‘Jegede’s ambition is Mimiko’s third-term agenda’

Chief Ade Adetimehin is the Deputy Chairman of the Ondo State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview with a cross-section of journalists he speaks on the intrigues that led to the Ondo APC gubernatorial primary stalemate among other issues. Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf was there

THERE are indications that before the primaries, the Ondo State Chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) was embroiled with serious internal crisis which led to the suspension of its chairman, Isaac Kekemeke. As one of dramatis personae, what is the situation currently?

I can tell you emphatically that the whole thing has been normalised. The issue we had before the primaries is internal arrangement. What led to the crisis was the endorsement of a particular candidate before the exercise, but since the primaries had come and gone, the party is united now.

What is the fate of the suspended chairman?

All I can say is that the party is united. We are together.

Your party will be going for a crucial election that would usher in the new governor of Ondo State for the next four years, how prepared is APC for the poll?

Your question is a straight-forward one that needs a straight-forward answer and I want to make it known to you that we are very prepared. APC is not a new party. It is a party that has been on ground for several years and the people of Ondo State are yearning for change. They are eagerly looking forward for change. Change from darkness to light and APC vis-à-vis Ondo State is a progressive state.

We are not conservatives; if you trace the antecedence and history of where we are coming from, Ondo State is known for progressive governance and since the administration of the late Chief Adebayo Adefarati, Ondo State had been deprived of being governed by a progressive administration. However, to answer your question about preparation, we are well-prepared. Throughout the length and breadth of 203 wards of Ondo State, we have been meeting for quite a long time and meetings are also going on regularly in the 2009 units across the state, though we have decided that those meetings will now be held weekly.

Considering the power of incumbency, how prepared are you to wrestle power from the Mimiko-led government?

Sometimes, it may not work that way. What of the present Governor of Ondo State, I mean the outgoing governor (Olusegun Mimiko), who contested in 2007 and defeated late Governor Olusegun Agagu, who was the incumbent governor then? So to me, there is no incumbent factor here. People of Ondo State are fed up with the Mimiko-led administration because he has been deceiving them for about eight years. When he came on board, he met N34 billion in the coffers of Ondo State Government. Presently, the state is indebted to the tune of more than N40billion. Also, he has not been paying salaries to the civil servants for the past eight months, which the workers have not experienced before, since the creation of the state. Government has never owed salaries, but the Mimiko-led administration has owed salaries for eight months. The infrastructure across the state has collapsed suddenly. None of them is functioning presently. He met Oluwa Glass, Okitipupa Oil Company, the ceramic industry all working, but they are no more operational. So, there is nothing to show for about eight years of his (Mimiko) administration. Let me tell you that people of this state are well-enlightened and educated. They know when people are deceiving them. Go round the town, the slogan is ‘Mimiko-Jegede Third Term Agenda.’ That means he is bringing some ‘ajeles’ or surrogates and somebody he can control. Jegede, who when he came on board told his people in Akure that he is not here to play politics because the governor invited him to come and serve.

You said the party is one united family, but the reality out there speaks differently. The difference is in the controversy generated by the primaries held last September in which Rotimi Akeredolu emerged as the party’s flagbearer. Some people have expressed fear that the crisis may affect the fortunes of the party negatively ahead of the November governorship election.  What is your take on this?

My brother, APC has no crisis. Where you are taking me to is the national level of the party, but the place we are talking about is Ondo State. I am a grassroots politician. Within the state, we are united. Within the state there is no crisis. We voted here. I was a delegate and it is only me who knows the delegates. It is not you. The problem there is the followership. It is the followership that misinformed the leaders. If you want to get the facts of this matter, go to the ward chairmen, go to the local government chairmen, these are the people that participated in the primaries. It is local affairs. We know ourselves because it is only me that can say you are not a delegate. We don’t have that crisis here. You can verify this by yourself. We have 18 local government councils and 203 wards; in each of the wards, we have 12 principal officers that voted in the primaries – the chairman, vice- chairman, secretary, treasurer, organising secretary, auditor, youth leader, women leader. We know ourselves. In my ward, for instance, I know those who are the principal officers. We are united in the state chapter of APC.

Should the party emerge victorious in the election ….

Not should the party emerge; we are affirmative that we are winning the election in November, God willing, because we are leaving no stone unturned.

Ahead of the coming election, what should the people of Ondo State be looking forward to as your party’s cardinal programme (s)?

Our cardinal points are five. I will call it JMPPR.  J is for job creation through agriculture, entrepreneurship and industrialisation. M stands for massive infrastructural development and maintenance. The third one is promotion of functional education and technological growth, followed by provision of accessible and qualitative health care and social services delivery, while the last R is for rural development and community extension. The first programme is strongly attached to the last one, which I have said is going to be our legacy to the people of Ondo State.