Alleged Certificate Scandal: Onus lies on Kwara Gov-elect to clear himself – APC spokesperson

In this interview with HEAD POLITICS, MUMINI ABDULKAREEM, the Publicity Secretary of Kwara South Senatorial District of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Femi Yusuf speaks on the last general elections, alleged certificate scandal of the Governor-elect and Kwarans’ expectations from the new government, among sundry issues in the polity. Excerpts:

How will you described the last general elections in Kwara State?
I think the exercise was unique in the country. Kwara for some time now had been in the midst of what I will call the pros who are the incumbent and willing to continue and the antics that formed the opposition. It also involved the masses of Kwara who never shunned the rhetorics coming from both camps and approach the exercise with a mindset of their own.

What can you say about struggles of the opposition so far?
Well, it has been tough and involved accusations and counter accusations from both sides which is good for the polity especially in the last few years. Signs that this election might be different from the previous showed during the last local government election but let me say fortunately or unfortunately, the incumbent left it too late and that is why we are here today.

After the victory of the opposition, do you think the party will be able to meet the huge expectations of the people?
I think the first expectation is the change that has been achieved which has seriously doused tension before the poll. Secondly, during the electioneering, APC campaigned against the government in power with some indices and if we want to be practical, we have to ensure we find means of getting those things we complained against down to the people that voted for us. We were just beneficiary of that change episode because we happened to be the opposition with the loudest voice. It is for us to see how we can learn from what happened to the ruling party. Before the election, there were a lot of issues and everything was centralised in the Government House including payment of Salaries. Such scenario practically brought too much attention to the Governor and put him in undue spotlight. A wise government will not want that to continue and we will therefore create activities at the local government, parastatals and ministries to divert people’s attention from the governor except when his intervention is necessary. We know the masses are really going to be on our neck this time around and we should be able to reach out to them.

Many people have insinuated that issues within the party might not give the Governor-elect the focus to hit the ground running as expected?
As far as we are concerned, the party is one big family because there is no perfect party anywhere. The essence of playing party politics is to disagree and agree. We might have issues initially trying to elect our candidates. If we were able to survive that, I don’t see any issue we can’t manage at this stage. All the juggernauts in the party have been going around with the governor-elect and he has been congratulated from within and outside. I am not saying we don’t have issue, but that is normal and we will overcome them with time.

The issue of alleged certificate scandal involving the Governor-elect has been a subject of discussion. What is your take that it is coming from within?
I don’t believe the issue is from within and we should also remember that prior to the election we had litigation instituted by the Omotoshe faction. It may be one of the plots of our opponent but I don’t see anything serious about it. This is not the first time that people would be alleged of certificate issue. If the governor–elect is sure of his claims, he would clear himself and if it’s the other way, it will show. But the fact remains that Kwarans have spoken, certificate allegation or not.

You are one of the arrow heads of the opposition programme on radio and some have accused you of attacking the Governor who is from your local government in Ifelodun. How do you respond to this?
I was born in Kwara and had all my education here before heading to places like Lagos and Abuja. But because of the trend of political discussion out there at the time, I decided to come back home in 2011 from Abuja and approached the government of the day. I met Moshood Bakare who is my younger brother and advised him on what to do as a lawmaker from Ifelodun to serve as a good opportunity to showcase our quality. But after sometime, I joined forces with the opposition in 2014 when the leader, Dr Bukola Saraki left and I was elected as the party’s Publicity Secretary. Ifelodun is one of the largest councils in the country if not Africa and with our son as the Governor, it was expected that he would bring his wealth of experience and position to uplift the local government. Ifelodun has boundaries with about nine local governments and there is no road that links them properly. But to us, our expectations were not met on the issue of road despite having one of the best tourist attraction sites in Owu Falls there. We expect that such sites would be used to develop the Oro-Ago and Ilere axis. Dr Bukola Saraki as the governor constructed the road from Oke-Ode to Babanla despite being a non indigene. I tried to meet the governor one on one but that didn’t materialise and I joined the opposition to tell him what he needs to do. For those who are saying that I am attacking the governor, that is not correct. I was only using the radio programme to tell the Governor what he needs to do indirectly because I wanted him to succeed. When we started the programme, people were accusing me of aiding the government who I am opposing to do well by telling them about the roads, potholes and other projects to fix. The Governor is my brother and his success would be our pride as Ifelodun indigenes and moreover I was equally asking for my right. I feel we can handle things like bursary, payment of teacher’s salaries across colleges of educations and schools of nursing better and that the loans, bailout and asphalt plant should work better.

But most state governors had issues with funding
I think the issue is not about funding per se but about deploying what was available more effectively and prudently to bring out the best in the present circumstance.
PDP has accused the opposition of working with government at the centre to disenfranchise voters especially with the aide of the security operatives?
The election in Kwara was relatively peaceful compared to what we have been having and despite there were one or two issues, the police that were in the polling units did not handle guns. The last election was a whole new experience for us and we did not have issue of ballot theft or snatching

Senate President, Bukola Saraki has congratulated winners of the election, What can you say to that?
I must say I give it to the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, for congratulating those that won and it shows he understands the dynamics of the last exercise and he accepted what happened. The APC won throughout the three senatorial districts this time around and with quite a wide margin. I don’t see the PDP going to court over the issue but of course that is their right and prerogative.  But I must commend Dr Saraki for that action.

Your message 
We want the people of Kwara State to understand that this is a new situation and we need their prayer, patience and understanding of the masses as regards their expectations and for all hands to be on deck to improve what is on ground. The Governor-Elect is a billionaire who is expected to leverage on his connection to attract investments to the state. For those elected or that will be nominated to hold political offices in the next dispensation, I advise that they don’t see it as means to enrich themselves but a call to service to the people of the state in the quest to salvage the situation.