Aregbesola too desperate — Odeyemi

Even our children are chorusing Aregbesola — Lawal

The electioneering campaigns ahead of the governorship election in Osun State has gathered steam. Already the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have engaged in war of words over attempts to manipulate the electoral process in their favour. In two separate interviews, chieftains of the two parties bare their minds on the elections and throw mud at each other.

By Dapo Akinrefon
Aregbesola too desperate — Odeyemi

Prince Diran Odeyemi is Director of Media and Strategy for the Omisore Campaign Organisation.

How do you see the electioneering campaigns in the state?
For us in PDP, it has been very tedious and hard. This is so because of the polling booth campaign strategy adopted by the party and the candidate Senator Iyiola Omisore. We realised that to win the election in a one man one vote policy of INEC our campaign has to be issue based, it has to be carried to where the votes are and it involves identifying with the electorate. This has taken us to the nook and cranny of the state and it has been very interesting knowing the abject poverty and neglect in the state.

This has further opened our eyes to what to do in government as fulfillment of our promises. While we detest campaign of calumny, the APC has been the opposite of our belief. Our party, supporters and the candidate have been the subject of verbal and physical attack but we believe in peace. This has endeared us to the people and the outcome of the election on  August 9, will prove me right.

Accusations and counter-accusations of attacks have trailed  the campaigns, who should be held responsible because accusing fingers point at your party?
It will be wrong to accuse PDP of violence because the records are there that no single incidence of violence was recorded in all the places we visited while it was in the news that we were attacked by APC thugs otherwise called “state boys” by Governor Aregbesola.

Record of attack
We did not campaign in Ilesa East because we were attacked almost immediately we completed our campaign in Ilesa West and APC felt humiliated with the support we got in a place considered to be Aregbesola’s strong hold. When he commenced his campaign in Ife, they had a field day with no record of attack anywhere. So who is violent in this case?

187 Osun APC thugs were arrested in Anambra, 200 in Ekiti and one commissioner was arrested in Delta recently with a bullion van loaded with money to recruit militants for the election. So who is violent?
Senator Omisore has replied that his ambition does not worth the blood of anybody in Osun, so who is violent?

Aregbesola recently in the papers told reporters that he does not look like a governor but a street boy and will fight dirty so who is violent? Omisore has a pedigree and was properly brought up in a royal way, he is not cut out for violence. It is the APC and Aregbesola that are too desperate and have resorted to violence not PDP or Sen Omisore.

Your party has been accused of planning to rig the election with the support of INEC and the Federal Government? Is it true?
How possible is this? INEC to us is the referee and umpire that we believe craves for credibility in its task. The Federal Government business is not beyond providing enabling environment for a fair, acceptable and credible election. International observers from all over the world will be in attendance and Nigerians are focusing on Osun.
How do you rig election monitored by the voters in each 310,000 polling booths. It is not possible to rig where security agencies are policing. APC like to accuse others of what they intend to do and in some instances lay preamble for failure. It is their style which failed in Ekiti and it will suffer defeat in Osun.

What informed your party’s decision to expel some of your members? Don’t you see it as counter-productive?
In every political party you have many judases and political dealers. The people we expelled belonged to these categories. The Holy books even encourage the removal of whatever will stop you from salvation. They are like rotten eggs that needed to give way for sanity in our party. We even celebrated their exit because God has a way of removing whoever does not worth taking party in his glory. Like Segun Oni in Ekiti, they are paperweight and nonentity that will not be missed just wait till August 10, like a prostitute they will beg to come back.

Even our children are chorusing Aregbesola — Lawal

CHIEF Gbadamosi Okunlola Lawal was a member of the old Oyo State House of Assembly between 1979 to 1983. He had a stint as the chairman Ikirun District Council between 1959 to 1961. In this interview, he speaks on the Aregbesola administration and the forth-coming election in the state among other issues. Excerpts:

Having been a progressive in the politics of Osun, what differentiates the progressives in the APC from others in the state?
To start with, I have been in politics since 1954, I contested as a Councilor in 1954 and I won that election.
The APC in Osun for example  is truly a progressive party, since Aregbesola got back his mandate, he has been doing a lot of things that we have not witnessed in this state, if it is for him to get money he wouldn’t have come to Osun at all, all what the governor is doing are pointers to the fact that he is a progressive. Within his first 100 days in office, he employed 20,000 youths under Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES).

This scheme costs government N200 million a month. After that, is the O-meals programme where primary school pupils are being fed every day, there are some pupils before now who attended school without taking any good meal from home, but now, pupils are eager to go to school because of the free meal. It has also increased enrolment because most of these pupils live with their grandparents who can hardly take care of them, but government is doing that.

As if that was not enough, through the feeding programme, government also employed over 3000 caterers who cook for these pupils, some of the caterers through the job feed their families, then O-REAP for farmers and O-SCHOOLS, where government is building new schools.

What is your view that most of the people in Aregbesola cabinet are from Lagos?
No, they are not Lagosians, they may be living in Lagos, the Attorney-general is from Ikirun and we all know them. Assuming we don’t even know them at home, does that mean we should allow them to die on foreign land?
We want to bring them home. I believe there is no point in that, they are all from Osun state, and they may be living in Lagos. What of Aregbesola himself, but people prefer his government to every other government they have seen in the state than that of people who have been living in the state, whereas he was in Lagos before, that should not be an excuse at all.

As the August 9 gubernatorial election approaches, what is your expectation?
We are going to win the election; the other candidates will lose their deposits.

Do you not fear the military scenario that was enacted in Ekiti last month?
We have no fears as far as that one is concerned. Our people will be educated, we have been telling them should it be soldiers or police, that they have only come to protect them and not to harass them and the party is doing much on that before the election.

There is no compound in this state where you will not get a graduate, we will use them to educate people that soldiers are meant to protect them and we will also advice every security officer that will be drafted to Osun to play according to the rules of the game.

What is your assessment of Aregbesola’s administration, will you say it has affected positively on the masses?
I have said that before, is it the children that he is giving free meals that you want me to talk about? Go to town and listen to the songs on their lips, “daddy, mummy, uncle and sisters you must vote for Aregbesola” nobody taught them. We have no fear about the election, as far as we are concerned it is going to be victory all the way, because our people are not ingrate.

The positive transformation of Osun by Aregbesola will translate to massive votes by our people, come August 9, victory is certain.
Osun cannot be left in the hands of people who are going to set it back, the consequences will be so great that the children coming behind will suffer for it, and they will not forgive us, Aregbesola has brought genuine development and he deserves to continue his purpose driven government.