By Gbenga Olarinoye
FOR three and a half years Governor Rauf Aregbesola fought to reclaim the mandate freely given to him by the people of Osun State on April 14, 2007 before the Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan declared him as the true winner of that election . In his maiden press conference on Monday with journalists in the state, he spoke on a number of issues ranging from how he wants to be addressed and his programmes for the people of the state. Excerpts:

What is your reaction to some pockets of violence in the state after your declaration as the Governor?

Governor Rauf Aregbesola

Much as I see myself as a product of my party, the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, I want to make it clear that as from Friday, 26th of November, 2010, I have seized to be a partisan politician and I want to say categorically that as from that day until I will leave the seat of authority with a cloud ovation by the grace of God, I have sworn to an oath to be faithful, loyal, diligent on the administration of the affairs of the state which made me a dispenser of governance to all the people of the state. In this wise, I am using your media to let the whole world know that in Osun, we are committed irrevocably to the promotion of the interest of the people, protection of their rights and their future without discrimination, without let or hindrance.

However, it is a source of pain to me that some hoodlums are parading under the false cover of my party, ACN going about to attack people under the disguise of retaliating the injustices suffered by us during the tenure of the impostors in this state. We recognise the pain our people went through; we recognise the harassment, the oppression, the intimidation, but we must also recognise that it was not our resistance of the oppression, intimidation and harassment that has made it possible for us today to be in the position we are.

It was God Almighty, which in His own wisdom and time, influenced the minds of our courageous judges to give us the victory, with which we have the hope of transforming the lives of the people of Osun State and we shall do it by the grace of God.

So, it would be a greatest disservice to God and man, that instead of allowing God to take His own vengeance, people now attribute to themselves the power that belongs to God. So, I am calling on all our committed supporters to shun any provocation and any inducement of violence and whomever fails to so do after this announcement must be seen by security agencies as an enemy of our administration, enemy of the people and such person must be so dealt with.

We are committed to peace, stability, progress, creation of wealth and to the revival of the beautiful legacy of Baba Obafemi Awolowo, which is predicated on the slogan of Action Group: “Freedom for all, Life More Abundant!”

And if there is freedom to do what is right, of course, in such atmosphere, there will be no room for brigandage, there will be no room for violence or lawlessness. If those parading themselves to take laws into their hands remember this, they will never indulge in anything that can destabilise our state. We want to make this state a model of peace, a model of progress, and a model of happiness for the people and a model that other states in Nigeria and Africa will look up to for direction.

What should the people of the state expect from your administration?

From this small state and space, Rauf Aregbesola is promising to change the erroneous perception of the black man world over. People consider us as people who do not know how to govern themselves. We want to put in place, the best form of human administration that will guarantee social and other form of justice as well as progress, peace, stability and development.

What are you doing on the allegation that some brand new cars were moved out of the Government House shortly after the Appeal Court judgment?

Just as we could not say who the owners of those cars are, it would be wrong of me to make any comment on that. The government has directors and registered procedure and whomever attempts to tamper with government properties will definitely pay for it. So, I trust in the system that whoever that is taking away government properties would be apprehended and dealt with. So, it is not an issue to be bothered about.

What prompted your decision to freeze the accounts of all levels of government in the state?

As to how I intend to carry out my pronouncement on the expenditure of the state, let us leave that to myself. What is meant for public was what I ordered, at the inaugural speech, the freezing of all accounts of the state government at all levels, including ALGON accounts.

Every account derived from the state and local government had been frozen and to accompany that, I said that all cheque books, invoices which are the account of expenditure, must be submitted to the Accountant_General. And that the account must be six months account expenditure up till Friday November 26, 2010. The directive is not punitive, but just for us to be sure that the expenditure of the state is properly evaluated for us to take up the responsibilities the people of Osun have bestowed on us.

What is your government going to do about Local Government election and the failure of council chairmen to vacate office after the court ruling on council election?

