From YINKA FABOWALE, Ibadan

Former governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, is not new to controversy. Before and after his ouster from government in 2011, he had his fair share of being steeped in the eye of the storm, both in private and public lives.

The man, whose re-election bid was scuttled by a grand internal plot within his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), also faced desertion by some of his key political aides after a judicial attempt to upturn his defeat failed. Since PDP lost the state, the former helmsman, as leader of the party, has been making moves to unite the factious party and reposition it for victory in future polls. But conflicts of interests and personal ambitions by the various stakeholders have been frustrating his moves, especially with suspicion that it was his ploy to return as governor, where several others had shown interest. There was also a charge of nepotism against the former governor of always favouring his Ogbomoso kinsmen for political largesse.

The politician, who turns 63 tomorrow, June 3, reacts to all this and more burning issues in a chat with a select group of journalists at his Ibadan residence recently in the interview. He discloses his wish to end his life as a politician, just like his late godfather and strongman of Ibadan politics, the late Chief Lamidi Adedibu. Why would someone want to end up like the maverick and controversial Adedibu? Find the answer these excerpts….

How is life since you left office?

Thank you very much. I’ve been enjoying my freedom. And you know when you are in office, it’s as if you are caged and not knowing what is happening outside. I have been enjoying my freedom a little and I have no problem. I have been doing a lot of politicking, not minding that we are not in power. We still have to put our house in order and that’s what we’ve been doing since we left office. We are trying to pick up the pieces and join them together. So far, so good, no problem and we thank God for giving us the opportunity to stay alive.

How is life outside Government House?

I don’t know, but by my training I can always adjust to any circumstances I find myself and because of that I don’t see the difference between being in office or outside it. In fact, I would say that I enjoy myself outside office than in office, because I used to have high blood pressure while in office, but now I’m okay and enjoying myself.

Talking about putting your house in order, how did the work of the PDP Peace and Reconciliation Committee sent to Oyo State go?

I don’t know anything about that; I must be frank with you, because I don’t think the dissolution of our executive in South West was properly done. Because of that, I have not been able to officially receive or to see the people they put in place. Anyway, I don’t believe in the South West thing, but in my state. After I organise my state first, then we can talk. The dissolution of the South West PDP executive was politically motivated and as such I don’t think I belong to things that were not done properly. So, I don’t believe in any committee.

We’ll come back to that, but I also noticed you were not at the reception for your party’s National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur. Does that imply you don’t think the party’s touted reconciliation move is sincere?

Thank you very much. Yes! You see, I don’t believe in jamboree. When you want to make peace on a normal day, you don’t bring that kind of people to a place you want to talk peace. What they did at that time was a kind of jamboree and I don’t think that was an atmosphere for conflict resolution. If you want to resolve conflict among members, you don’t call everybody to that kind of place, it’s a serious matter. It is to be approached seriously, not just anybody coming to talk. And then, you look for an atmosphere where everybody can point out his grey areas. With due respect to my chairman, that is not how to go about resolving conflict among members; it could be done in another way that could be more convenient for the kind of peace they want to derive from the table. So, that is the way I look at it. And some of my brother governors, too, did not come because, you see in politics you have to consult very widely. And when you don’t consult very well in any kind of situation, you’ll get stuck. Also, you should be able to propound who are the stakeholders. Who are the people you have to talk to so as to have a successful meeting. You must also try as much as possible to recognize the people that matter in this conflict. Then what we call meeting before meeting should have taken place.

At the state level, as you said, what efforts are you making to unite aggrieved PDP members?

At times you don’t make noise when you’re doing that. I’m doing everything possible to make sure we unite. We will unite by everybody trying to make sure he takes charge of his area. We have a lot of problems in Ibadan more than any area in Oyo State. And we have a lot of leaders in Ibadan. And I think it is their responsibility to make sure we have a very solid front there. And I think they’ve started working towards that. Where we can help, we’ll do so. About two months ago, I held a meeting with some people in Jogor. Apart from Ibadan where we have majority of the problems, I don’t think we have any significant problem in any other parts of the state. And what is happening in Ibadan is that everybody wants to be a leader. So, if you don’t accept the leadership of a particular person, they will find it difficult to stop this problem, because everybody wants to be Oga. And yes! If they just accept the fact that at every level, for instance, the local government, we have leaders. Even at area level, which is more or less a position, we have leaders and if we accept those leaders as they are, then we will not have problems.

What is your relationship with other key stakeholders? Let’s take them one by one…

(Cuts in) No! You don’t take them one by one. If you take them one by one it’s like trying to tell me that I would be partial, because I have a very cordial relationship with all the leaders. As you present yourself to me that’s how I will relate with you. If you appear to me as somebody very responsible, I will deal with you responsibly. But if I look at you and you are not that responsible, I will just treat you on the surface as a leader of PDP. But I don’t believe in anybody just trying to rubbish followers, especially those who have not been good followers before, they cannot be good leaders. And that is the way I look at it. We’ve known each other for a very long time and we know what we want from any of them.

