Following the exit of the Lagos4Lagos group from the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, the party’s spokesman, Mr Seye Oladejo addressed selected newsmen including Segun James on the development

Recently, former member of your party, Mr. Olajide Adediran, better known as Jandor and members of the Lagos4Lagos Group were received into the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the party’s National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu and some governors in Lagos. What is your view about the event that happened that day?

We regard what happened as part of festive activities bordering on entertainment towards end of the year and the New Year. It underscores the folly of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The PDP governors came all the way to Lagos to receive a political non-starter. The same PDP governors that couldn’t stop their colleagues from jumping from their umbrella to the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) came to Lagos for what I would describe as a circus. They had leaders of PDP who overtime could not even deliver their polling units boasting that they will win Lagos. They had the likes of the former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who literally lost deposit during the last elections in Kwara State.

For us, what happened was a non-event. They said they have a crowd but we are aware of the fact that they rented crowd. We are aware of the fact that they mobilized crowd from neighbouring states. We are of the fact that PDP states should be on the lookout to make sure that they are not shortchanged. I want to congratulate the gentleman, the young man, Jide Adediran, who is currently excited that it was a very good payday for him. I am sure he must have made massive profits from the contribution of those PDP governors. For us, we are not losing sleep. It is not in their DNA to win anything and that will not change the political situation in the state regarding the next elections.

During the rally, the Lagos4Lagos made a strong statement that they are taking over Lagos politics from being decided by just one man. They said they want to take over Lagos for the indigenes. What is your take on that?

I think they should just wake up from this daylight nightmare. They have been saying the same thing since 1999 about Lagos State being controlled by one man, who has remained invincible for them in their imagination. Democracy doesn’t come better than this. If since 1999 our party has been putting forward candidates that Lagosians find acceptable; who have been building on the achievements of the previous government since the advent of democracy in 1999, I think Lagos can count itself lucky. All these refrains about elections being rigged bothers on lazy excuses from politicians who don’t know their onions. PDP has nothing to offer this state. Let me just assure you that in the coming elections, despite all the challenges of the recent past, Lagos State still remains on the firm grip of APC.

It has become an obsession for the likes of Bode George and his co-travelers that anytime the issue is about Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, they wake come alive. Bode George has been threatening fire and brimstone that should Tinubu contest the presidency, he would also contest. He has also said that he will go into exile if Tinubu becomes the president of the country. We are waiting for him and we will remind him of his statements. He has good options to make any way and he could consider relocating to countries like Afghanistan and maybe Burkina Faso that just fell under the rule of the military again. When the question becomes the issue of reputation, integrity, principle and the rest of it, there are some people in this country that should just be seen not heard and in the forefront of that are the likes of Bode George, who looking at the two opportunities he had as the Governor of Ondo State and as the Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) did not cover himself in glory. So, people like that should just be onlookers when we talk about politics in the state and country.

We also noticed that they have been able to put on their payroll some journalists that are at best unethical and unprofessional in their approach to the business of journalism. Some media outfit are literally turned to the mouthpiece of the opposition in the state. This is not acceptable. People should really look at themselves. He who comes to equity must come with clean hands. I think some people should just learn to respect themselves.

Looking at the way Jandor as Jide Adediran is fondly called moved to PDP with his massive Lagos4Lagos structures across Lagos State; don’t you think his defection is a serious threat to APC?

Some politicians are funny people. You assume a whole lot of strength sitting in your comfort zone, home and constituency, and you see a crowd that are largely paid and you assume that to be popular support. Whatever he called a crowd is untested. He has never won any election. Jandol came from nowhere. Just a few years ago, he was a struggling journalist with LTV. Questions should be asked how he suddenly got money he is busy throwing around, saying he wants to contest for governorship. People should learn that there are rules and processes to some things. He is not willing to learn the rope and one can see how he has been making a lot of errors even in his movement to PDP, putting the cart before the horse.

