DR. Olurotimi Olulana is the governorship candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in Lagos State. In this interview, Olulana speaks on his chances and why Labour Party will win the governorship polls. Excerpts:

By Dapo Akinrefon

CAN you assess your chances of winning this election?
It is only God who can determine who becomes a leader in an election. As a party we will try our best to campaign and penetrate  the grassroots as we have been doing. We will try our best but God has already determined who becomes the next governor of the state.

In the botched Third Republic during the era of 13 political associations, during the time of late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua and so on, the man almost won but he was not made the president.
During the June 12, 1993 elections, you know what happened. So everything is in the hand of God and He gives it to whoever he wishes.

Another example I will give you is the one that happened in Lagos State in 1990 and 1991. The issue of Sir Michael Otedola in which I happened to be an active participant is still fresh in many people’s mind.
I can recall the day he was invited to the Police Headquarters. I was carrying a file behind him at the police headquarters. Professor Femi Agbalajobi too was invited by the Police. Agbalajobi was the first to arrive the Police Headquarters and when he came the whole policemen and officers, including the commissioner of police came down to welcome him. And all of them were saluting him until he was ushered into the commissioner of police office.

That happened in my presence, they all came to welcome him believing that he was the next governor of the state unknown to them that Agbalajobi will not even contest that election as the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate.

When Otedola of the National Republican Convention (NRC) came, no police officer gave any salute to him, he was not recognized. I witnessed it, I was there with the former Commissioner for Agriculture, Kaoli Olusanya, ask him.

Determining who wears the crown

Nobody recognized Otedola when he came on invitation to the Police Headquarters. It was unknown to them that Otedola was the governor to be and eventually he became the governor of Lagos State and ruled. That is God for you. So only God determines who wears the crown.

To me, I believe I am  God’s intervention in Lagos election in 2015 and by the grace of God, I will be sworn in as governor of Lagos on May 29, 2015.

If elected as the next governor of Lagos State, what will be your programmes for the people?
My major programme will be first to give Lagos State 24-hour electricity because I want to reduce drastically the problem of unemployment. If it will take me to use almost the entire budget of the state to give Lagos State electricity I will do it.

My second priority is security of lives and properties. Number three is agriculture. In Lagos State, we don’t have much land to plant crops but we are riverine for which we can go into fishery and become an exporter of fishes.

What is your reaction on the postponement of the election?
The postponement of elections is a welcome idea as far as we in Labour Party in Lagos State are concerned. It is good that the INEC postponed the elections. On the issue of the Permanent Voters Card, PVCs, I just got my own not quite five days ago and if the elections had not been postponed, that means I wouldn’t have voted during the February 14 presidential election.

Apart from that, if you look at what is going on in Lagos State, concerning the two so called political parties, anywhere they go for rallies you see people displaying all sorts of thuggery and  it is affecting us.

How?
It started from Lagos State Government through LASAA who went around to remove political opponents’ posters and banners under the disguise that they have a law that says you must not paste posters in so and so place. It got to a stage where PDP also says through the Federal authorities that all Federal roads belong to them.

They started putting their own banners and posters and bill boards on Federal roads in Lagos. So also is APC claiming all the state roads. So in fact, all my banners  and some of our candidates were removed by either

APC and PDP thugs or agents of LASAA.
What efforts have you made to lay your complaints at the right quarters?
We have reported the matter to the police like when some of my supporters were pasting posters, they and one of my drivers were challenged by the APC thugs saying that the one belongs to APC.
It happened around Alapere-Ogudu area to the extent that they used bottles to break my driver’s head.

Do you think the INEC is really prepared for this elections in your view?
If that election had not been postponed, INEC cannot meet up at all. Like I told, you I would not have had the opportunity to exercise my franchise in the elections, but I have been able to have my own PVC. According to the news this morning, INEC is still saying that they are still expecting more PVCs from the printers apart from the ones they have received and distributed and are still distributing. You can hear similar story in other states too. Even in Lagos, they transferred PVCs that belonged to some local governments to others and they are trying to make amend now.

So also in Ogun State, Governor Ibikunle Amosun was the one saying  that the PVCs that were meant for Ogun State were taken to another state while they brought those of other state to Ogun. It could be Lagos PVCs that had been taken to Ogun State. So INEC is not prepared for this elections if they had been held earlier.

Free and fair elections

Even now, they are not yet in position in hold the elections. Let them respond to our call to conduct free and fair elections, but I believe INEC can still meet up between now and the 28th of March.

INEC has said that they have many PVCs that have not been collected by the people.
By the grace of God we have been doing that even at the local level, we have been calling on our members and those who believe in us and those who do not even believe in us. We have mobilized people to move round at the ward level to talk to their people in the rural areas, streets and localities to go and collect their PVCs.

Most of them come back to report that the PVCs are not yet ready and that they should come back for them. In fact, before I could collect mine a few days ago, I had to go and come back for about 12 times, so we are trying to see that people go out and obtain their PVCs. We are even using the net to talk to people to go and obtain their PVCs.

Do you support the use of card readers by INEC?
I don’t support that, INEC should be mindful of people’s interest. To me, I believe that what they are supposed to concentrate on is for us to have our PVCs, to ensure that they are well distributed to the electorate who registered for them. If that is done, they should take care of security of the polling booths during elections.