How we’ll win Osun election —Kashamu 27.Jul.2014 by Sulaimon Olanrewaju Chairman, Mobilization and Organisation Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party in the South-West, Prince Buruji Kashamu, expresses optimism about the chances of his party in the Osun State governorship election, in this interview with SULAIMON OLANREWAJU. Excerpts: THE Osun State governorship election is just around the corner. How prepared is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for this? We are ready for the election. As you know, the campaign is going on very well. We are working hard, visiting all the communities in the state and touching base with the electorate and the response has been very heart-warming. I believe that the good people of Osun State desire a change. The good people of Osun want the state to progress beyond what is already available. So, there is no doubt that they will cast their votes for Dr Iyiola Omisore, the PDP candidate in the election. The people of Osun State have seen through the APC that it is only good in propaganda, but when it comes to performance, it is nowhere. Having seen this, the people desire a change and that is why they will vote for the PDP in that election. Osun people are saying ‘enough is enough.’ They have had enough of propaganda and grandstanding; they want a departure from what is obtainable in the state now; they are yearning for development which they know is beyond the ability of the APC. That is why they are all rooting for Omisore and the PDP. We are ready for the election. We are not taking anything for granted and we know that by the grace of God, we are going to win that election. What has been the response of the people of Osun at your campaigns? Many of the local government areas are our stronghold; the people there are solidly behind us. The APC has an edge in a few local government areas. But the fact on ground is that majority of the people of the state are disenchanted with the government, because of its anti-people policies. So, when we go on our campaign tours, they troop out to hear us because they know that our party represents the change they desire. The reception has been very encouraging and it can only get better. We see tumultuous crowds at the APC rallies. Why is that so? Well, we shall see at the end of the day. But let me say this. If the APC has any strength, it is in propaganda. Most of the people you see at the rallies are rented; a good number of those people are not even from Osun State; so, they cannot vote. When next they hold a rally, look at the faces of the people, you will see that many of them are not interested in what is going on at the rallies, they are just waiting for the rally to end and for them to get paid and continue with their lives. Why is that so? It is because the government in Osun State has impoverished the people through its anti-people policies. The people are going to give their verdict about these policies on 9 August. Osun people are tired of being remotely controlled from Lagos. They don’t want to be tied to the apron string of one individual. They don’t want their state to be an annex of Lagos; they want to be their own people, making their own decisions, taking their destinies in their hands. They want their future secured; they want the lives of their children secured. And they know that this cannot be guaranteed for as long as critical decisions about their state are taken by interests outside the state. That is why they are going to reject the APC at the polls and vote for Omisore. But the general feeling out there is that Governor Rauf Aregbesola has done well in the state and deserves another term. Isn’t this so? It is difficult for any APC governor in the South-West to perform well, because they are not actually in control. No matter their good intentions, they have to submit to orders from Lagos. That is not obtainable in the PDP. Have you ever heard of the president, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, giving instructions to the governor of Bayelsa State on how to run his government? Does the president give instruction to other PDP governors on how to manage their states? That does not happen. The president gives them free hand to do whatever they know is in the best interest of their people. But none of the APC governors in the South-West can do whatever he wants without the authorisation of Lagos. So, the governors are incapacitated and by extension, the states are incapacitated. For the South-West states to maximise their potential, they have to be weaned from the powers-that-be in Lagos. This can be done by voting the PDP, which promises an all-inclusive government, into power. Are you saying there will be a repeat of what happened in Ekiti in Osun election with an incumbent suffering defeat? That is the point I have been trying to make. The signs that we see are that the people of the state are tired of the current government for two reasons; it has made life difficult for them through its anti-people policies and because the state has been experiencing capital flight. It is an open secret in Osun State that the policies of the government have made life difficult for the generality of the people. How then are they going to return such government? It is an open secret that the current government has plunged the state into debts. Will the people still go ahead and vote for such government, knowing the implications of this on their future and the future of their children? We are talking about a government that caused tertiary institutions to be shut for over six months; do you think the people will want the continuation of such government? What I know about the people of Osun State is that they are wise and forward-looking. So, they are not going to vote for the continuation of their suffering. Your party has been accused of trying to woo the electorate with rice, kerosene and money. Why are you doing that? Let me say that empowering the people has been part and parcel of the PDP’s programme; it has nothing to do with elections. As a party, we believe in helping the people; that is why some of us have been doing that long before now. That we assist our people is not to woo them to vote for us. However, why should the people not vote for those who help them? If people who are not in government are using their personal resources to assist the people why should the people not vote for them when the need arises? The PDP is not about spreading poverty, we believe in spreading prosperity. We believe in making life easy for the people. We believe in securing the future of our people. That is why we do empowerment. But members of the APC who are crying foul about this have been copying us. They are now giving out rice, sugar, salt, etc. Do they think the people are foolish? If you are in government for three-and-a-half years and you never thought of reaching out to the people, do you think they will get carried away, if you now try to give them tokens when election is near? Now, those who sacked workers are trying to bring them back because of what they suffered in Ekiti. They are now giving loans to people, etc. What these people need to know is that leadership is not about the leader, but the people. You cannot be a leader, if you don’t have people following you. What will make people to follow you is their belief that you care for them. If people believe in you, but you show you don’t believe in them, by making life difficult for them, you will lose them. That is what is happening to the APC governors in the South-West. It has been said that the PDP relies on the deployment of troops by the Federal Government to intimidate the people for it to have an edge. How do you react to this? What is wrong with the Federal Government deploying soldiers to secure the lives of people? With the kind of tension that heralded the Ekiti State election, should the government have refrained from doing all in its power to ensure that the people were not harmed? Did the government not deploy soldiers in Edo governorship election? I think the APC should answer some questions in this regard; one, did the soldiers or policemen tell the electorate who to vote for in the Ekiti election? Did the soldiers stop the people from exercising their franchise? Did the soldiers disrupt the electoral process? If the answers to each of these questions is ‘no,’ then, the APC has no justification crying foul over the deployment of soldiers. Do they want the commander-in-chief to wait till there is a crisis before calling for a mop up action? I cannot say whether soldiers would be deployed in Osun for the election; it is for the government to decide, but since the soldiers are neither for the APC nor the PDP, the parties should go ahead and prepare for the election and allow the people to decide who they want as their governor. Will your party go to the tribunal after the election? We are winning the election. So, there is no basis for going to tribunal. However, if after the election, we are able to establish that the APC perpetrated any fraud or illegality during it, we shall head for the tribunal. But we trust that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will conduct a free, fair and credible election in Osun State.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 14:44:52 +0000
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