Let’s be specific about your relationship with Senator Agboola, Oloye Jumoke Akinjide…

(Cuts in) I will also tell you they are all leaders of PDP, but their relationship with me politically is the way they present themselves to me, each and every one of them.

But you were once together.

We were once together, but that doesn’t mean anything, there is dynamism in politics and the way anybody presents himself is the way you look at him. If they are sincere, I’ll also be sincere, but if they play politics, I also know how to play politics with them.

It appears the future of PDP in Oyo State is still shaky?

The future is very bright!

Even as divided as you are?

We are not divided. I would not agree that we are divided. I don’t have any faction. When we talk of being divided, we have 11 local governments out of 33 in the states. Twenty-two are intact and the only place we have problem is Ibadan. And the people we have in Ibadan are not trying to solve it themselves. Then, we will see what we can do to build up those there to have access to the remaining 22. So, I don’t think we’re divided. There is no party without problems. Everybody has his own problem.

There is crisis if the reconciliation committee would not see you, a major factor in Oyo politics, don’t you think so?

No! No!! No!!! Don’t get it wrong. It’s not that they don’t want to come to me. They want to come to me, but I have not been trying to see them.

They’ve submitted their report, isn’t it?

Let me tell you. You see, you can’t put something on nothing. What is the status or where did they derive their power to be doing what they are doing? If the power is from a constituted authority, good! But when the power is not from such authority, how do you obey? That means they are not coming for any genuine reconciliation. I don’t see anything bad in Oyo State that we cannot resolve ourselves, if we want to be sincere. We know ourselves. We should respect each other’s views and strength politically. We know those who cannot even win their polling booths. So, when you can’t respect those you have to respect, then you’ll have problem.

Could it be that you are strong-headed, and have not allowed reconciliation because you have a plan B, that is, teaming up with Ladoja?

I don’t have any plan B. And I want to say with due respect to my other colleagues and associates in PDP that they are getting it wrong. I am not fighting anybody and I don’t want to fight anybody. If I know I am above you, I won’t fight you. I fight with people above me and not people below me politically. I fight with people God has placed above me, not people God placed me above them. And that is why I can’t fight with any of them around Ibadan now. The only person I can fight with is Ladoja, not those ones calling themselves leaders. Because we know ourselves, we know what we’ve been able to attain and we know the level we all are operating on. What have I not been before? I was a governor and as far as Oyo State is concerned today, I’m the only person who has gone through the ranks of being a local government chairman, a deputy governor and a governor. And like they say, experience is the best teacher. Nobody has got that kind of experience. God gave me the opportunity to go through it. It is the grace of God. So, if everybody is trying to fight God, then they will not get anything. I’m not fighting anybody and I don’t have plan B. I can’t leave this PDP, don’t let anybody deceive you, if that is where you’re going. I can never leave PDP. If you look at him very well, Ladoja is more of PDP than Accord. What is Accord?

Are you telling us he is coming back to the PDP?

You can’t be stagnant somewhere. With due respect to him, he did that (left PDP) to prove a point – that he has the strength to control certain areas in Ibadan, which was proved by the last election result. If that is what he has proved, it means he’s a person to be reckoned with. I can only tell you now that he is the only person I can accept as my boss in Oyo State as at today. Any other persons that say they want to whisk me away, will end up whisking themselves away because, with due respect, they cannot stand against me politically. Let me say I have always been a very good follower of Ladoja. And we are trying to manage things, to put things right and that’s why we were able to win the 2003 election. Picking me as deputy governor was not for nothing, it’s because they knew what I could do in my area and where I came from. I’m not just an ordinary passenger; I erected a very strong pillar of PDP at the time we were elected in 2003.

Is it true you intend coming back as governor in 2015?

That’s what people don’t know. You don’t say you want to do this. Let the people tell you what they want you to do. I don’t dictate to people what I want to do. I want people to dictate to me, because I’m their leader. Whatever area they want me to go is where I’ll go. At present, it’s too early to say this is what I want to do.

But, in terms of ambition, what do you have in mind?

My ambition? Well, let me be sincere. You don’t think of any ambition for yourself when what you have achieved before is still the highest you can go. If I have not been a governor before, I would say I want to be a governor. The only thing I want to be if I have the opportunity, is to be president, but it’s not yet the turn of my zone. That’s a tall ambition. So, whatever is in politics that I can take is what I will take when the time comes, when the people say and when the larger party says so.

There is talk that you want to come back and if that doesn’t work, especially with the challenge from Senator Teslim Folarin, that you may want to settle for the Senate.

Who will get me out of the way if I want to be governor?

There are challengers such as Folarin, for instance.

Compare our political pedigrees. All of you know us. Can the people you’re mentioning be a threat to me if I want to be anything in Oyo State? Is he sufficiently mature politically to be a threat to me? (Laughs)

He would come out any way.

