Ogun APC crisis: The battle line is drawn–Kaka By: OMONIYI SALAUDEEN AUGUST 17, 2014 The victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the last just concluded Osun State gubernatorial election, Governor Rauf Aregbesola, has somehow rekindled the hope of the party’s supremacy in the Southwest. But then, the peace of graveyard prevailing in the Ogun State chapter of the party is still a source of concern to many people. They yearn for similar victory in the 2015 general elections, but the much needed peace still remains elusive to the party. Each factional group is unwilling and unprepared to shift grounds. In this interview, Senator Adegbenga Sefiu Kaka, representing Ogun East at the National Assembly, dismissed the possibility of an amicable resolution of the conflict unless justice is allowed to prevail. Excerpts: Would you say performance of the seventh Senate has met the expectation of the people in terms of law making? When the performance of the seventh Senate is compared with the previous sessions, it seems there is a consensus of opinion it has performed. But as participants, we may not be able to assess ourselves as objectively as expected. It is the people that our action and inaction affect that will be in a better position to judge us appropriately. However, we have critical activities that had been done and are commendable. For instance, there are some bills that could not be passed by the previous session, which we’ve been able to pass. Example of this is the health bill which has passed through the senate and the House of Representatives. There are many other bills that had been passed many of which have not been assented to by Mr. President. There are also so many motions that have been passed which are yet to be put into effect by the executive. That is one area where we need to do more to compel the executive to carry out all the resolutions of the National Assembly. Looking at the trend of politics in the Southwest, do you think the All Progressives Congress (APC) can sustain its stronghold in the region beyond the present dispensation? The Southwest will remain the progressives’ enclave it has always been. The people have tasted good governance, so, no amount of propaganda can make them abandon the progress tendency. Besides, the politics of Southwest is beyond the issue of APC and PDP. All that is going on now is a product of thesis and antithesis of Papa Awolowo which he propounded in 1983. And the process is going to continue until we are able to separate corn from the chaff. Until we have a clear ideological difference, we cannot say we have arrived at a clear cut progressive and conservatism. For now, we still have an amalgam of both progressives and conservatives within different political parties. In fact, ideology is fast disappearing. We have to reinvest it along the thesis and antithesis that is going on now until we have a preponderant of like minds in the progressive coming together and the conservatives aggregating together so that the people can have a clear choice. The coalition that led to the emergence of the APC is not an end in itself. Within APC, we have so many conservative elements that will eventually find their way out. You will agree with me also that within PDP, there are some people who are progressive inclined. At the appropriate time, they will find their level. We pray they will be able to convert our diversity into a robust unity. What accounts for the protracted crisis within Ogun State chapter of the APC? Like I said earlier, the amalgamation of different political parties brought together some strange bedfellows. In Ogun State, we will sort out ourselves at the appropriate time. Ogun State is not an island; it is part and parcel of the national picture that I earlier painted. There are those who rushed into the party in order to acquire power. And after getting the power, they have shown their colour. But the people are wiser now. Ogun State remains progressive, we remain progressive and we will continue to polish what we have until we get a stable polity. How then do you think the conflict among different factions can be resolved before the next election? The conflict is resolvable, if the stakeholders and the leadership are ready to uphold justice, which is, of course, the number one item on our motto. Where there is justice, there is bound to be peace. Where there is peace, there is bound to be unity. Justice, peace and unity is the motto of our party. So, if there is no justice, then inevitable will happen, which is cleavage. Once it happens, only five percent of us are playing politics, the rest 95 percent are electorate. The electorate will decide. They will know where justice resides. They will know where peace resides. The name of a party is not the issue; it is the personality involved and what they stand for. If those of us that are true progressive decide to move out of APC, then that is the end of APC in Ogun State. That is the truth. You talked about justice. What essentially are your grievances? One, we have a constitution that guides our party. We have guidelines put in place by the interim national executive committee. All the provisions in the constitution and the guidelines are blatantly violated and some of us cannot just stomach such. We will be moving towards dictatorship if there are no consultations among the stakeholders on issues that affect our party. Allow me to leave the rest. Go and fill the vacuum. Some founding members of APC in certain parts of the country are equally decrying alleged injustice with the manner the new converts hijacked the structure of the party. Is there any hope for a redress? If some people decide to handover the party’s structure to a hijacker in any state or location, then we should be prepared to face the consequence. The most important thing is that we have the interest of our people at heart and we must protect that interest no matter whose horse is gored. What is your next ambition after serving out your tenure in the senate? My next ambition is to enthrone justice. I want to see that justice is allowed to reign supreme in any political organization that I belong. Second, I want to ensure that the needs of the people are met through good governance. So, where there is evidence of misplaced priority, where there is evidence of profligacy, we will fight it with the last pant of blood in our veins because we cannot afford to disappoint our people that entrusted their future in our hands. I believe power belongs to God. He gives it to whoever he pleases. If he pleases God that I should still be of service to the people of Ogun State in whatever capacity, I am not going to shy away. But I am not a crazy person who is over ambitious. If it is the will of the people and the will of God for me to retire today, I will gladly retire. And if it is the wish of the people to continue my service in any capacity, I will make myself available. Thank God, I don’t think there is any position in our constitution that I am not over qualified for. But let the will of God prevail. From your oversight function so far, do you foresee a better budget performance in this fiscal year running to an end? How can we expect a budget performance, when the budget was assented to only a few months ago? We were already in the mid year before it was assented to. You recall that budget performance was below 40 percent last year. It will be fool hardy to think that in an election year, there will be an improvement. Besides, the budget still follows the old pattern whereby the recurrent expenditure remains too high, while little is left for capital expenditure. Again, nothing serious is inserted into the budget to curb the menace of corruption, leakages and oil theft. Up till now, we are not sure of the exact quantum of oil that is being lifted from our oil well. Today, we still hear that the fraud in the fuel subsidy account is still ongoing. Nothing was done to the last one discovered. Nobody has been sanctioned to serve as deterrent to others. It is still business as usual. That is why we are clamouring for a change. And change must be a positive change and not just a change for the sake of change. Isn’t there anything the National Assembly can do to ensure a balanced budget between capital and recurrent expenditure? We are praying for our young democracy to achieve its purpose. It should be possible for the executive and legislature to be controlled by different political parties so that we can have some vibrancy. What we have now is impunity protected by family syndrome. If it is possible for one political party to control the executive and another one in charge of the legislature, we will have a bit of vibrancy. We have monumental fraud going on in the oil sector. Nearly equal amount of quantum of oil being declared is being lost to illegal bunkering and outright stealing.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 09:53:13 +0000
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