He first declared his intention and later on, he started moving around to meet PDP leaders in the states. A well-grounded politician would have done it the other way round; meeting the leaders first before declaring his intention. But nobody should be surprised, he literally declared PDP dead and he was going there to resurrect the party. I want to congratulate those leaders in PDP that they now have a new leader in Jandor, who is going to give life to their party. One can also see that key leaders of PDP in the state, the Ade Dosunmu, Jimi Agbaje, Babatunde Gbadamosi and the rest of them were not at that event and that speaks volume about the kind of person we are talking about. It is all about picking the governorship ticket of PDP. Mark my words, I believe prophets are still giving prophecies for the year; he (Adediran) won’t pick that ticket and he will still move to another party. In the next few months, you won’t hear anything about Lagos4Lagos Movement again.

Some people are of the view that his exit from APC is justifiable in respect to claims of lack of internal democracy and level playing ground in APC. What is your take on this?

The young man is largely very confused. He is not in the best position to assess what goes on in our party. His membership of the party couldn’t have been more than one year plus when he has been largely rabble rousing without even taking his time to study the constitution and structure of the party. Since inception, there has always been a level playing field for whoever wants to aspire in our party. Even as we speak now, we find a whole lot of people in various constituencies already aspiring in the party. If they had no hope of getting the ticket on a level playing ground, there would be no need for them to aspire. I think it is the song of some people who at one time or the other benefitted from the system in the party. I also want you to know that he was referring to consensus which is acceptable by the constitution of the party. It is either we have an open primary or we agree to a consensus as a process of the emergence of our candidates. Jandor is too green to be able to say anything authoritatively about the workings in APC.

Apart from Jandor and his followers who have dumped APC for PDP, there are other aggrieved people within APC. What is the party doing to reconcile them?

It is natural for people to be aggrieved, even in a family and organisation, there are going to be groups and caucuses. It is not impossible for people to be aggrieved because in a political party, you won’t find members that are not ambitious. If you are not, that means you are in a wrong vocation. So, definitely there would be conflicts and disagreement as a result of these ambitions but as a party, we have the internal mechanisms to address the various conflicts when they come up. It also behooves on the members, by the time you agree to be members of a political party, you are really letting go some of your rights, submitting yourselves to the constitution, rules and guidelines of the party.

As we speak now, we don’t have the opportunity for independent candidacy in an election and that means as a member of the party you must submit yourself to those rules and regulations and respectfully agree to what the mechanism has put in place to resolve conflicts instead of resorting to litigation, which is not good for the party. By and large, despite the bad behavior on the part of some of our members, our doors are still remain largely open and it has happened several times, whenever they see the light again or they purge themselves of their grand standing and sheer arrogance, we always welcome them back.

In next few weeks, APC will have its primaries, there are lots of people aspiring to run for offices at state and national level. While some are planning to seek re-election for a second, third or fourth and even fifth term, some are just contesting for the first time. How do you intend to manage the ambitions of people to prevent implosion in APC?

The implosion in APC is the prayer point of PDP and opposition parties. Let me assure you, in Lagos State, we always have acrimonious primaries for a good reason. This is a winning party; there is no basis for PDP to have acrimonious primaries because they won’t win anything. They will struggle to pick candidates for the various offices because it is certain they won’t win. So, there is nothing in it for them. The APC ticket in this state is like you pick the ticket and your victory is assured. And from time immemorial, despite acrimonious primaries that always come up, we always put our house together before the elections. We always find the meeting point to reach an understanding and the coming election will not be different. I am sure that is bad news for the opposition.

APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu few weeks ago visited President Muhammadu Buhari to inform him about his interest for presidency in 2023. Tinubu said he is still consulting on the matter…

It is no longer his decision, it is our decision. It can as well be reported that Tinubu will contest. He won’t say no to the large majority of people clamouring for him to run for the presidency. It is not in his record to say no to the people.

Lagos is Tinubu’s base, and coming out from Lagos, it is expected that he will be fully supported. Are you expecting that kind of support from every other state chapter of the party?

We are excited about Tinubu’ss aspiration. Let me give a background to it. We all come into politics for one ambition or another, so we should be excited that for once we have someone who is a willing aspirant. He is not being forced on us and he is not being thrown by circumstances to run for the office of the President. So, contrary to what some people would want to pick on, that he said, it is his lifelong ambition, I think that is something we should be happy about. As we speak, we have over 1,800 different groups across the country clamouring for Tinubu’s’s candidature; clamouring for him to throw his hat into the ring for the presidential election.

