Deputy Minority Whip of the Senate, Senator Biodun Olujimi (PDP, Ekiti South) is one of the PDP governorship aspirants in Ekiti State. In this interview with OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, the former Deputy Governor of the state and Commissioner for Works speaks on the May 8 gubernatorial primary of the party. Excerpts:
Are you ready to step down for a consensus candidate to run against Professor Kolapo Olusola, the Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, the anointed candidate of the governor, Ayo Fayose?
Well, the truth is: there were four of us in the race. And we were meeting because the Governor (Ayo Fayose) already was biased. The party in the state was biased. Everyone was biased. So, the four of us decided to speak with one voice. I can confirm to you that by now, one of them already asked me to continue, so there are just there of us in the race; myself, Prince Dayo Adeyeye and the candidate of the governor. So right now, we only have three (aspirants). In the other party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), they have about fifty-one governorship aspirants. If we have three, what is wrong in the three going to the field and contest? It is the primaries of our party. It is not the general election. So, we are all in the race; three of us. And I can assure you that it is one of us that will win the governorship election.
As a woman, how bright are your chances, especially now that you are standing between the governor and another man?
For me, I have no issues with the governor. He is not contesting. He is about to finish his term. The person that is contesting should be allowed to come into the fray so that he campaigns and do all we are doing. He is new in the party. But of course, he has been Deputy Governor. So that is leverage. He should come out and campaign like all of us. I have a better chance of winning than he has because I have things to show in Ekiti State.
I have so many communities that I have touched. I have so many people and I know that if it is a free and fair primary, I will have resounding success in Ekiti State because I know them. I know where they are coming from, I know their expectations, I know what they want and I know they are frugal people; they will not want you to waste their money. I know where they are goingso; they also know that I love them with passion. And they know that what they want now and what they need is someone who loves them with passion and who is willing to give everything for them. That is what I stand for.
What are the things you have done for your people with your previous political positions?
I have been there for quite some time and I have impacted positively on the political landscape of Ekiti State. When I was Commissioner for Works, I was the only one that brought a World Bank project which is a bridge that used to take at least 20 lives a year. I went to the World Bank and they agreed to assist us. The bridge is one of the best in Ekiti today. I can tell you of several roads and bridges that were also constructed when I was Commissioner for Works.
As member of the House of Representatives, I did several empowerments and I built a few structures for our people.
As senator, I have been able to provide over 124 solar boreholes. I have constructed about 12 kilometers of roads. I have been able to do drainages to assist the people I have also done about 20 kilometres of erosion control. I have done empowerments that permeate the entire state and I am usually standing there to assist anyone that is in trouble. Also, I have electrified communities with my Constituency Project. I have a lot more but this is not where to start recounting.
What will you do differently if you are elected as governor?
Because the state is not a very buoyant state and you cannot waste their resources, whatever resources you make in Ekiti must remain in Ekiti. I am going to use my linkages to bring development into Ekiti. As I have done as a senator and brought so much to them, I am going to use the people I know to ensure that we set up factories in Ekiti State. We are going to take agriculture to a great level because that is what we are known for. We are an agrarian state and that sector has not been developed over time. We need to develop it.
We also need to ensure that education is put in a better pedestal than it is now. Our major problem is unemployment and we are going to look for ways by which we can get jobs that we can give our youths so that they can leave the roads and stop taking peanuts to hail politicians. I am a mother and I do not want anyone to rise at me because I will not allow my children to do that. And so, I am going to take it out of Ekiti. And the only way to do it is to create jobs to ensure that they have something to do; they have a sense of well-being; they have the feeling that government is working for them. I will work for Ekiti State.
There are reports that some of the aspirants are being intimidated. Are you one of them?
All of the aspirants are being intimidated except the government candidate, but I cannot be intimidated. I know the beginning of the government because I was part of government. I was part of the other government; so no-one can intimidate me. I don’t feel intimidated at all. I know if there is a free and fair primary everything will go well. And by the way, it is one party. We will go into the primaries, whoever wins will be supported. Whoever loses should go home and rest and that is how primaries have been. No two people can ever win one governorship primary.
Are you planning to defect to SDP if the PDP primary does not go your way?
Many of our people have defected because they do not believe they should go through the agony some of us are going through but I won’t leave the party. This is the party that has given me almost every important assignment that I have had. The SDP thing was a gimmick for people to lose orientation because I was there in the public space mobilising and they thought they needed to throw spanner in the works that was the issue of the SDP. But suffice it to say that amongst all the former Deputy Governors, I am the only one left. Every other person has gone because of high-handedness, intimidation, harassment and that is not good for our Party. Those votes are votes that are supposed to be PDP votes. All of them have emerged in all other parties. Are you saying they won’t have votes? They will have votes because they have also been part of the system in Ekiti and they know how it works.
