Isola Fapohunda, a lawyer, is a governorship aspirant in Ekiti State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He spoke with Emmanuel Oladesu and Musa Odoshimokhe on his ambition and how the party can win next year’s governorship election.
How prepared is the APC for the governorship of Ekiti State?
The party is very prepared because we have precedent to go by. For instance, the Ondo State primary was rancour free and whatever rancour that came up was well managed. We went into the governorship election in Ondo State without any of the parties not supporting the purpose for the election. Let me be sincere, I think I know what is of concerned to the people. The number of the aspirants that are actually coming up for the election which is close to 40 or 50 depending on who you talk to. But, going by the Ondo election which equally has many aspirants and when it came to the issue of picking the ticket, we had only 24 of them actually contesting the primary. We have lot of people crossing over from the PDP to the APC, so whatever the case, I believe we have the machinery that can handle whatever comes up after the primary.
Who are contenders and pretenders in the race?
We have people that are elderly contesting; I don’t think it will be fair to point to any group as pretenders or contenders in the race. The name that you want to believe is formidable might not even pick up the nomination form, so what do you say to that? It all depends on what you are doing, if you have a good grounding, if you understand the politics of the state, the right people behind you, then maybe you can actually become the choice and the flag bearer of the party. But to say this group are pretenders or contenders is left to the party to iron out.
How can the activities of the aspirants be managed without unnecessarily rupturing the unity of the party?
As long as the party will provide an enabling environment and a level playing field for all, there will not be problems that cannot be managed within the set machinery of the party and before the governorship election in 2018. If you lose an election, let it be. Move on. As long as the party does not favour one aspirant over another, there won’t be problems. The party itself is a success, it is well grounded; the APC has years of history behind them. I don’t think managing the process of election will be a problem. It has just passed through the same process in Ondo State which it successfully managed.
Is zoning likely going to be an issue in the election?
I don’t think it is as serious as people are taking it now. You need to look at what are the issues in the state. Ekiti is about the only homogeneous state in the country, every man in Ekiti is an Ekiti man, name it, from Efon Alaiye, Okemisi Ekiti, Ikere Ekiti,or Ado Ekiti we are all Ekiti people. The elections that we had previously, some of these aspirants if not all that I know from the South Senatorial District have participated, when the chips are down, we are brothers. So, I have to really choose my words carefully. People have always contested in Ekiti State and I make bold to say that, those who are propagating the Southern agenda are political mischief makers. Senator Adeniyi from Ikere only recently declared his support publicly for Chief Segun Oni. He is actually represented the South in the last senate. What does that tell you?
As far as we know, election process in the state had come far. So, leave it on a level playing ground for everybody to play. So, if you win an election you take the glory, if you don’t win you prepare for another time and present yourself again. It is smacks of political laziness, when you want to ride on the back of a horse that will not get up, and enter through a back door. This is a state that prides itself as the Fountain of Knowledge. There are people looking in that direction. I am from the Central, I can tell you that my people will also prefer the Central agenda as well, there is also the Ado Agenda, and what about the northern zone as well. His Excellency Dr. Kayode Fayemi and His Excellency Segun Oni are both from the north senatorial district; Chief Oni has declared his intension to again contest the election to be governor. I can tell you on all authorities there is nothing like zonal arrangement. What people are talking about is that since no one from that Southern Senatorial District has presented himself for the governor, they are campaigning to drum support for the district. So, not even the constitution of Nigeria stipulates zoning as a criteria for being governor, in the constitution there is nothing like zoning. So, what they should be doing is to go into the race and see whether you can win it or not.
How confident is the APC that it will displace the PDP from power?
When you are a ruling party, people have the opportunity to assess your performance. Now people are assessing this current government whether they deserve a pass mark or not. Go to the streets of Ekiti and find out. But, being in the opposition over the last four years, and you know the rancour that came from the winning formula of this current administration, the mood and sentiments of the people in Ekiti State now is that Ekiti State needs new narrative completely.