He would come out, of course. He has been winning primaries, but has won the election? Take a look at my antecedent politically. You are in this town; you know what people can talk about. Who do you think can be a threat to me if I want to be what I want to be – senator, governor – who can be a threat to me?

Senator Agboola, your former commissioner, is sure to seek a second term.

Has the person you mentioned got sufficient political base?

We hear he controls Oke Ogun…

Don’t say what people say. There is what you people call investigative journalism. Politically, where is he coming from? Who has been contributing to what he is? With due respect to people from Oke Ogun, some local governments there, their total votes are not up to one of the ones in Ogbomoso. Why are you people trying to fly kites? You don’t have people with the truth? What can anybody do? It’s not possible to be senator in Oyo North or Central without Ogbomoso. You should now look at where he is coming from (laughs). Of all of them, I’m the only person who has not offended PDP. When you mention them, you’ll see what they have done to PDP – contributing to the government of CAN – and they want to come back. Is that acceptable? Even in a civilized society these people are not ashamed of themselves. It was they who started all the problems we had. Killing people and shouting that they had influence. And the people they claimed to have helped to win the polls have not asked them: “Mr. Man, you said you helped me to win the election, but ACN did not win in your polling booth?” Four of the local governments in Ibadan were won by Accord. So, why are they all making noise now? What do they want to tell us? You said you were helping ACN and ACN did not win in your local government. What is the strength they are bringing into PDP? If Ladoja wants to talk to us now, he has the political clout and base to talk to us, because he has divided Ibadan into two. And he is taking the larger part of Ibadan. So, we can talk to him. Where is their base? Most of them are parasites, Afomo.

Is Alao-Akala that bad that many of his loyalists should abandon him?

You see, when you see anybody jumping from one particular party to another without base, it is to realize his or her inordinate ambition. If not, nobody would be jumping from one party to another. It’s because of insecurity. If you look at all those people that went away, they are just trying to localise themselves.

Firstly, if your party does not go beyond Oyo State and your party is not known at your base? It means you want to be a champion among fools. Some people want to be recognized. And if they are in a very big party they would not be recognized, but in another party they think the recognition would be there for them even without asking for it. They will always be proud. So, that is what is happening.

Those who have encountered you say Akala is a good man, but that he is guilty by association with despised politicians like the late Lamidi Adedibu and the circumstance of his ascendancy to governance in the state. How do you react to this problem of perception?

Let me talk about Lamidi Adedibu. One way or the other, most successful politicians in Oyo State must have gone through Baba Adedibu. Secondly, don’t let any person deceive you, I wish I would end my life the way Baba Adedibu ended his. Let me tell you the truth. The mobilization ability of Baba Adedibu cannot be faulted by anybody. We use people in politics. Yes! He was not a saint. He may have had his vices, but definitely people agree with us that he was a good individual. Some things people don’t want to hear is the way he behaved to some politicians, not the electorate. Because, at times, when you help them to get where they are, they become lords. And such people, if there is any way they are being dealt with, I don’t think there is anything bad in it. With due respect, politics is about work and eat everywhere in the world. If you happen to read Clinton’s book – he was trying to pay back all those who helped him to be what he is. So, it’s all over the place in politics. You look at all those who helped you and see where they fit in so as to help them. So, that’s what Baba Adedibu did.

Talking about perception, it works most of the time, but at times it fails. And that is why they say it is good for you to look for the truth and hold on to it. At times, as a politician, you let people underrate you, because at times, surprise is the best strategy. If they know your strength, it makes it easy to plan against you. So, I don’t care about anything people say about me. Inasmuch as I don’t disappoint those who matter. And those are the electorate. I drove around Gate the other day and I never knew whether they would notice me. I wanted to see a friend and I was mobbed by admirers. So that’s what makes me happy. I went for a wedding in Lagos, a professor from the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) chaired that wedding. He walked up to me and said he was chairman of the team sent to accredit over 20 teaching hospitals. He said there is no college of health sciences that matches the standard of the one in Ogbomoso, which is the feedback I wanted to get. You won’t believe I was very happy that day, because that is the kind of feedback I want to hear. Throughout that day I was very happy.

You have been accused of nepotism; wanting federal positions ceded to the state for your kinsmen in Ogbomoso – the ambassadorial slot and the ministerial slot. How do you react to that?

Now, where is the minister from? And where is the Ambassador from? Politically, when you talk of people in Oyo State who contribute most to winning elections for the PDP, who are you talking about? Where is the contribution of Ibadan to the centre or to our election? Good. Jumoke was already a minister at that time and we wanted the Ambassador to come from Ogbomoso, because Ogbomoso contributes the bulk. I mean, it’s a fact. Like I told you earlier that politics is work and eat. They have taken minister. So, let Ogbomoso take the other. There is no other big thing again to share. So, who is practising nepotism? Like I told the man who became Ambassador, “Mr. Man, I did not recommend you, because I did not want you to be an Ambassador.

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Source: The Sun Newspaper

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