Our national convention was a huge success, points to unity of purpose in APC- Steve Otaloro

Steve Otaloro, Director, Media and Publicity, Ondo State Chapter of the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, bares his mind in this interview with the THE CONCLAVE board of editors on the recently concluded national convention of the party and other ancillary issues. Excerpts

Que: What’s your assessment of the recently conducted National Convention?

Ans: It’s a huge success. Sceptics thought it will divide us and, probably, destroy the party. As you can note that all the positions were taken on consensus arrangements. That’s a pointer to the unity of purpose and the understanding in the folds of party. You can just imagine how the biggest political party in Africa with divergent opinions of several political gladiators agreed to work together through a consensus arrangement. A lot of people thought we would not be able to pull the convention through, but we proved them wrong by not only going into it as a united body, but came out of the convention even more solidified than before we went into it.

Que: The Southwest Governors adopted the Unity list for all their candidates and it worked out well, but some APC leaders were not favourably, disposed to it, arguing that some names in the list should not have been included. How do you react to this?

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Ans: Well, this was just a scratch on the surface as this does not affect the overall success of the convention. Some of the leaders you’re referring to are not based in Southwest, but in Abuja; if they do, they, probably, would have agreed with the list too. I don’t see the name that should not have been included in the list. The people who represented the Southwest at the national level were top and tested political figures with proven recirds of integrity. The likes of Hon. D. I. Kekemeke that was described by the former speaker of the House of Representative as the best nomination the Southwest brought to the convention; or our new National Secretary whose political track record speaks for itself. Senator Iyiola Omisore was a former Deputy Governor and a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. These two gentlemen and the others are the persons whose names should not be included in the list or what? The Southwest elected representatives at the party’s National Executive level were people possessing the ability to lead. They were tested and seasoned politicians. We are very proud of them.

Que: 2023 is just around the corner. From both APC and PDP, aggrieved members are defecting from one party to another. This culture is rampant in Nigeria. What do you think can be done to discourage this act?

Ans: There is nothing anyone can do about politicians defecting to another political party as long as they are aggrieved over issues. That’s the beauty of democracy which guarantees freedom of association. However, what could probably be done is to enforce the constitutional provision that says if you’re defecting to another political party as an elected member from that party, you’re going to loose that seat. If this provision is adhered to, strictly, and enforced likewise, I can assure you political defections would be reduced, drastically, if not, totally, eliminated as no incumbent legislators would like to trade his or her elective position away for something else that is not that much weighty.

Ans: Ondo APC presented former party state Chairman, Isaac Kekemeke as the National Vice Chairman and the dream came to reality. What is the implication of his appointment?

Ans: The implication of Hon. D. I. Kekemeke’s geo-political leadership of the Southwest is to make it more vibrant. As a passionate leader that he is, the Southwest will be more engaging in national affairs. Just like he said in his acceptance speech that he was humbled and challenged. The challenging part of his speech is how to double his work rate and work, assiduously, for the overall development of the Southwest geo-political zone which is quite a daunting task no doubt, going by the political awareness and sophistication of the people of the Southwest who will not settle for anything lesser than dynamic representations. We all know Hon. Kekemeke as a fighter and an achiever in all he does, so the Southwest should expect a decisive leadership with a touch of class from him.

Que: So, are you saying Hon. Kekemeke cannot come short of the expectations of the people of the Southwest?

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it parades along it effort, pain and difficulty. I have never, in my life, envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led tough lives and led them well. During Hon. Kekemeke’s tenure as the pioneer Chairman of APC in Ondo State, he led the party to victory to take back power for the APC from a political party who was in government then. That’s not an easy feat to accomplish.

Que: As the spokesperson of the governing APC in Ondo state,what are the preparations ahead of the poll?

