Hon. Segun Erinle, member, Ekiti House of Assembly Service Commission was once an elected member of the State House of Assembly. He is also a stalwart of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview with newsmen, he spoke on various issues of interest about Ekiti State as well as interest of Nigeria, especially as it concerns Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s presidency under which he said Nigeria will be better. Razaq Bamidele brings excerpts from the media parley:
What lesson would you say the last general election in Nigeria taught you?
Let me say it clear and loud, that election was the best in the history of this country. My party, APC, won because we went into the election as a united party. The disunity in the PDP gave us the Victory. They (PDP members) split their votes into three, which favoured us ( APC).The first lesson learnt is that you don’t go into a major election, as a divided party. People may say there was friction in the APC but the issue was internal problem. More so, it was not blown out of proportion, unlike what happened in the PDP whereby Peter Obi took the entire votes of South East, Musa Kwankwaso got Kano votes and the G5 governors did not help matters. The division in the PDP assisted us to secure v!@@szsictory.
If really your party won, why are other contestants in court to challenge the result of the election?
Our problem in Nigeria is inability to accept defeat, even when we know we failed woefully in an election. I want to believe our people behave like that because it brightens the hope of their followers, it gives false hope to the followers that there is still opportunity for them to claim the mandate they have lost.
You know election petitions take about six to nine months to complete and while the case lasted; their followers would be with the impression that all hopes are not lost. And, at last, when the petitions are dismissed, they now resort to blaming the judiciary.
Election has come and gone and the declared winner has started governance, what is your agenda for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu?
We expect a change of direction from the new government headed by Bola Tinubu because he seems to be the first Nigerian President that planned for the office than any other elected politician in the history of our country. He should make restructuring of the country a top priority, unity of the country, security and provision of infrastructural amenities to kick-start our economy. Youth employment should be another key area.
Could you briefly assess the performance of the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari administration?
To be fair to that administration, I believe Buhari tried his best but the insecurity situation in the country overwhelmed his administration.
The insecurity situation made all what could have been regarded as his achievement to come to nought.
The major duty of government in power is provision of security for its citizens.
Are you comfortable that Ekiti State governor is still overseeing the affairs of the state without commissioners after 200 days in office?
The impression you gave is not correct. There is a cabinet in place but not in full as provided for in the constitution. I think the government is making a move to complete the appointments soon.
Is the Appointment Committee put in place ny the governor to consider people for various offices legal?
The governor of a state can appoint people to manage his appointment procedure; there is nothing illegal about that. The committee you mentioned had requested each local government to submit names, which is legal and within the procedure.
Does the procedure take care of the women and the youth?
On women, there is an existing law in the state that a certain percentage should be given to women when making appointments, hence, it is in order for inclusion of women as our law provides for it. The governor campaigned that his government would include youths, so it is in order to include youths, in order to fulfil the governor’s campaign agenda.
As far as you are concerned, what are the advantages and disadvantages in this government policy?
Inclusion of the grassroots in policy-making is a very good advantage. The disadvantages are the fact that those responsible to nominate may use it to score political points and settle rift amongst rival groups within the party.Y ou can see protests in some local government areas in the state but thank God the people mandated by the governor to carry out the exercise in the state are experienced politicians, Cru fees swho understand the state very well and at the end of the day, they will do a very good job.
Don’t you view the accolades being showered on Governor Oyebanji as expression that he may surpass his predecessor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, in achievement?
Our People don’t understand certain things. I remember when Fashola took over from Tinubu in Lagos, people were saying similar things; that’s one of the advantages of continuity in government. There is no major difference in both governments apart from style of governance. Fayemi has his own style, which differs from Oyebanji but when we talk of governance, it’s the same.
Are you insinuating that Governor Oyebanji is building on the foundation laid by Fayemi?
Yes, of course. Was Governor Biodun Oyebanji not the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) of Fayemi. It’s the same government, which is an offshoot of our Progressive Governor, Otunba Niyi Adebayo.
Governor Oyebanji is the 4th term of Otunba Niyi Adebayo and the third term of Governor Kayode Fayemi. So, in essence, the current governor is concluding the 4th term of the progressive family in Ekiti.
Could you briefly assess Governor Fayemi’s administration?
He did his best and brought governance in Ekiti to the limelight. He increased the state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by at least 75 per cent, which showed that governance is a serious business. He encouraged Ekiti indigenes outside the state to contribute their quota to Ekiti development. He will always remain my person any time, any day. He loves Ekiti and ready to do more for the state to develop.
What could you pinpoint as his weaknesses as governor?
There is no human being without a weakness. Some of the weaknesses people say about him include not picking calls or responding to mails and refusing to speak out his mind on political issues. All those weaknesses are human but the only thing he did that I will continue to say is after returning to office for the second term, he should have invited his elected Assembly members in the first term and apologised to them for the ill treatment meted out to them by Governor Fayose and paid all their outstanding salaries and allowances, which Fayose denied them. This is because government is a continuum. I am aware that he paid some civil servants that were sacked illegally by Governor Fayose but I expected similar things to be done to the elected Assembly members, who were in office when he served his first term. As I said earlier, he is human and nobody is perfect in life except God.
What do the people of the state expect from Governor Oyebanji?
The people of Ekiti expect a lot from the governor because the state is a civil servance state – regular payment of salaries to stimulate the economy, building infrastructure to promote investments and inviting core investors to the state. The governor has started well with the prompt payment of salaries and road construction; the Developmental Plan for Ekiti free zone will help to stimulate the state’s economy and I expect a lot to be achieved during the first term.
Are you scheming for anything?
The party in government is my party. So, I am not an outcast in the government. The mistake many people make is that you ought to be holding a position in the cabinet before you can contribute your quota to governance. I teach students free of charge in my local primary and secondary schools; I am also contributing to governance that way. It’s the prerogative of the governor to choose whom he wants to work with. I have a role as a party man to support the governor and his government in or out of government. That’s the way I see governance.
Recently, there was an invitation from the EFCC to Fayemi, don’t you see this as an indictment to the administration he ran?
A petition was submitted to the EFCC; it’s the duty of the anti-graft agency to investigate all petitions submitted to it hence, in the course of investigations, they have a right to invite the governor to ask questions based on the petition before it.
One thing many petition writers don’t understand is how governments are operated. Many believe that state monies are in the hands of the governor and he spends as he likes, forgetting that there are due processes to be followed when spending government funds.
Who could have petitioned EFCC if we may ask?
The governor like others have many enemies, so you cannot rule out many writing petitions against him for one reason or another but all I know is that he will triumph because he worked for the benefit of Ekiti people.
Are you truly an ally of the governor?
Well, people do assume; what I can say is that he dragged me into Ekiti politics and my constituency cannot say they have not benefitted from me playing politics in terms of many infrastructural facilities facilitated to the constituency from 2010 to date; so I am grateful to him.
