Tunji Shelle, a retired Captain from the Nigeria Navy is the former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Lagos State chapter. In this brief media interaction recently in Lagos, the retired combatant spoke on a couple of issues of national interest, such as how the Ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), would be architect of its own defeat. He also gave reason he would never support the presidential aspiration of the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Razaq Bamidele brings the excerpts from the parley:
How comfortable were you when a PDP governor, Nyesome Wike of Rivers State, came to Lagos to openly endorse Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu of the APC for a second term in office?
I didn’t expect Governor Wike’s outbursts. I will call it an outburst and an unmeasured statement. The same Governor Wike was the one that came to Lagos with four other governors for the ceremony where (Dr. Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran) Jandor crossed over from the APC to PDP. It was a beautiful day. We saw five governors, including the National Chairman of the party (Dr. Iyiorchia Ayu) present at the ceremony. So, we were all happy because we believe it is a new dawn and everybody is ready to work hard and see to the success of the party. It is an uncommon thing to have happened. I am very much surprised at what Governor Wike said. He cannot come to Lagos and tell us what to do.
How true is the allegation that your party’s governorship flag bearer, Jandor, is running a one-man show without carrying other party members along?
I just want to leave that issue behind us because it is not something we should be discussing outside the party circle. We don’t have to go back. We all should be making progress to ensure the party wins. Jandor is a young man and you will expect him to make some mistakes and he has apologised. So, let us move on.
Does your party have any chance of winning the coming 2023 governorship election?
With the support of the people of Lagos State, definitely the situation can get better. With the performance of the APC at the national level and even at the state level, definitely the chances of the PDP are very high. People are tired, as they can no longer trust the governor of Lagos State and his party. Since 1999, the APC government has got so much revenue but little to show for it in terms of dividends of democracy. Right from the onset, contracts were inflated while projects were done without putting the people into consideration. I believe that it is going to be tough for the APC this time around.
What gives you the confidence that APC will be defeated this time with PDP’s failed attempts to beat it since 1999?
They (APC) will be the architect of their own misfortune. They have not been able to resolve the problem of flooding despite the huge amount of money spent. Their members keep saying Lagos is performing. Are they the ones that built some of the structures that are on ground? They are only making repairs and facelift of already existing infrastructures. Lagos has always been blessed with the support of the Federal Government when it was the nation’s capital. So, all the APC is doing in Lagos is just facelift and people are giving them the credit that doesn’t belong to them.
Most of the projects done could be executed with half the price and if the revenues are properly utilised, Lagos would have been transformed into a megacity long ago. They are claiming they built Atlantic City. How is that a good choice of project? That project to me is not a good project because of the damages done to the coastlines, which could have attracted a lot of investments and money in the tourism sector. All the coastlines have been destroyed from Bar Beach to Eleko, to Alpha Beach. Many houses have gone. These are the places that could have been developed and the serenity would have attracted a lot of people. It may take time to develop but when it does, many people will benefit from it. Let us also look at the cost. How many people can afford a house in the Atlantic City?
In the THEMES agenda of Sanwo-Olu’s administration, transportation is number one priority. Are you satisfied with the governor’s performance in that sector?
Yes, BRT is commendable. But the truth is, are the buses enough? The answer is no. Look at water transport in the state. All we are seeing are jetties, where are the boats? It is only private people and small scale entrepreneurs that are running the ferry services and they are not doing enough. Ferry shuttles are for short distances, not long ones. In Lagos, people are forced to take ferries from Ikorodu to Lagos Island. It is not the best.
What about your impression about what the administration is doing in the rail sector?
The construction of the light rail that is supposed to last for maximum of five years is taking them donkey years to build now. Nobody knows how long it will take them to finish the project. All I expected them to do is to have started from Okokomaiko and stop at Mile 2. From Mile 2, they take it to Iddo. They don’t have any business crossing the Lagoon because once you stop at Iddo, ferry services could take people fast to the Lagos Island. This project could have been completed five years ago. Only God knows when it will be completed. I also believe that when it starts, it will just be like the Federal Government rail project where the trains are breaking down from one point to another.
Also, go and check the cost. Compare the prices they are doing it in other countries to that of Lagos and you will be shocked. The Chinese people will teach them a lesson and only the government that comes after Sanwo-Olu will have to pay a price for all these things they are doing. It is very unfortunate. Lagosians are tired of governance under the APC and they are looking for an alternative. To the best of my knowledge, Jandor is a good alternative. With the support of Lagosians and our party members, he will win.
Now on the presidency, now that the chance of the South is brighter to occupy the Villa in Abuja, as a southerner from the South-west, specifically from Lagos, wouldn’t you be happy to see Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, a fellow Lagosian as you becoming Nigeria’s next president in 2023?
First of all, describing Tinubu as a Lagosian is very wrong. Tinubu is not a Lagosian. You can quote me any day. He was not born in Lagos, he didn’t grow up in Lagos. It was the NADECO and Afenifere people that smuggled him in to become the governor of Lagos. I know his relations very well in Iragbiji, Osun State. Given his age, he should go back to Iragbiji and take his rest. That is what he deserves now. He should be resting in his hometown.
Secondly, as for becoming president, I choose the kind of people, who can lead me. I can never support him. I have my own party, PDP. What will make me vote for somebody from another party, especially somebody I don’t believe in? He has done his tenure, as Lagos State governor. Whether good or bad, posterity will judge him. After leaving office over 15 years ago, he is still the one collecting revenues in Lagos through his company Alpha Beta. You can quote me on this. That is morally wrong and unjustifiable. I distanced myself from such people. That is the reason I didn’t join the Alliance for Democracy (AD) when I retired from the Navy. There are certain people I cannot work with, especially people I cannot defend their source of wealth.