Yes, our party boycotted the local government election and we will look into any anomaly in that respect. But don’t forget, I am not the governor of ACN, I am the governor of everybody in the state. As much as we will look into the matter, I want to promise you that I will follow the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and I will ensure that the rule of law prevails.

There will be no sensational approach to it. We have a groundnorm called the constitution. We will ensure extreme fidelity on the matter of council election without fear or favour. So, at the appropriate time we will know how to resolve that. We will seek advice of brilliant legal minds who will advise us on the best way to handle that without favouring any side.

The Olagunsoye Oyinlola administration recently took a controversial loan of N18.3 billion to financesome projects in the state, will your government probe the loan?

On the N18.3bnillion loan, we, as a party objected to the procurement of that loan at that time. One, there was no doubt to the fact that there was a dispute on the legitimacy of the administration that went about taking the loan at that time. We felt it wasunethical, immoral for any administration that suffers illegitimacy to take such loan. Bearing that in mind, I will still be fair in my assessment of the entire system. I will not do anything out of pains and I will do anything I can in the best interest of the majority of the people of the state.

The fees currently being paid by students of the Osun State University and other tertiary institutions in the state have been described as outrageous, what will your government do on this?

The most pertinent thing to say is not even the question of UNIOSUN alone. What is the propriety of having a school that cannot be utilized for the people? An honest Permanent Secretary in this state cannot send his child or ward to UNIOSUN without being dubious.

The most critical thing is that the university that caters for the poor_LAUTECH  is being used to deny the poor education. I would want to be properly briefed and I would go about it to the best of Yoruba ethical tradition. But I must say that we shall change everything that can make that school not difficult for our children to benefit from the sweats and pains of our fathers whose hard_earned resources were used to build the university. I will also look at all issues raised on education. Education in Osun needs to be overhauled and I will address that at the appropriate time.

What will your government do on the Airport Project at Ido_Osun?

We shall complete the airport as soon as possible.

Osun and Oyo state governments are currently fighting over the ownership of LAUTECH. What will be the position of your administration on the matter?

I take the issue of LAUTECH very seriously. I have said it that as Yorubas, we have value, we have traditions and we call ourselves the custodian of character. If we are the custodian of character and I know indeed we are, nobility, discipline, integrity and honour are the bedrocks of our society.

Within the shortest possible time, through consultation with leaders in all spheres of life in the states of Oyo and Osun, we will resolve the crisis. LAUTECH is a collective patrimony of Oyo and Osun and as God lives, it will remain a joint patrimony. I take a serious objection to the solution proffered by Olusegun Obasanjo as wicked, inhuman and not in the interest of the people of the two states.

If Oyo wants a university, let Oyo establish its own university. LAUTECH is a joint patrimony of Oyo and Osun states. I am going to embark on wide consultation with out leaders in the two states to resolve the crisis.

How much of your money was expended on the litigation to reclaim your mandate?

On the struggle which lasted for over five and half years, what we have spent can never be quantified. It is a huge amount of money, no doubt, but I want to tell the whole world that I was not fully responsible for the amount of money spent. Some lawyers gave their services free of charge and there were supports from all over the world.

Until I do the account of what we have expended, I may not able to give an accurate estimation, but I must say a large amount money went into litigation. I must also say that we are not carrying over any debt at all; we have settled all our accounts, I am not under any obligation to anybody and I am assuming the office of governor without any liability to anybody.

So, if your interest is to know whether I have carried debts  to Osun, be rest assured that nothing of such is happening. I am a man who God has endowed with a huge goodwill, part of which I am bringing down to Osun.

How come would I have paid all these people supporting me without being tired? I was amazed by the support of the people of Osun, especially on the inauguration day and I doubt if this state has ever witnessed anything like that. I want to commend all those who stood by me and in particular the judiciary. Without their courage, we will not have what we have now.

The last two time you visited Osun State you told your supporters that you would become the Governor before December 2010. What gave you the assurance that you would emerge as the winner?

I am very close to God. As at the time I made the statement, nothing has happened to give me insight of when the case would be decided. So, I am close to God and I knew it would happen.