Senator Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi, the Governor of Oyo State, is also the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), for the February 28 election.
In an interview with journalists in Ibadan at the weekend, he expressed confidence that he would win the election and break the so- called second term jinx in the state.
Exerpts:
Don’t you think that defection of some chieftains of your party to other parties can affect your electoral fortune next months?
Some chieftains of other parties are also defecting to us. You know, this game is people come, people go. It is a game of the office remains. But on a more serious note, if you assess those who have defected, I don’t want to mention names, they are looking for greener pastures. Some want to be governor and since they cannot get it in this party, they go to other parties. And when they got there and they discovered they couldn’t get it again, they settled for what they could be. It is just that some cannot come back. But I am wondering whether it is worth going there.
Don’t you see them as threat to your victory?
If we begin to assess them, I believe to you outsiders, they pose serious threat to us. However, I don’t see the threat. When some of them came, we were in the progressives when they came. Who did they bring? And when they left, who did they leave with? As far as we are concerned, elections are coming and we will see the results. But as far as I am concerned, we have done our own work and we don’t see the threat they are posing.
Are you comfortable about the second term jinx in Oyo State?
No, there is no jinx here. Awolowo did two terms in the Western Region. And since Oyo was created, nobody has done two terms. Since Nigeria was created, no Jonathan has become president. But now, one Jonathan became president. Since I was born, I never became governor. Now, I became governor. None of my family members has become governor. I became the first one. I don’t believe there is any jinx. I think it was just one man – Chief Dejo Raimi, that said it that, no, people don’t do two terms in Oyo State. And that is why we are not developing. Our development is not consistent. Lagos State is developing today because there is consistency of good governance. And I honestly believe in Oyo State that I am going to break that jinx. I just believe it. And you can see how. With what we have done, Oyo people are very intelligent, they have seen through our detractors’ propaganda. People will say a lot of things but I don’t have any doubt of winning second term.
The only thing we are competing with is rigging. I honestly believe that, the major party that is our major contender has been divided into four. Two, I have contested election three times. I won the three, I was denied one. And in the result of the one that I was denied, the number of votes was more than the number of voters. So, what we are saying is that, all things being equal, and all things are never equal, I honestly believe that, if INEC provides a level playground, which I hope they will, with the integrity of Professor Jaga there, and all of the INEC officials, I will win. Let me add before I forget. You asked why am I sure we are going to win? It is because the people competing with us, we have x-rayed them. For instance, one of the former governors refunded N500m to EFCC. Is that one still going to be governor? The money they refunded is the one we are using to build schools. It is only in Nigeria that people with questionable character, people that have been accused, people that are yet to clear their names, people that have cases with security agencies, still have the audacity to come and campaign? You know there is integrity question. But, this is Nigeria, everything is possible. So, coming to the issue of people decamping from us. a lot of people are decamping to us. People with huge supporters. Let me keep their names. Just be on the lookout in the next one week. They have met us, they have discussed with us. We have sealed it up. They have more followership. And let me say that, sometimes, the media help politicians to feel bigger than they are. You are very good at helping us to feel bigger than we are.
Are you not afraid that having many contestants can affect your votes negatively?
Like in all contests, we are many. But the beauty of it is that some of us already have track record that people can reference for. Of the so called prominent contenders, we have three that have been in public service. Of those three, we have two that have been governor before. And we have one that has been a Senator, and a Senate Leader. I think if we look at the track record of each and every one of us, you can safely say that the assessment of each of us is easier than somebody who has not been in public service. And I believe that, the record of the former governors-the two of them, are there to compare with mine. And when you look at those records, whether in the areas of social infrastructure, physical infrastructure, peace safety, and security, which I consider to be the foundation for a meaningful development in any state or in any nation, you will discover that we stand out. The government of APC headed by Senator Abiola Ajimobi, is synonymous with peace and security in the state. And you can see that in the last few years-eight, nine years, before we came in, Oyo State was known as a state of brigandage, violence. But today, the record ,even as highlighted by security agencies, and in particular published by the police, confirmed that Oyo State is safer, more secured and more peaceful. Murder cases have gone than considerably. Apart from murder cases, we have established agencies that support the security agencies. We have what we call Operation Burst, where we have been able to give Police and bring together all security agencies-Police, army, DSS, Imigration, Civil Defence, all of them, and we have supported them with equipment like vehicles, bullet proof vest, to ensure that Oyo State is very safe for the people.
So, the foundation of our administration is safety and security of life and property. And I need to say that comparatively, we are far ahead in safety, peace and security than any of these previous governments. And statistics are there to see. For instance, murder cases, prior to 2011/2012 was recorded at about 84. In Oyo State in the last three years, it has come down to about four. Armed robbery cases were about 48. And since we came in, it has reduced to less than five. Kidnapping and so on, only one was recorded in Oyo State since the beginning of our administration. So, the statistics also support the fact that, Oyo State is now one of the safest, and most peaceful in Nigeria. So, that is the area of safety and security.
I believe that if you look at other parameters like social infrastructure, social infrastructure meaning education, water, energy in general, we have done better than previous administrations. And again, the statistics are there. For instance, before we came in, Asejire Dam, Eleyele Waterworks, were all producing less than 10 percent capacity. Today as I am talking to you, we are producing about 80 percent, which, of course, resulted to more water to drink. We have repaired and rehabilitated many waterworks. Oke Ogun, Ibarapa, Oyo and others. So, in terms of provision of water, we have done a lot better than previous administrations.
What then can you say about the allegation that you left out Oke Ogun axis in your development efforts?
It is all politics. This government has developed more zones than any other zones before us. One, there was no government that has dualised all the entry points into major cities than this government. When we came in, for the first time, the entry into Ibadan, we dualised it. That is Challenge axis. One going to Adelabu Market to Orita. We have dualised more roads than any other government before us. Two, when we leave Ibadan, we now go to Ogbomoso. Ogbomoso has never had a dualised road. It is this government that is giving them dualised road. Not only that, Ogbomoso Town Hall, it is this government that has built it for them. They used to have a Lord Lugard town hall. Today, they have a modern type of hall in Ogbomoso. Now, if you leave Ogbomoso, you go to Oke Ogun. The zone has Oke Ogun 1 and Okeogun 2. Iseyin is the entry point to Oke Ogun. They have never had dualised road. My administration introduced the dualised road. The best NYSC camp in Nigeria was built by us. It is in Iseyin. And when you look at education, all their satellite campuses, we have now upgraded them to full fledged polytechnics. What does that means? Education has a multiplier effect on development. There are cities and counties in the United States that they are called university towns, where once you put them there, development will spring up. So, when you talk of Oke Ogun, we have done that. We have given them schools, we have given them roads. It is not only dualised roads. It is about 15 roads. And I can list them. We have Saki road, Out Alaga road, Itesiwaju road, Saki West and so on. We have just awarded contract for Saki/Polythechnic/Bariba road dualisation despite the one we have done in Iseyin.
More importantly, for Oke Ogun, we believe that more than anybody else, we have developed their roads.
Oyo town too has never had any dualised road before. Our own is the first one we are doing. And the whole town is very happy with us. We have given Oke Ogun waterworks. We are even doing Radio Station at Atiba, Oyo. I want to know, which other government that has done these in terms of development for that zone. We took it zone by zone and I challenge anybody to tell us which government has ever dualised their roads.
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