PDP NOT A THREAT IN LAGOS – APC!

In this interview with THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER, the Publicity Secretary of the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, Joe Igbokwe, speaks on the outcome of the Ekiti State governorship elections and its implication

The landslide win of Peoples Democratic Party in the Ekiti governorship election was shocking. It is true that the loss has sent panic wave into the All Progressives Congress in the South-West?

Leaders of the APC are still studying the June 21 governorship elections in Ekiti State. I must tell you that no stone will be left unturned to unveil what transpired in Ekiti State. We are doing this because we saw the build-up to the elections. We saw how APC governors were prevented from entering Ekiti State. We saw how APC leaders were harassed, arrested, detained and hounded in Ekiti State before the elections. If what happened is normal, APC leaders will accept it and return to the drawing board to find out what went wrong. If some mischief happened and we fail to find out what went wrong, the future of the APC is threatened. Governor Kayode Fayemi has said in his speech that he is conceding defeat if indeed what happened is the wish of the people of Ekiti State. This is a loaded statement. APC leaders must dig deep to find out what happened. They should stop at nothing to get to the root of the matter. If this is a fraud and we fail to unravel it, a more serious damage will be done to the polity. Meanwhile, APC leaders all over Nigeria are deploying the energy, resources, strength, power and time at their disposal to reassess their strategies. If it is politics of rice and money instead of politics of ideas and development we will meet them at the square, one on one, face to face, eyeball to eyeball and neck to neck.

There have been different theories on why Governor Fayemi was voted out. What does the leadership of Lagos APC think went wrong for APC in Ekiti and what is it doing to forestall such happening in Lagos?

The leadership of the APC of Lagos State, like the national leadership, is still studying the outcome of that election and in the fullness of time Nigerians will know our position on the matter. Lagos APC sees the outcome as shocking and bizarre. The outcome of Ekiti election has spurred us into action in Lagos and even in all the APC states. Lagos APC will dig the deepest well in Lagos, we will go extra mile, we will leave no stone unturned and we will stop the fraud if what happened in Ekiti is, indeed, a fraud. One more thing: Lagos is too sophisticated for anybody to toy with. Lagosians know their leaders. Ekiti is not Lagos State – all things considered. But let me tell you and make it abundantly clear, the APC is not afraid of any PDP takeover here in Lagos or elsewhere because we know that Ekiti is out of the ordinary. What really happened in Ekiti is that the PDP has overwhelmed Nigeria with politics of poverty whereby they steal all the money that can improve the lots of the people, make them poorer as to beg for bread. Then on election day, deploy that stolen cash to buy rice and wrap up money and give the electorate for their votes. That is why the phrase ‘stomach infrastructure’ cropped up in Ekiti. We had a governor who performed very well and creditably in his task as governor but who the people felt should have given them food and handouts. They rather went for someone who was a failure as governor, who had no manifesto but who shared out rice and money. It is a shame.

Is it true that APC leaders in Lagos have held several meetings to review what happened in Ekiti and have decided to make adjustments, including further reducing tuition at the Lagos State University to prevent the party from losing Lagos?

Yes, hundreds and thousands of meetings are being held in all wards, all local governments and at the state level to get members ready for the future. We are going to emphasise on enlightenment of Nigerians who have been reduced to beggars for morsels by the PDP. All experts, all eggheads, all known thinkers and philosophers are putting heads together to address this misery. Lagos APC will never go into 2015 governorship elections without addressing all issues and it will be in favour of the wise and sophisticated 25 million Lagosians. The huge legacies in Lagos are too big to be sacrificed because of little things. But what I want to assure you is that the PDP does not exist in Lagos as to constitute a threat in Lagos no matter the bizarre anomie in Ekiti.

Considering the outcome of the Ekiti election, do you think the PDP has become a viable threat to the APC in Lagos, especially now that the APC-led state government has been branded anti-poor?

PDP will never be a threat to the APC in Lagos State because there is no meeting point between light and darkness, between mediocrity and focused leadership, between right and wrong, and between actions and inactions. It will be uncharitable and worrisome for anybody to say that the APC-led government in Lagos is anti-poor. Are all the roads and bridges in Lagos for the rich only? Is Lagos State Security Trust Fund for the rich only? Are the schools in Lagos for the rich only? Are all the markets in Lagos for the rich only? Are all the hospitals in Lagos State for the rich only? Is the traffic law for the rich only or for sanity in Lagos? Is clearing of Oshodi meant for the rich only? Is the restriction of commercial motorcyclists popularly known as okada riders from 495 roads out of 9, 000 roads meant to appease the rich only? I can go on and on. The statement about Lagos being anti-poor, which is the silly coinage of the PDP that has not justified the hundreds of trillions of naira that has accrued to Nigeria since 1999, has been deployed to popularise incompetence, corruption and inactivity and it is a shame that sane minds have been bamboozled to accepting this nonsense. If the PDP has put in half the efforts of the Lagos State government since its 15 woeful years in power, we would not have poor people in Nigeria today. You see, the PDP believes it is wise by stealing Nigerians blind and coming at every election to bribe and buy the same victims of its obnoxious corrupt acts with 10 kilogrammes of rice and stolen money. That is politics of poverty.

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About Unknown

Deji Sadiq, a.k.a DEJI OF LAGOS is a LASU trained Economist turned freelance journalist, a Blogger, an information strategist, a public affairs analyst and a committed activist with a passion for equal opportunities.