is a very transparent man. If you noticed, some people have been giving wrong signals about his person, misinforming the public about his person, but they are not true if you meet him personally. It is because of the wrong impression of imposition that made him insist that a direct primary is done. Direct primary is the situation where all our political party lined up behind their preferred candidate and vote for him accordingly. And it was this system that produced Babajide Sanwo-Olu as APC gubernatorial candidate.
Asiwaju is a man who listens. He will listen to you attentively, no matter how small you are. He believes no idea or suggestion is meaningless. He will
listen.
