Nobody Can Cage Me, Alao-Akala Replies Folarin

Former Governor of Oyo State, Adebayo Alao-Akala, tells Olufemi Atoyebi of the Punch, in this interview, that he will break the second-term jinx in the state. He also responded to a boastful claim by the governorship candidate of the PDP, Senator Teslim Folarin that he (Folarin) knows how to cage him (Alao-Akala).

After being in the Peoples Democratic Party for more than 10 years, why did you decide to walk away?

There is nothing much to say except that I have walked in the path that God has outlined for me. When you are with God, you are in the majority. Everything you have read about me and the PDP in the last few weeks can be described as injustice meted out to me. If it was impossible for our party to conduct free and fair primary elections, why must I remain in it? What they did and the way a candidate was nominated was not what we agreed upon. We had a clear understanding of how the primary election was to be conducted. But, the rule was changed in the middle of the game.

I was shocked when the party said less than 10 per cent of those who were supposed to make up the delegates list would be used for the primary election. That was far from the channel to be employed in picking a popular candidate. I was not forced to leave the party but I decided that I don’t have to waste my time where ward congresses were repeatedly cancelled. PDP in Oyo was not fair because a level playing ground was not provided for all. Despite our complaints, the party turned a deaf ear and I had to move on.

Why didn’t you accept the proposal of one of the big parties that wooed you, instead of the Labour Party?

That is true but don’t forget that I am a leader and I have to listen to my people. The decision was beyond me because politics is about the people, not the individual. If you don’t follow the wishes of your followers, you are going nowhere.

Will you consider returning to the PDP, if you win with LP ticket, just as Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko did recently?

When we get to the river, we shall cross it.

How did your close associates react to your defection?

My friends were aware of what was going on in the PDP. They called me and I gave them updates on what was going on behind the scene. They advised me to take a decision before it was too late. They are happy with my decision.

What was the reaction of the Presidency to your defection?

My friends among them called me and wished me good luck.

LP does not have a presidential candidate, are you ready to work for President Goodluck Jonathan in the presidential election?

I will only obey my party’s desire when the time comes.

After you left the PDP, Seyi Makinde also left for Social Democratic Party. What will you say about PDP’s position today?

We are not bad losers. If things were done normally, the party would remain strong. You cannot impose someone who has told me that he would write the delegates list that would be used. We were supposed to elect them, not write their names.

You are going to the poll, just like Makinde, Rashidi Ladoja, and the incumbent governor in the state, Abiola Ajimobi. Does it mean that the second-term jinx is about to be broken in Oyo?

With due respect to others, we are about to see the end of that jinx and by the grace of God, I will be the first person to break it.

PDP had said it would not worry about your defection and that it has a strategy to cage you. Are you ready for the fight ahead?

Unfortunately for them, I am older in the game. Nobody can cage me because, as a security officer, I have caged someone before. We have started separating boys from men.

If you had lost the primary fairly, would you have stayed back at PDP?

I would have exhibited good sportsmanship and congratulated whoever won. I have done it before, what is new in accepting defeat? If the party was fair to me, why should I be stupid enough to reject the result of a free and fair election? I would have worked for the winner to the end.

Why are you interested in becoming Oyo State governor again?

I have always dedicated my life serving mankind. When I was in government, people enjoyed my time and those people are the ones calling me back.

There were meetings called by the PDP elders involving you and other aspirants while the stalemate lasted in the party. Would you like to share what transpired at the meetings?

That is no more necessary because events have overtaken those meetings. Whatever I say now will not reverse what has happened. That was a time when we thought that we could reason together and move the party forward but that was not to be.

Does it mean that the National Working Committee of PDP refused to listen to aspirants’ complaints?

Some of us know our onions. We cannot be going to Abuja to tell the party what stuff we are made of. We have the Abuja politicians among us. They run there to tell them things they only want to hear. Since I am a native man and a grass roots politician, I remain at home with my people. They will not listen to people like me in Abuja because they will have the impression that I am coming with local ideas.

Are you saying the so-called Abuja politicians installed the governorship candidate of PDP in Oyo State?

If you study the way the whole exercise was done, you will arrive at the answer. We have a situation whereby the rules were changed midway into the game. We have rules guarding the ad hoc committee, why did the party refuse to let it be? By all means, they were bent on favouring one person. This is not from the Presidency but from the party. Oyo is not alone in this problem, some other states are also having the same issue. In Ebonyi, members moved en masse to LP to protest the same kind of injustice I complained about. If there is justice, things will work better in the PDP.

What are the mistakes you made while in government that you want to correct if you have the chance to rule again?

Nobody is perfect in life and we learn everyday. Those things we failed to achieve will be done now and those things we did well will be improved. Having stayed out for some years, I have known better. This is a state where you cannot just bring a novice to run the government.

Why do you think you are the person to beat in this race?

I have been tested and trusted. People know who I am and what I can do.


Click here to READ SENATOR TESLIM FOLARIN'S INTERVIEW

Credit: Sunday Punch