‘I dumped PDP in the interest of my people’

Omogunwa

Senator Yele Omogunwa represents Ondo South Senatorial District at the National Assembly. Few days to the November 26 governorship election in Ondo State, he dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC). He spoke with reporters in Akure, the state capital, on his relationship with Governor Olusegun Mimiko and how the state can surmount its economic challanges. LEKE AKEREDOLU was there. 
Why did you kick against the emergence of Mr. Eyitayo Jegede as the candidate of the PDP?
I take my time before I take decisions. The idea of picking the party’s candidate from Akure was wrong. Akure and Ondo are in the same central senatorial district, where the outgoing Governor Olusegun Mimiko hails from. That is tenure elongation or third term for Mimiko. Akure people are nice, but the timing was wrong. More so, the number of votes they were able to muster is because of the name of Eyitayo Jegede (SAN). If it is the name of these people in authority, they will not get 50,000 votes. Jegede is a complete gentleman. He came to my house and I told him that he was drafted into the race forcefully. He was not one of us. Before aspiring to govern the state, he should have asked himself how many governors he has voted for in this state? We started with Bamidele Olumilua; we were holding the meetings together when Ondo and Ekiti was brken into two states. So, I understand the terrain.  I voted for the late Adekunle Ajasin, not as an active politician then. I have worked for a governorship aspirant, Prof. D.O Oke who did not make it. Mention anywhere in Ondo State, I will tell you I have two or more friends there. So, you must be on ground. To become a governor; it’s not about an appointment.
Did you inform Mimiko about it?
Look, Mimiko and I met five times on this matter and I told him the idea will not fly. He knew I don’t come to their meetings. The only meeting I attended was at Ore in Odigbo Local Government. After he informed me that he had settled for Jegede as the party’s flagbearer, I said let me go and tell my people. I was not fighting for the South, but I was saying that for equity sake, it should either be South or the North. I thank God it has gone to the North. We have seasoned politicians in all the senatorial districts and I told him it has to go round. I told him, zoning itself is not constitutional, but an arrangement of convenience.

Despite your explanation, the governor insisted on Jegede, why?
The idea was that since the candidate is coming from Central, particularly Akure, which is the state capital the party will have a chunk of the votes from the Central and whatever votes it gets from the other two districts will give the party victory. I told Mr. Governor that he was wrong. I told him that Akure people do not vote. I told him to remember that Akure is a cosmopolitan city and that more than half of its residents are from the other 17 local governments. So, if an Akoko man emerges as a candidate of another party, do you want to tell me that the Akokos who reside in Akure will not come out on the election day and vote for their kinsman?
It was rumoured that you left the PDP because of the way Mimiko treated you during your days in Labour Party…
At this age of my life, what I think I am left with is to face my God, pray for my children, my grandchildren and live the rest of my life happily without any vendetta. I am not the kind of person that would want to avenge. He did that one to justify his position at that time. Though, I angrily left the party and the government, but at the end of the day, he came to me and we settled. So, that is politics for you; if it didn’t go down well for you today, definitely, it will be your turn tomorrow. I remained steadfast praying to God. In fact, one of my wives said I should not quit politics, because I have put in more than 25 years and should not allow somebody to frustrate me to quit. I consider Mimiko a friend. I have told him on several occasions that he is not a true friend. A political friend is not a friend. We didn’t grow up in the same place, we didn’t carry girls together. We have not been in the same club. The only thing we did together is politics. We both graduated from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), but not at the same time. If you know how I became senator, you will marvel and praise God.
Why did you dump the PDP?
You will recall that from the LP, we moved into the PDP in the wake of last year’s presidential and National Assembly elections. The main attraction then was to reconnect with the Federal Government along party lines, so as to attract more democracy dividends to the good people of Ondo State. For me, I found it a worthy adventure, on the grounds that virtually all the strategic projects that could transform the lives of the people of Ondo South senatorial district can only be successfully executed with the full cooperation and inputs of the Federal Government. You can then imagine how disappointed I was when the PDP was voted out of power. Despite the sad and frustrating development, as it were, some of us who found ourselves in that situation were ready to cope with it; at least in the interest of the party. But suddenly crisis erupted and the party became fractionalised. At this point, the success of the party at the governorship election was threatened. At this juncture, I considered the implication of being in the opposition in my home state and at the federal level.
Are you saying that as someone in opposition there is no way you can bring dividends of democracy to your constituency?

In terms of development, when you are in National Assembly you can talk as much as possible and whatever you say may not get the desired result, except you hook up with the right party. When we are talking about opposition, we are talking about the minority. Under normal circumstances, the opposition does not see anything good in whatever the majority does. But it is more than that, you can leverage on the good will of majority to get whatever you can get, depending on your relationship and acceptability.
There was uproar on the day you officially defected on the floor of the Senate. Can you explain what really occurred?
The action was spontaneous. Many of them did not know that I have decamped until that day. So, it shocked them that they are losing another person. So, when it was officially announced at the Red Chamber, they never knew I have written the Senate President and when the President read it, they were not so happy. You know in the chamber, the majority and the minority sit separately and when it was announced, I started moving from the minority seat to the majority and they felt sad and they did not allow the Senate President to end the letter; they started shouting. The senators in the majority were celebrating my defection and the PDP senators were not happy.
Now that you are in the ruling party, what should be the expectation of your people?
I want to be in the majority, so I can attend caucus meetings. You will know some minister; you don’t have to go through the President before you talk to the ministers representing Nigeria and then you can explain your point to them. I have seen one or two since I defected and we have been discussing on development. When it may happen, I will not know, but we will continue to discuss. You know governance; it might not be a job. My desire is that development will come and definitely it will, depending on the economic muscle of the Federal Government. We are talking of a sea port in Ondo southern senatorial district and if this is put in place over there, it will impact positively on the economy, especially in the Southwest. Our bitumen is yet to be tapped. You know I am from Irele and in my father’s village, there is bitumen. You will remember former President Olusegun Obasanjo was at the place to commission the takeoff of the project, but it never saw the light of day. We can continue to push this in our own way, without shouting or making noise.
How do you think the incoming government can survive with the huge debt and non-payment of workers’ salaries that it may likely inherit?
When we were debating the budget at the National Assembly last year, I raised two issues; that we must be courageous and optimistic that the economy will improve and that Nigeria should go for heavy loan. No government can survive without loan. In Ondo State, no matter the huge debt that will be inherited, Akeredolu will still perform. Everybody is aware that this government owes six to seven months salaries and I also understand the debt is close to N200 billion, but if I am the governor, I know he will draw a line and plan how to pay; even if it requires borrowing. No matter the huge amount of debt, I believe the governor-elect will still perform.

Source:The Nation