Ans: We are very much prepared. The achievements of our party in the last five years-in the saddle of the leadership of this state are glaring and well documented. That will be the talking point of our campaign. We expect the electorate to look at what we have done for them, the various developmental stride of Governor Akeredolu’s leadership of the state and make their choice to either continue on the part of development by moving forward to vote for the APC in the forthcoming elections or make the state retrogress to Egypt where we’ve left some years back.
So, the choice clearly lies with the good people of Ondo State, I strongly believe our message of continuity on the path of progress will resonate with them to make the obvious choice of supporting our party in the coming elections.

Que: There are genuine concerns that the present economic hardship, insecurity and other problems being faced by the masses under the APC-led administration may likely dim the chances of the governing party to retain power. What is your take on this?

Ans: The present economic challenge is a global one that is being felt across the globe. The developed, Western countries are not left out. Though, this is not an excuse as the government remains resolute in tackling the issue headlong. The pandemic is also another factor that worsened things the more. The Federal Government’s effort in this regard is very commendable as recorded cases of death were very minimal in the country compared to that of other countries. On the issue of insecurity in the country, it will be very unfair to solely blame it on the APC. What President Muhammadu Buhari met on ground was that terrorists were occupying some eastern part of northern Nigeria where they have declared rulership over those captured areas. It was a very pathetic scenario for a sovereign nation like ours.
President Muhammadu Buhari went to work from day one to declare war on those dissidents and proceeded to flush them out. We can imagine what would have become of the country by now if APC have not won the election that brought our party to government at the Federal level. It was obvious the administration before it was bereft of ideas on how to tackle the problem of the insurrectionist. When the APC came on board the insurrection was, strongly, put down. So, to answer the third quarter of your question, if all these challenges will not hinder the chances of APC to retain leadership of the country in the next election, my answer to that is that the people themselves are the living witnesses of all that transpired before our party got to government, especially, the progress made in the changes in the security schedules to allay the fears of the people, secured their safety and unite the nation as one. While at the appropriate time at the poll they will make that decision to continue to safeguard their future and that of their generations, too, with the same political party that gave them the leverage to take charge of their freedom.

Que: How will you rate Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu’s administration vis a vis the relationship with the party structure in the state?

Ans: Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu’s administration’s achievements speak for themselves. His monumental achievements in the transformation of the state will live-on long after he left office, and it will be written in plated gold. His legacy projects will continue to be the reference point in the rapid development of Ondo State, particularly, in the aviation industry, as well as, in the maritime industry with the proposed Ondo seaport, two key economic sector he might have created afresh for the state, while his various road projects is another area he will be remembered for changing the face of the state by building the first ever overhead bridge of enormous statute at Ore commercial town. Regarding the governor’s relationship with the party in the state. Let me just say that he plays the role of a second fiddle when it comes to running the party in the state. Engr Ade Adetimehin and his team are the ones in charge of the party. The chairman and the state executive committee are, nonetheless, having a fantastic relationship with the governor. The governor only plays an advisory roles to the party whenever any critical issues are brought before him. For instance, when the party was deliberating on the idea of using consensus options to conduct our last Congresses in the state. It was Governor Akeredolu who advised the state executive committee to take the idea before the party stakeholders in the state for deliberation and if accepted to ratify it themselves instead of taking such decision alone. And that advice turned out to be a top notch button. It was the reason our congresses was conducted in an atmosphere devoid of rancour. So, by and large it’s been a great relationship that the party leadership has been having with the governor.

Que: One of the political groups in the Southwest is of the view that the 2023 general elections may not access constitutional backing since all the efforts to review the 1999 constitution fails to yield fruitful results. What is your own opinion on this?

Ans: We still have the 1999 constitution and the review is a continuous exercise. As long as we have democratic governance, the constitution will, continually, be subject to reviews. So, the argument of the political group that the coming election will not have the backing of the constitution is a fallacy. The 2023 election has the backing of the provision of the electoral law as amended. I don’t really see any issues with it to be honest. It is only the rabble rousers that will be pushing this kind of narrative at this crucial stage when the nation is looking towards the 2023 general elections in the country.