Oyo gov race: I am not scared of anyone —Former commissioner

Dr Gbola Adetunji is a former Commissioner for Health in Oyo State. He speaks with MOSES ALAO on the chances of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); his ambition to govern the state and the lack of internal democracy in the All Progressives Congress (APC), among other issues. Excerpts:

Ever since you left office in 2003, you have returned to active practice and politics. Is there any truth in the insinuations that you are interested in becoming the governor of the state in 2015?

It is not a rumour. It is a decision I made and I have made it public that I want to contest the post of governor of Oyo State. I aspired to that office in 2007 under the Alliance for Democracy; I was the gubernatorial candidate of the AD in 2007. It was quite an experience for me. I left the AD for PDP in 2008.

Having made that decision, you must have factored in the huge financial capacity you need to win election. How will you come by that huge amount?

Everybody knows that it is expensive running politics, but we also know that no matter how rich you are, you cannot bear the expenses alone. And everybody always gets assistance from somewhere; there is no one that has ever been governor on his own single account in Nigeria, as long as I know. So, other people will support you with funds and all that. Also, it depends on you and your popularity with the public.

But can you say Gbola Adetunji is popular enough to garner support from across Oyo State?

I think I am. As I told you, I contested before and I have my people everywhere. Also, being a commissioner for health in the state, I have made a lot of impact on a very big segment of the society. Many of the traditional rulers know me and they know what I can do. So, I have garnered a lot of support from all the nooks and crannies of the state. Even in Ibadan here, most of our people know me quite well, they know my character and a lot of people love me as a person.

Let us be practical. Can you recall the number of votes you had when you contested in 2007 and if you compare that to what you will need to become Oyo State governor, where do you stand?

That time, the AD was already dying and we were the last vestige of people holding on to it. Because the AD had split into AD and Action Congress, we formed ourselves into a group of activists and we did not want the AD to die. The election was held under that circumstance and so we could not gather enough votes; we just tried to make a point that the party was alive. Those of us that called ourselves stakeholders in the party then were in the minority, but we were not happy about the way the party was run. There was no internal democracy in the party and we didn’t like it. So, some people left and we felt we should sustain the party; I contested under that circumstance. We gathered some votes but it was not enough.

But sincerely, don’t you think you are overestimating your political clout by seeking to contest against established politicians such as former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, Senator Teslim Folarin and others seeking to contest on the ticket of the PDP in Oyo State?

I am not overestimating my clout. The issue is I know that if I win the ticket, I will get a lot of support from the people of Oyo State.

Can you even win the ticket?

We have to make a try.

You didn’t sound convincing about your chances. Does that authenticate the claim that some of the governorship aspirants in the PDP are fronting for Chief Alao-Akala. Have you also been contracted to front for the governor and later step down?

I am not an agent of anybody. I even went to him to inform him that I want to contest. He said I should go ahead and make a try, because he has not even made up his mind about contesting.

Did he tell you he has not made up his mind?

Has he made up his mind? Has he told you he wants to contest?

But are you not scared of him. If he decides to contest, won’t you chicken out of the race?

I am not scared of anyone. Why will I be scared?

Even if you win the ticket, your party appears to be dying; it is troubled by different crises at the state level. What is your view on this?

The PDP is still not one in Oyo State. The party is still factionalised, which is a danger for the party. If things do not change, any candidate picked by the party is not likely to win election; that is the truth. But we are trying to reconcile all the differences, hoping that between now and July; the party would have been united.

There is Akinjide/Arapaja faction and there is the recognised executive led by Yinka Taiwo; where do you belong?

I belong to the Alao-Akala group. And we are part of the congress that produced the Taiwo-led executive, though we still have some grouses. We think there are some unfair deals that we are trying to correct and efforts are ongoing to do that.

Different things have been said about the state governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi’s administration. As a former AD member who knew him but is now in the opposition, what is your view of his achievements so far?

My view is simple, people say he has made impact on urban development and renewal but I say at what cost was that impact made? He has made some impact but that impact has been at a great cost to the state and its people; he did not take care of the people masses who were affected by those activities.

That is the major mistake he has made. In other areas, I have not seen any improvement; go to the hospitals, go to the schools, there are no improvements. The other mistake he also made is that his government is not spending into the economy of the state; most of the big contracts are given to people from Lagos. Ajimobi is transferring the economy of Oyo State to Lagos.

Even the roads that they are touting as the achievements let him tell us how many kilometres of roads he has tarred and how many Alao-Akala tarred while in office. This government is concentrating on roads that can be easily seen for the sake of propaganda but it is neglecting the inner roads.

You are the chairman of the National Board for the Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi Lagos, what are you doing to restore its glory?

When we got there, we saw that there was problem between the union and the management and we have been able to build the confidence of the union in the management. We have peace in that institution now. The Board has also been able to build new infrastructure, even from the Internally-Generated Revenue of the hospital. For example, we have a new pharmacy department; we are also constructing a new out-patient department for the hospital. We are also moving on with the projects we met on ground. We also improving the general outlook of the hospital; we are going to construct some new roads there in the next few months. By the time we are there for one year, people will see great changes.

Oyo gov race: I am not scared of anyone —Former commissioner