Akinrogun Tunde Odanye has since 2001 been dreaming of governing Osun State and he indeed contested for the governorship election in 2007 under the platform of Alliance for Democracy (AD). The Ijesa born politician who is a lawyer by profession is now a gubernatorial aspirant under the umbrella of Peoples Democratic Party. He speaks with Seun Adeoye of Osun Mail in this interview. Excerpt:

Now that you are in PDP, what will happen to your political family in AD?

That is a good and interesting question in that I have been in AD since inception. I waited when quite a number of people left for AC because I believed in the values and virtues in which AD stood for and represented but when I realized that politically that platform will not be heading us anywhere to achieve what we need to achieve for the polity and the society and I was woo over to PDP I decided to go. I talked to the National Chairman of the AD that I was going; I mean it was amicable disengagement and he said he was impressed because I took the pains to explain to him as against a situation when many people just abandoned the ship without even the decency of saying they are leaving or even giving notice. So, at that point in time, I was made to explain what my intentions with the AD members will be like and I said well, I was requested not to come and target AD members for purposes of recruiting them to the PDP but of course I did say that I hope they realize there is nothing I can do to stop AD members who want to follow me to PDP and of course on that note we both understood that why I may not be actively going out to canvass for AD members to come over obviously it is only normal that a good number of my supporters who have been close to me and who feel obliged to follow me to the next platform are free.

I do have a very cordial relationship with those that I left in AD; I do have quite a number of them who are with me on the match to PDP, they are just awaiting public declaration the party has promised for both them and me and at which time they will all come from the 30 local governments in the state to declare for PDP. But those are the ones who had volunteered to follow me to PDP. But then, I must add that some of them are ready to work with me even if they do not cross over in as much as they explained that they know me and trust me and believe that I may probably do the best for the state. And there are those who say that they find it difficult at this point in time to change colours by crossing over to PDP, they have actually been assisting and been useful and I suspect that if I do get the PDP ticket I believe there would be some voting across party lines like now come to realize that it is about the person who is coming out than the platform. In the Bible, Jesus said a good man does good from the abundance of good stored in him while the evil man does evil from the abundance of evil stored in him, so it is not necessarily about the platform but who you are and what you want to do. Some have even gone as far as saying that those of us within the affiliation should come and line-up; form queue behind one of us to make sure that the state has somebody they feel genuinely cares for the people as against those they feel they want to get there to feather their own net or care for themselves.

How are you finding the new family, that is the PDP?

Well, the truth of the matter is I can not say I am surprised about what I met, I never expected it to be rosy, so I cannot say it has been rosy. Again, a number of the people I consulted before I decided to cross have warned me about what to expect and you know as they will say in Yoruba that asa ile elomiin ni eewo ile elomiin (the culture of one family is an abomination to other family). So, things are a bit different; I participated virtually in everything that was going on where I was before; in my ward, at the highest level of the party, the highest meetings. So, I was completely carried along and I knew everything that was going on but I cannot exactly say that for the PDP because you may not know that some things are going on, you will only hear about it later but why I am not complaining is that I have access to the highest echelon of the party, the governor has been fantastic which is typical of him and those who gave me assurances while I was considering crossing over have kept their words. But what I can say is that in AD you tended to have the idea of where things were going and a lot of things were done by consensus, in the PDP, you keep on getting the impression that different people are driving things in different dimensions and there a lot of speculations. I think that basically is the difference. I am not complaining, maybe some of my supporters who have been awaiting our rally for instance are not comfortable but I know that quite a number of things have been going on, you know we had a re-election in Egbedore, we are having a re-election in Ife/Ijesa Senatorial District, so I know the party is busy.

But like I said, from time to time I have to convince my supporters, those who want to follow me from AD that they should expect things to be a bit different and luckily there are a number of AD people already resident in PDP that we met on arrival. So, they have gone the extra mile to make me comfortable and trying to explain things to me that maybe because PDP is a larger family, besides, probably it has something to do with its speed at which it does things. You know, like it takes the elephant a very long time to turn, so maybe that is why it takes the PDP sometimes to do some things that it expected to be done faster. By and large, there have been very cordial relations and a warm reception, the leaders of the party at Ijesaland like Chief Ebenezer Babatope, Dr. Duro Famojuro, the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of my local government, my party local government chairman, that is Kola Obeta and the local council chairman, Ibunkun Fadipe (IBK) are wonderful. The only other thing is, you know I am from Ilesa-West; Ilesa West and Ilesa East voted more for the AC in the last election, so, getting them to change their views has been a bit time consuming but one is making progress and of course it is easier for them to change their opinion when they have people they can identify with in the party.