Asiwaju is well-grounded and over time he has built a whole lot of goodwill and bridges across the country and across various ethnic nationalities. Tinubu overtime has been the man of the people and maybe for a very long time, as he said, he knew this day will come when he will need the various people he has been able to help. People call him different names like kingmaker, godfather, Lion of Bourdillon, which were all creations of the media but he never calls himself any of those titles. We just know him as Asiwaju of Lagos, Jagaban Borgu, a former governor of Lagos and one-time Senator; that is what we know him as. So, if at a time like this when we look at issues bothering on us as a nation, bothering on economy where he is well grounded, bothering on security, education, good healthcare, I think it is the right time for us to have a personality like Tinubuu for the presidency. We are very optimistic and it is going to be fun because the opposition will have their say but people will have their way.

There is very strong indication that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is also interested in running for the presidency. What is the feeling in APC based on the perception in some quarters that Osinbajo has the support of President Muhammadu Buhari?

Let me admit that it is the within the right of the Vice President to aspire too. Naturally as a politician, he has been in the saddle as a Vice President for the past six and half years, it is quite possible. It is also possible that he might not necessary be a willing aspirant and for a reason best known to some people, they are trying to push him into the race. It is also in public space that a lot of people benefitted immensely from Tinubu’s large-heartedness. When they call Tinubu a kingmaker, I will call him a fisher of men and fisher of talents because through him a whole lot of people have been able to fulfill their destiny. People who would have been largely obscure and just do their things wherever they belong being thrown into political visibility through him they have been able to use him to gain political limelight. But be that as it may, I think appropriately, our party will handle it and it might not just be the Vice President alone, there might also be other people who want to aspire. Tinubu is a democrat, the more the merrier and I am sure with the various people that are also supporting him, there is no reason for us to worry over anyone’s aspiration, especially somebody who has not openly declared. We should commend Tinubu for the way he is approaching this race. First, he went to meet the incumbent President to announce his ambition to him that he intends to aspire for presidency. I think that is the way a gentleman should go about it and there are very few gentlemen in politics.

One of the fears of the people is that looking at the fact Tinubu has already declared and in different quarters there is the concern that Osinbajo and others are also interested in the race. Don’t you think that proliferation of aspirants from South-west will affect the zone’s chances during the party’s presidential election if aspirants from other zones contested for APC presidential ticket?

We are looking at a situation whereby at the appropriate time, the presidency will be zoned. It is a matter of conscience, morality and principle. It is a matter of gentlemanly agreement at the inception of this party, that presidency should come to the South and zero down to the South-west. Let me just say this, Tinubu enjoys massive support in the North as we speak. The clamour is even louder in the North than any other zone in this country. So, whatever number of aspirants may come from the South-west for the presidency, I don’t think it is going to change anything about our expectations.

Is zoning in the APC constitution?

There are a lot of things that you don’t necessary have to put in the constitution of a party. But they are just things that you want to believe that based on certain understanding, it will happen. I am not just having this conversation, a whole lot of prominent people in the party are in government, even those old enough have been able to make the situation very clear that zoning is the right and appropriate thing to do.

Some people are of the view that Tinubu has always been a godfather and he has thrived in that position, therefore he should remain in the position of a godfather rather than contesting political office

Tinubu never called himself a kingmaker. It is the creation and tone of the media. That question amounts to why Tinubu is ambitious. My own definition of life is a state of becoming. Today you are journalists, it won’t be forbidden for you to also be business owners in the same media. Everybody has rights to aspire to be anything. It is within Tinubu’s right for him to be President. He has paid his dues. The question you also ask is within the past few days he has just made intention known and not yet declared, how come the political space just changed and Tinubu has become the talk of the town. Don’t you think Tinubu is giving a lot of people sleepless night?

What is your reaction to some of the issues in the media in relation to Asiwaju Tinubu’s source of wealth, age, health and educational background?

