Imposition of candidates will kill APC in Osun – Kusamotu by mynewswatchtimesng Ayodele Kusamotu is a lawyer of International repute, an activist, social crusader and politician. The lawyer who is an indigene of Ikirun, Ifelodun Local Government Area of Osun State is a nephew to late Dr Hammed Kusamotu, National Chairman of defunct National Republican Convention (NRC). He aspired to represent the people of Ifelodun/Boripe/Odo-Otin federal constituency of Osun State in the House of Representatives, but despite paying N2million for the nomination form of All Progressives Congress (APC), the party refused to issue him a nomination form. In this interview with ADEWALE AJAYI, Kusamotu faulted the process through which APC candidates for next year’s general elections emerged in the state. How long have you been in the party to contest the House of Representatives election and what motivated you to contest? I had always wanted to go to the House of Representatives to represent people of Ifelodun/Boripe/Odo-Otin federal constituency of Osun state because of the love I have for my people. I withdrew from the race in 2007 on principle. It was because of the existing zoning arrangement in the party and I knew it wasn’t the turn of Ifelodun, my Local Government to contest the election. I decided to respect the zoning arrangement so; I had to back out. In 2011 it was the turn of my local government, Ifelodun and I was in ACN then but the governor said he wanted to compensate his loyalists that have been in the struggle then and the elders of the party appealed to me. Despite the fact that my community has endorsed me, despite the fact that it was the turn of our local government I still stepped down for the choice of the Governor and the party leadership in the constituency. I believe it is the turn of my Local Government in 2015 so I showed the intention to contest again but the leadership of my party refused to give me nomination form even when I have paid N2million for nomination form as stipulated by the national secretariat of our party. However, when it was the turn of my Local Government to produce the candidate for the House of Representatives, the leadership of the party failed to respect the existing zoning arrangement and this is a serious issue and I am not happy about it. All efforts to correct the situation proved abortive and my people are already prepared to resist such imposition. The Director of Publicity and Strategy of the APC in the state, recently said only genuine members were given nomination forms, what is your reaction to this? I am not surprised with the assertion of the Director of Publicity of the party because he was not an active politician.He was a Journalist all through his life but appointed into that office by the party leadership. As a matter of fact, I have a party membership card and so, I am a duly registered member of the party. The Party’s s Director of Publicity lied when he said so and up till now, I have not been giving the nomination form and I know he can’t say that to my face. When Aregbesola was contesting for the governorship election, I donated half a million to the party in Ifelodun Local Government Area .I did a bill board for him, I produced T-shirts for him and when he came to Ifelodun for his campaign I gave him key holder’s, hundred pieces of holy Quran which he distributed to the people, so, am I not a genuine member of the party when I was donating all these for the party and the governor, I have supported the party in my own little way and now I am not a genuine member again, according to the party’s Publicity Director. Why did you choose to join APC in the first place? Why not other political partiy, especially the PDP considering the background of your uncle, Dr Hammeed Kusamotu who was a leader of the PDP while alive? I joined the APC primarily because in my area here, majority of the people around us here are supporting the progressives and I wouldn’t want to go out of what my people are doing. In politics, you have to be where the people are, because democracy is all about people. I actually started with the Alliance for Democracy (AD ) then, because the party is progressives and my uncle was alive then but by our upbringing we were taught to be liberal. Although he was not happy that I joined AD but in my family we have people who belong to different political parties. My late uncle accepted me with my decision but he was not happy with it. You have been in Politics for quite some time now what is your assessment of Nigerian Politics? I think there is a lot to done by Nigerian Politicians, because politicians have to live by examples, our democracy is just evolving and needs to be enjoyed by all and sundry. Despite being comfortable as a Lawyer, why seek elective office? Since I joined politics I found out that there were so many things that you can do for your people when you are into politics, you can deliver to your people by giving them the dividends of democracy by serving the people and when you are government, you can influence one project or the other for them. As a matter of fact, individuals cannot meet the demands of their people with their own resources, but when one holds public office he will be able to influence and facilitate something for his people. What influenced your decision to run for House of Representatives and not any other position? I am a lawyer, and in the House of Representatives they make laws and by my training this is where I will be more active and my competency comes to bare. Also, I want that position to be my starting point in politics, being my line of discipline. I want to also tap on the constituency projects opportunity available at the National Assembly to develop my area. Do you think you have what it takes to contest that election and win it? This is the 17th year that I have been practicing as a lawyer. With the experience I have garnered in my practice I can conveniently represent my people in the House of Representatives. Some members of the APC in Ifelodun Local Government Area were said to have protested against the imposition of the party’s candidate for the House of Representatives. Were you behind this? The People have the right to express their feelings. The truth is that our people don’t want to hear anything like imposition. I knew nothing about the protest as a person, but I know our people detest imposition. Who is your god father? Do you believe in god-fatherism in politics? I don’t have a god father. The Almighty Allah is my father and I also have a biological father. I don’t believe in god-fatherism at all. If you are not on your own, you will always be subjected to your principal and it will continue to affect you. With this development, do you consider defecting to other political party to realize your ambition? I am still consulting with my political leaders, friends and associates. But it is not likely I leave APC because, I believe in the manifesto and ideology of the party. Never the less, we are ready to fight this injustice to the letter. - See more at: mynewswatchtimesng/imposition-candidates-will-kill-apc-osun-kusamotu/#sthash.NbjZtlCZ.dpuf
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 09:39:30 +0000
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