Some of you have purchased the expression of interest form from the PDP, people are complaining about the N3milion you paid, what is your view on that and how do you view your chance among the other contestants?

I will start by saying when you belong to a society or a group, you are bind by its rules and regulations and basically if you cannot stand the heat of the kitchen the idea is that you get out. Having said that, the N3 million is for the state, I know by the time we have to pay for the national it may be summed up to N5 million and I believe the number would have been significantly whittled down then whereby quite a number of 14 or 15 people will not necessary be wasting money paying another N5 million. In other word, we are not likely to have the Anambra scenario here whereby we will have to use the Soludo solution to sort out 42 candidates having paid N5 million. I know the party needs money, so I can understand why the party wanted N3milion. Again, N3 million for you to pay is must, it is a sign of serious commitment, I think the regulation thing has been N250,000 for the expression of interest form and N5 million for national, but that basically is when they are not going to do the primary like you have in Anambra state but if they asked everybody to be paying N250,000 maybe we would have had about 250 aspirants coming up in Osun state which will actually make the process unmanageable but I think for one to put down N3 million he must be serious; it is like putting your money where your mouth is. I think whatever we can do to assist the party is necessary, we have bye-elections, the Election Tribunal case is still going on, then, the party needs to organize quite a number of things that need to be done, therefore I think for those of us that can afford the N3 million, even though with some pains and some discomfort but I think it is a price worthy of pain.

As to the field of aspirants you said have picked up the forms, I think that the number of people there, myself include, without immodest, are certainly qualify, I believe that we do have some first timers but of course one has to start from somewhere, we do have some people with some ……..stories as to their credentials but that is normal in politics. I think by and by, the party will do something about it. If you look at the list you will have an idea of those you can consider to be serious candidates, I know you can consider those who want to be relevant and I think basically we should be looking for, one, people that have the necessary vision, people that can carry the state to the next level, people whose integrity is beyond question, people who get along with the people. Because if you cannot relate and co-exist with people before you get into power it is very unlikely that you will be able to get along with people when you now have the power entrusted into your hand. It is just like they say power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely and that office is a lot of power, therefore you really want to be careful about who you entrust that kind of power into, meaning that you need somebody you can talk to, you need somebody you can advise, you need somebody you can warn and would listen, you need somebody you can call back and would retrace his step and you need somebody that when being cautioned will actually accept and slow down on doing whatever he is doing. I know some politicians see nothing wrong in casting aspersion on their co-competitors but that basically not me, though I have my views on the number of the people but I will rather keep them to myself. But I think we have three or four people that can comfortably lead the state, of course some have some baggage they are carrying, some do not have any baggage they are carrying but I think with those in view, the PDP can actually produce some capable hands that can lead the state.

And you think you are going to be……

I really do pray so.

Osun West people believe that the slot should be for them, but you at Osun East are saying they have had their slot, what is your own thinking?

If you ask me for what I think about it, I will tell you that it would be more equitable if it comes to Osun East, there is some logic to the Osun West argument but Ernest Shonekan was the interim Head of State for 6 months, if you remember and he remained Head of State and he is constantly invited to things they do. Buhari and Idiagbon were Heads of State for less than 22 months and whether we like it or not there impact was felt. So, I think that it is not how long, it is how well and I think even the West believe it is the turn of the East and that is why you have only about two people picking up forms from the place. I believe the pictorial of people that picked up forms from the East shows the conviction of the people of East that it is their turn. The very fact that only two people from the West picked the form, I don’t believe that they are convinced about the argument that it is their turn. Indeed, quite a number of the leaders of the West do not necessarily subscribe, though this is politics, they might not mean it, but I know that quite a number of them have actually said that it should be the turn of the East.

