Senator Lekan Balogun is a respected chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State and the Southwest. He is also a reputable High Chief in Ibadan. In this interview, he speaks on the forthcoming general elections in the country, the preparations by the PDP to win back the state and addresses rumours that he is backing one of the PDP governorship aspirants in the state. Excerpts:
By Ola Ajayi
YOu have been so conspicuous in the politics of Oyo State. How have you been able to combine the complex Oyo politics with the demanding traditional title?
It is not contradictory although, it is very stressful. The pressure and demand on one’s time is very incredible. I am coping and I give thanks to God. I am supposed to be the Osi Olubadan of Ibadanland for now and there are some traditional assignments I undertake for Olubadan and politics does not leave me out though I am not a politician as such any more. I don’t have any political aspiration. Everybody who is involved in politics in this state is more or less my child and that compels a measure of non-partisanship and a degree of neutrality. So, every politician is my son or my daughter. Let the gender not take offence. We can also produce a female governor.
How feasible is it for a woman to become Oyo State governor?
Lekan Balogun
With time, it is possible. We will develop them.
But, not in the next eight years?
May be not in the immediate future. I don’t want to place years on it. It may not be in 2015.
Crisis in the PDP cost the party the 2011 election, what is the party doing to avert a repeat of the incident in 2015 given the insistence of some Ibadan indigenes to produce the governor amid a horde of aspirants?
There is a difference between now and 2011. I think we have suffered enough. We have learnt our lessons. Some crises are inevitable. Unless you go through it, you won’t learn your lessons. The fact that we have learnt our lesson and the fact that everybody is tired of being isolated, sidelined from the power structure is a big lesson. Everybody has learnt his lesson. Talking about the array of aspirants is the beauty of democracy. It is also a function of the potential of the party.
PDP is potentially a party to beat in Oyo now that is why we have an array of aspirants. Some of them are just announcing their interest so as to get something at the end of the day, they are not after governorship seat per se. So, those who are saying look at the large number of aspirants in PDP don’t know what they are seeing. The more aspirants we have, the surer that the party would win. So, it is not the same with 2011.
You speak with so much confidence, what is your party’s chance against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)?
Don’t you know that APC is gone? They should start packing their luggage and leave the Government House.
Packing their luggage
They are gone for sure.
But, some of your party chieftains said the same thing in 2011 but the APC won?
No, we knew they would win in 2011 because we messed up our party in government. We didn’t lose the election, we gave it to the APC. We chose not to win the election. In 2011, we said we were tired of ruling, you take a bite. But, today, they are gone. In terms of performance, we were better than the APC government. It was internal wrangling that cost us the election.
If I got you right, are you saying the PDP then performed better than the APC now?
Yes, we did. What you are looking at is environmental improvement. Those who smile home now are the contractors at a very high emotional cost to the people and they are often outside of this state. I know a couple. The wife who had her shop selling amala had it demolished all in the name of road expansion. They had kids in private schools but they could not afford it any longer and they withdrew them and put them in public schools. The husband and wife had stroke and one may have died. We can beautify our environment without paying such high emotional cost for it.
The only man who smiles home is the contractor from Lagos who was sent by their leader. What kind of government are you running? This government is run for themselves and by themselves not for anybody else. It is nice to drive on good roads. I am lucky I have a car to drive on a good road. But, I would be selfish to say that is what the people want. Is that what the people want? No, that is not what the people want.
Obstruction of the traffic
You picked a man who parked his car by the roadside. Where do you want them to park their cars? You asked him to go and pay N20,000. I know a man who parked his truck by the roadside where he was not obstructing the traffic. He was fined N250,000 each for two trucks making N500,000. For God’s sake, how much did he buy the trucks. They had to pay.
I was involved in that one because I took it up with some government officials. Non-selfish car owners and traders will not vote for them. They are unapproachable, inaccessible. Teachers are being sacked at will. Some saw millers who had been there for ages were driven away and their means of livelihood awarded to a contractor who was hell bent on driving them away from the area with police. They got a court order and the governor was still pestering them in a lawless manner.
Lawless manner
Every Sunday, they are there with Operation Burst and the saw millers would say we are not leaving, come and kill us. Churches in Alalubosa were demolished, lands of some poor people were withdrawn. They are in court. Do you think those people will vote for good roads? Come off it. This government is gone.
Some PDP chieftains in PDP are said to be hobnobbing with Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu…
I don’t comment on rumour, I want information and it is not surprising. The party platform in Nigeria is a hustling platform. You only look for where your bread will be buttered.
They are not looking at the global interest of the people. If you accept that definition, you will not be surprised they are romancing with Tinubu. It is also said that Tinubu is romancing with PDP leaders in Abuja. There is no pursuit of global interest. Look at the way politicians in Nigeria defect from one party to another.
What do you think will be the future of the PDP in South-West come 2015?
The party has every hope of regaining its lost ground in the South-West. I don’t have any doubt.
Is it true that you have shown your preference for former Senate Leader, Senator Teslim Folarin in the governorship contest?
It’s not true. We have been together for a long time, that may be the basis of their projection. He has been my political son for many years just like others too are my political sons. Would I now say I don’t know him? Ranging from Teslim Folarin, Seyi Makinde, Adebayo Alao-Akala, Kehinde Olaosebikan and others, they are all my children. It is a fact that I have been a father to Folarin for years. If you see yourself as a father to all, you should be non-partsian. But intellectually, some people cannot see. I love them all even Akala. He may have done some things when he was in government but we have forgotten that. He is my brother.
As a matter of fact, Akala is a very nice person. How do you think then I should behave to them and take a partisan decision?
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