I know that the opposition party has been feasting so much on that. It is very interesting that all the people in the opposition have access to Tinubu’s medical records and they have all become authority on his state of health. It is absurd and ridiculous. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines good health as a complete state of physical, psychological and social wellbeing. It doesn’t mean the absence of infirmity and diseases.

Let’s give Tinubu some credit. When he had to do surgery, it was in the public space; everybody knew about it and they literally turned London to some Mecca of sorts. That is the hallmark of an honest leader. He is not hiding his medical situation from the people. He was at liberty to say it is his private business and really at this point in time, it remains his private business. He is a private citizen of Nigeria but it was in the public space. So, if he had to do surgery on his leg and they suddenly picked that up to a sort of life-threatening situation, it is unfortunate to say the least. You would also want to observe that since he came back from that trip, he has been everywhere; that has shown that he is healthy.

Let me also add to it, you won’t find people that are over 50 years that you won’t find one little thing that they will need to pay attention to. I know some people will say that is not correct because I don’t’ have any; perhaps the person is not aware. He should create time to go and do a check-up. So, with the life of struggle and the sleepless night, permanent stress that Tinubu has gone through before the advent and after the advent of democracy, we are talking of a gentleman who has few hours of sleep in a day attending to various issues. When Tinubu becomes the president, please note it, he might probably be the healthiest president Nigeria has ever had.

What can you really say about Tinubu’s state of health and age…

Talking about his age, for over one and half decade, Tinubu has always celebrated his birthday with a colloquium and come March 29, Tinubu will be 70 years old. It is as clear as that. They continue to give life to issues that have been dead and buried long time ago, talking about his age, educational qualification and the rest of it and we know reasons for that; the issues that happened when he became a governor, talking about the discrepancies as a result of some petitions from two largely anonymous petitioners. I said anonymous because when the Lagos State House of Assembly set up a committee to look at the issue, they invited the petitioners, they didn’t show up. They went to the addresses of the petitioners; they didn’t see them. So they were anonymous. As at that time, Tinubu was a sitting governor and it was only the House of Assembly that could constitutionally investigate the petition because he enjoyed immunity. The committee did a thorough job; invited all those involved and it was established that those were genuine errors committed by Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi who filled those forms on his behalf and it was established.

It is very simple who can become the President of Nigeria; a Nigerian from 35 years old, a card-carrying member of a political party and must be sponsored by a political party. It is as a simple as that unless somebody wants to tell me Tinubu is not yet 35 years old. The issues surrounding Asiwaju is simply bad politics; that they want to play up those issues. And since then, he has since been given a clean bill of health. Yes, he attended Richard Daley College and thereafter, Chicago State University where he got B.Sc in Business Administration, specialising in Accounting. So, this should put an end to the controversies but for all they care, they would continue to do whatever they like.

They talked about his source of wealth; Asiwaju’s wealth cannot be measured in monetary value; Naira and Kobo. I will rather measure his wealth with the goodwill he has all over the place by building men who are willing to play their part at a time like this when they feel they should reciprocate his good gesture of so many years and these men are spread all over the world beyond Nigeria and when the time comes, you will see for yourselves. I think those in the opposition should just concentrate on marketing their candidate rather than wasting precious time and resources on disparaging Asiwaju and desperately trying to pull him down.

How would you react to the allegations from some quarters that Asiwaju Tinubu is corrupt?

Subjecting Asiwaju to trial on social media and regular media would not work in anyway. We all recall the sensational Code of Conduct Bureau trial; he got a clean bill of health. So, trying to label Asiwaju as corrupt and all of that, I will leave it for Asiwaju to decide on the appropriate action to take at the appropriate time. But I think deliberately as a statesman with a large heart, he has deliberately decided to ignore all these accusations.

You will also recall that the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, said several times that they investigated Lagos State severally and even brought onboard the FBI and they couldn’t find anything. And in all the PDP’s years of misrule and with all the powers they wielded, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and the rest of them couldn’t find anything against Asiwaju. I think they should just let the man rest. I will advise the opposition to be more creative. Nigerians are getting bored of the same stories they tell every time elections are getting close. And maybe there is an ailment that afflicts them every four years. So, they should just look for a final solution to that.