By Dayo Johnson

Mr. Ade Adetimehin, the Ondo State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in this interview, expressed optimism that Governor Rotimi Akeredolu will defeat those contesting against him in the October 10, governorship election adding that the APC has what it takes to win the poll.

What is your assessment of the current political mood in Ondo State?

The current political situation in Ondo State is peaceful, though the tempo is high in terms of political campaigns. All the political parties are doing what they know how to do best. But to me, as the chairman of the APC, I can say our party is more active than all other political parties.

Politics is about people and to make headway, you must have structures; without structures on ground the impact of your activities cannot be felt. I can tell you that APC is well-grounded throughout the length and breadth of the state; we have the spread, and we are waxing stronger by the day. I can assure you that APC is a party to beat in this election, because we have formidable structures across the state.

While the APC remains a dominant party in this governorship contest, we can think of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Zenith Labour Party ZLP) as next in that order.

Before the gubernatorial primary election in the state, there were only two active political parties. The defection of the embattled deputy governor, Agboola Ajayi, increased the tally to three.

Agboola lured the PDP into a trap, and put the party in disarray. He assured the PDP leaders that his movement to their party would divide the APC. Unfortunately, he sneaked out of the APC a lone ranger!

Thereafter, he left PDP with a sizeable number of the foot soldiers and members, after losing the governorship ticket, thereby depleting the PDP. This dealt a serious blow to the PDP as almost half of the members migrated to ZLP, while some decided to join  the APC.

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The APC has captured almost 60 percent of political structures in the state. Most of the ZLP members had moved to APC even before the governorship primary election, while others left the party, as a protest against the coming of Agboola Ajayi into the party.

Agboola Ajayi seems to be making more waves on the political scene than the PDP candidate. Don’t you see him as a threat to the second term aspiration of Governor Akeredolu?

From the analysis I stated earlier, I never ascribed any strength to him. We never see him as a threat and he is not even in this race. The point I am trying to make is that Ajayi has depleted PDP, and his exit from PDP did more havoc to the chances of the party in the election.

He moved with quality politicians in PDP to ZLP within a short period. If you look at it critically, APC becomes the beneficiary, as we have been harvesting defectors from both PDP and ZLP.

We have also received some notable members of African Democratic Party, ADC from across the state, with large chunks from Ondo West and East local government areas. The entire structures of the party had been collapsed into APC recently under the leadership of the House of Representatives member representing the area, Hon. Abiola Makinde.

So, Ajayi cannot be a threat to us as we have done our homework well  ahead of time, even before he decided to contest on the platform of ZLP.

Again, we paraded the best political actors today in the state. All the strong political gladiators in the state are solidly behind the reelection of governor Akeredolu.

All the aspirants who contested for the party’s ticket with Akeredolu have all pledged their support for Akeredolu. Chief Olusola Oke, Engr. Ife Oyedele, Chief Bukola Adetula, Amb. Sola Sola Iji, and a host of others. These great men shelved their personal interests for the party, and gave room for reconciliation.

Are you not weary of former Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s support for Ajayi?

I want to repeat that ZLP is a party without structure. In this state, and at this particular moment, it is only the APC that is a threat to other political parties because of our intimidating credentials and the bigwigs in our fold. So, for Dr. Mimiko’s support for Agboola Ajayi we are not scared at all.

Agreed, Mimiko is a great politician, and the leader of the ZLP, but I want to remind you that he was once the leader of Labour Party, and PDP, and for a man to be leader of three political parties within a very short time, you should know and understand what that means.

You should know that people can never be taken for a ride all the time. The people of Ondo State are well enlightened, and a politician of a three political parties within a year cannot be seen or taken as a serious politician.

A few days ago you promised that the state would witness a bloodless election, but many are wondering how this would be in the face of series of attacks and violence in the state. Do you still maintain that position?

I have made this promise repeatedly on the part of my party, APC, I won’t know what the other parties are planning, but I still stand by my promise. We have gone round the 18 local government areas, and what we preach is peace.

The state belongs to all of us. I also think the APC is in better position to guide against violence. This is because we are the one with the eggs, and we must protect it, to protect our good image.

But the opposition parties are always pointing accusing finger towards your party…

It is left for you to do your findings. We have never been involved in any attack, and I challenge you to prove otherwise. The recent one that happened in Owo, where violence was unleashed on our members and members of the community, the police came there, went round to investigate but no APC member was found involved.

The incident that happened in Idanre,  some hoodlums had been arrested and are still in police custody. So they should tell us where we have been involved.

But violence were recorded in Oba Akoko, Idanre, Owo and Ipele, why do you think other political parties see APC as target?

This is simple. It is because we have a good product to sell, so they think the best way to de-market us is through this orchestrated violence against APC. All they are after is to provoke us, but we will not stop preaching peace, even though they have nothing to lose because they have nothing to offer, and this is the reason we refused to be provoked.

You mentioned the attack in Oba Akoko, the incident and disruption of the peace of this town was orchestrated by PDP, the APC has been given clean bill by security agencies, who investigated the incident and other incidents that happened in other areas.

We are determined not to be provoked in the face of this violence. Apart from this, we are enjoying the support of the good people of this state, who want APC to continue with the developmental projects.

What is your party’s chances in the Ondo South senatorial district where Agboola Ajayi hails from?

Politics is about structures, party manifestos, individuals and character. As at today, no political party parades the materials we have in the fold of APC in the southern senatorial district.

I am talking about the quality of members and political leaders in the area. APC is the dominant party in the southern senatorial district, in terms of structures, notable and credible politicians.

In 2016, we lost Ilaje and Okitipupa Local Governments to Chief Olusola Oke, who contested under another platform, but he is now in APC and we are on the same page. So you can rest assured that APC will not have any problem winning in these two local government areas, where Olusola Oke commands a lot of respect and followership. He has never lost in this area,

What is your message to the people of the state ahead of the election?

The people should see APC as a consistent party that strongly believes in their well-being at all times. It is a party of ideology.

They should refuse to be deceived again. Before Akeredolu’s government, the state was very backward. There appeared to be a deliberate plan to halt its progress and development by those in government. The economy and infrastructures were literally gasping for breath.

With careful planning and uncommon financial management, Akeredolu has laid a solid foundation for those things that will make this state develop fast, and compete with states that are economically viable in Nigeria.

I, therefore, want to appeal to our people not to give room for derailment again. The two other contenders in the race do not have the capacity or the requisite experience to take this state to the promised land.

VANGUARD