Where do we go from here. This is a state that has been heavily endowed. Ekiti is not a state for a candidate that will hold it down in penury perpetually. And people are waking up now, majority of the voters that you have in Ekiti now are children that were born a few years back. They are actually attaining voting age now, they are very erudite, cosmopolitan and more intelligent. These are not people you can buy with cups of rice, and frivolous political promises. These are voters who are actually sitting down to ask questions that will actually jolt you from your unintelligent slumber. They ask questions like what have you got to change the lots of this state? And I think right now what the ruling party in Ekiti State has not really woken up to is the fact that the younger electorates, as well as the older ones have the golden opportunity to actually mingle with aspirants. They are singing about the change that they expect to occur in the state. They are asking not just for generational change for the sake of it, but an intelligent one at that. I think for that, we are very well prepared.
A couple of days ago, a chieftain of the PDP in Ekiti State, Senator Ayo Arise made a very bold claim that if the APC in Ekiti State gets its candidate right, that the APC will win the governorship election in 2018. Now, that was coming from a PDP chieftain who is on the ground and knows the current moods and sentiments of the people of the State for a whole new change completely away from the experience of the past. I want to say that if the candidate of the APC is able to manage this position, the APC will win and be the next governor of Ekiti State, I say that authoritatively too.
There were divisions during the Ondo APC primary. Even, up till now, the case is still in court. What are you fears in this case?
For the sake of not repeating what I have said, we are hoping and praying that the APC will create an enabling environment because something phenomenal is going to happen in Ekiti State in 2018. We have mentioned the immediate past governors of Ekiti, Dr. Fayemi and Chief Oni. Chief Oni has thrown his hat into the ring, whether Dr. Fayemi will throw his hat into the ring is still speculative. He has not formally made any pronouncement to that effect. We have other people who are also in the contest, we have a situation where the so called big weights, I call them the usual suspects, are throwing their hats into the ring and the newer generations are as well actually coming on board. It is a good thing that people are coming out, this will actually give the people the opportunities to actually assess the aspirants, to see how prepared they are for the contest. The APC is a strong political party and a good structure, so if we get into the primary as long as there is a level playing field, where everybody will feel free to contest that election, it will be difficult for anyone to come out of that election and go to court over the matter. Where that fear could actually come to play is when the party fails to provide the level playing ground for the primary. It could happen when people are complaining that some candidate where actually given undue advantage over others. I have seen a situation where our party had to call the party chairman and his vice to actually tell them, to tell the people what was going on. If we can have a process, where people would have a preconceived idea that certain people are being favoured, that will not be good for primary. I can tell you that about 20 of the aspirants are my friends, friends that we can sit together and we will play hard rancor free politics together, but we all have at the back of our minds, that the most crucial interest is the interest of Ekiti State. Ekiti must rise. It must be developed tapping into its huge human recourse base.
What do you want to do if you become governor?
Education and our huge human resource base and potentials will still be the focus and driving force of our rise in Ekiti State.
Even though we called ourselves the fountain of knowledge Ekiti State has not actually showcased that appellation. We have actually not done anything that is worthy of that identity that we have. That is painful! You don’t learn to be governor on the job, we pray that we will not have an accidental governor in Ekiti State. So, what can you do? In the first instant, Nigeria has survived 50 years of oil surplus. The oil is still there no doubt; all the states go to Abuja to get handouts. But what is the place of a state like Ekiti State which picks an average of N2.5 billion every month? Are you telling me that the state cannot generate equally additional amount every month without imposing unnecessary taxes on the people? In the present days, to survive and compete anywhere in the world, not just Nigeria, a government has to think outside of the box.
Lagos State makes lots of money through its innovations and IGR. The economy of Lagos State is almost larger than the combined economies of the remaining 35 states in Nigeria. What is Lagos doing that other states are not doing?
In the annual statistics that was released by the National Bureau of Statistics for 2016, in the whole country, the total mineral resources produced in Nigeria, (outside of crude oil) was 42. 2 million tons, of that amount Ogun State took the lead and accounted for 38 percent, Kogi State came second, Ekiti State contributed 0.27 per cent.