If you ask me, I think the priority really should not only be where you are from but also what you are capable of doing because if we have a bad person even from where he should be from, the whole state will suffer. So, I think looking for the zoning is for purposes of making people feel happy and carried along but it must couple with capability and ability to lead and I think that is why the people of the West who have shown interest have not necessarily been castigated or condemned because it is like they are allowed to try their luck. But I think basically it is the turn of the East considering that 22 months (when Alhaji Isiaka Adeleke governed the state) in the life of the democratic republic we have been having has been rather long, it is not all that short. But again, there is the fact that some purposes of being wise, for purposes of conducting the next election it is more or less confidence that the candidate of the AC which is the main opposition party is going to come from the East, most likely, Ijesaland because I don’t see them fielding another candidate. I believe the best answer to that is that East should also find somebody from where he is coming from, you would recall that he did enjoy some support from Ijesaland because Ijesas wanted one of them. I think if we now want an even field we should actually find a candidate from his Senatorial District and preferably from Ijesaland where he is coming from, then it will be question of weighing the two people from Ijesaland as to quality, as to consistency, as to personality, as to credentials and as to where they are coming from. I think for purpose of being strategic, for purposes of even picking the competent people, for purposes of playing good politics and for purposes of not ostracizing the people from the East, especially the Ijesa people, I think the candidate should come from the East and Ijesaland and if you want to ask further who do you think he is, without wanting to sound immodest again, I will say my humble self. I am more ready, I am more prepared and I am actually competent to lead.

But then, some people are clamouring for Muslim candidate to be the next governor, what is your view about that?

It is funny, I have never believed that religion should be an issue and it is only in politics in the South-West that we talk about religion. The governor of Lagos state, Raji Fashola is a Muslim, his father is a Muslim, his mother I think is an Anglican, his wife is a Catholic and his siblings are born-again Christians. That is the way politics is being played in the South West, it is about religion, being a Christian does not make you more competent than the person who is a Muslim and vice versa. Religion is a question of choice, unfortunately it is being played up and I think the candidate of the AC in the last election was the person who made a big issue of it in Osun state, to the best of my knowledge it has never been and it should not be. Those who are clamoring for a Muslim governor seem to have forgotten that the first two governors of this state were Muslims; Senator Isiaka Adeleke is a Muslim, Chief Bisi Akande who followed him is a Muslim and I don’t think the Christians ever made issue out of it and really when the present governor of Osun state is a Christian nobody raised any eyebrow until Rauf Aregbesola, for purposes of creating distortion and division with the purpose of getting votes, started weaving up religious sentiment. So, those who are clamouring on religion should know that we have had two Muslims consecutively, so what stops us from having two Christians consecutively? I think the only thing outstanding to pacify those who are clamouring on the basis of religion is if you have a Christian governor you have a Muslim Deputy, and vice versa but all along, it has been equitably done. When Adeleke was governor, his deputy was a Christian, that is Adesuyi Hastrupp, when Chief Bisi Akande was governor, his deputy was a Christian; Iyiola Omisore, so, the next one could be combination of both. But even they have always seemed to have forgotten that there is a Speakership and the Speaker is like the number 3 position, then, the Secretary to the Government. So, all those positions are usually fixed bearing religion in mind. So, the first four positions will definitely take care of the diverse religions.

About the issue of the clearance Ijesa Elders Caucus is doing for the aspirants, we discovered that your name was not among the qualified aspirants released by them, what happened?

That is an in-house issue, we are not quarreling but maybe some of us have our reservations as to the procedure and we have voiced out. Some of us feel that those who are supposed to be doing the screening should be neutral. Yes, we have some leaders there that are good among the panel, like the chairman, he is a lovely person, but we have some people in the panel that their allegiance is so obvious, they actually wear it on their head. I mean, you would not want to subject yourself to a panel you consider obviously biased to favour some people against some people. So, I have explained to them my own suggestion and I explained to them the suggestions aspirants had for them after a meeting and it is like they should look for neutral, well respected eminent people of Ijesa credential. It is more difficult for a person to refuse to step down based on the recommendation from somebody like Justice Kayode Esho than from a politician who you believe is already in somebody else’s camp. So, that is the issue but I think we are working on refine point and hopefully we will all come to an agreement. So, in my case I told them I have my reservation about the procedure and because of that I could not find myself completely comfortable with the jurisdiction. Two, you know the party said it was illegal, then, the fact that some people have given me the impression that they are not unbiased, so even in the court you are allowed to kick against the Judge if you feel you are not going to get a fair hearing, that is what happened to me and a couple of other people.

How do you think 2011 will be especially in Ijesaland bearing in mind what happened in 2007?

Luckily, we will have a dress rehearsal now in the fact that we have a senatorial election coming up, I mean if we want to be governor we are expected to show that we are working and Ijesaland has to deliver more votes for PDP now in this re-run than we did in 2007, hopefully, as a prelude to 2011 but one thing I know about the Ijesas is that if you have a good candidate with a credible credentials, good family background, pedigree they can relate and get along with, the person that is not arrogant and who will protect their interest, they will vote for him. They will vote overwhelmingly, it is a question of which candidate do you ask them to vote for.