The approaching 2015 elections
is no doubt the most interesting and historically unique democratic process
that has ever happened to this nation, what with its series of topical issues
and attendant comic reliefs (apology to the First Lady). It is so interesting
in such that, it has built up so much suspense in the air and on the other
hand, it is historic because of the fact that, no opposition has taken up the
incumbent this much while by the side, there are archival comical skits
students of history won’t forget in a hurry. Still on this election, whether
win or lose, the verbal and physical wars of the two candidates vying for the
nation’s largest senatorial district, Lagos West, in persons of Hon. Olamilekan
Adeola Solomon popularly known as Yayi of APC and his arch rival, PDP’s Hon.
Segun Adewale of Aeroland would remain a point of reference in the political
terrain for a long time. It has been a tug of war between the two political
gladiators. In our facts finding mission, having published the exclusive
interview of the APC candidate weeks ago, we bring you that of the PDP
candidate, Hon. Segun Adewale. You would enjoy the explosive chat with our crew
led by News Editor, Faith Irabor.
To start with, we would want to
congratulate once again; we all know that the leading party in Lagos is the
opposition, and for you to be involved in the race to lead your constituency
takes a lot of courage. So let’s start with your journey into politics, at what
point did you realize that politics is your calling?
Politics
is not my calling. I just want to serve, I am a philanthropist and I have been
doing this for more than 20 years now. In 2007, I discovered that the people
with the so called power who should help us enjoy the dividends of democracy
are not doing that, rather they are only using the platform to make the rich
richer while the poor are getting poorer. Every return that should come to us
in Alimosho is taken back to the leaders on the Island. I went into politics
because the poverty in my community can be physically touched even the blind
can see it. There is nowhere to hide in my community as far as poverty is
concerned. Initially, I felt within myself that for you to make it in life you
must really have strength, you must be strong enough to hold a garage. However,
some of us were lucky to go to school and our orientation changed, making money
is not actually by strength or power but you must have the right attitude and
you must be skilled in a particular profession. It took me about four or five
years of university education to realize these things. The people representing
us at the state and federal level are not really representing us well they are
not responsible for the people that voted for them in the first instance, they
are only responsible to the leaders that gave them the ticket. I discovered
that most of the constituent allowance that should be used to alleviate the
poverty is being given to the rich. That is why I am in politics. The second
reason is this; a large percentage of our underdevelopment in this nation can
be attributed to the youths and the elites. The elite and youths are not
interested in politics, all they do is to go on the social media and start
criticizing the government. They begin criticizing Fashola, Ekiti state
Governor, President Jonathan, that is all they do. They are not involved in
politics and governance. So I said to myself that if these people are not
participating, I have to go in.
What are your educational
qualifications?
I have a first degree is
Geography. I got into the University of Ibadan to study Economics, but when I
realized what I wanted to do with my life, I changed to Geography in my third
year. In 1992, I went back to school and studied for my Masters in Public
Administration with emphasis on Project Management & Evaluation, in 1996
while working, I went to the University of Lagos to study Law and Jurispondence,
I was busy with my business and the Professor kept taking us back to the medieval
periods, 1880, 1700 and I realized it wasn’t what I wanted to know, I had to
leave during second semester…
But you were paying school
fees?
Yes, I was, but that was not what
I wanted, so I left the class. I was thinking of the future and he was taking me
back.
You talked about your
philanthropic nature; can you please tell us about that?
Yes, let me say this first; a
lot of my colleagues in this business do not live on the mainland, they all
live in Ikoyi and I am actually one of the top three travel agencies in
Nigeria, in fact I would have gone higher if not for politics. I can boldly say
that of all politicians in Lagos, none has touched lives like I have done…
At all levels?
None, I am not talking of the
things they did with government money this time, I am talking of their own
personal funds. I have been involved in charity since 1994. I did my first borehole
in 2004 at Oki Primary School, the same school YAYI went to. YAYI was in the
National Assembly for eight years while I was doing that.
So, is it correct to say he did
not give back to his alumni?
That is what I just told you, I
didn’t go to Oki primary school, I went to Seventh Day Adventist. That borehole
still remains the only one in that community as we speak. I did the borehole
because I saw the rate at which typhoid was dealing with them and I knew they
needed potable water. I also built a toilet for that same school, donated
chairs and tables…the facts are there, you can go there to confirm.
Was that when you contested for
the House of Reps?
No! I wasn’t even contesting
then. YAYI’s father still lives in that Alagbaa community where YAYI grew
up…even the only borehole relied on in that community was donated by me in 2007
and it is being sold by the Baale of that community. So when people talk about
YAYI, they don’t know the type of man he is. He is a man who is only working
for the oligarchy.
So, what went wrong? Given how
you have contributed immensely to your community, why did you lose when you
contested? What went wrong? Did they not see you as a green light that should
be followed?
Excuse me, in a community that
had been in darkness for two years and I intervened by giving them a
transformer in 2006 when they approached me, how can I lose an election in that
place? How can I lose an election in Baruwa where I donated a block of
classrooms? I tarred roads, opened several communities to civilization…
So what went wrong?
What went wrong is simple, on
the day of election, my party was missing on the ballot paper. I contested on
the platform of the Labour Party, at that period, I never really liked PDP or ACN,
I wanted to be on my own. ACN connived with the Director of INEC then and they
removed my party logo so no one could vote for me, I couldn’t even vote for
myself. I went to court, they apologized for the ‘mistake’ and after much plea,
I forgave them. That was when they began to call me to join their party even
Aregbe, I received nothing from anybody but I joined them…
You joined the ACN? At what
point did you join?
I joined them sometimes in 2007
but I left, in Yoruba language, I will call them ‘Muwonleru’ poverty was deep
amongst them. For instance, some of the leaders kept on putting on the same
cloth every day. The chairman of the party (Adimula) would have to push his car
to start it…then I got him a brand new car; Hyundai, but they ceased it, they
said I wanted to spoil the party.
Did you have any encounter with
Tinubu while you were there?
No, my stay was very brief. As
I was saying, I donated a million to the youths and two million to the elders,
I just needed a platform to alleviate poverty, I am not a politician per se,
the party leaders called me to a meeting and asked why I was giving out money.
They said I was empowering them and if I did that they would stop attending
meetings. Instead of giving them millions, why not give them 200Naira each,
they will keep coming. That was what broke my heart.
No fracas, no ticket issue?
No, we didn’t even get there.
Ticket issue was still very far. Then I went to PDP and I won the election in
2011 but it was rigged and when I challenged INEC three days later, I was
arrested and handcuffed for challenging INEC. That was how I lost that too.
That was House of Reps, now you
are going for the Senate, a higher platform, are you not scared? What are you
going to do this time around?
APC is a fraudulent party but
we are working on it…what they do is to rig elections, the idiots.
What do you think of the card
readers? Even the ruling party; at the federal level, some leaders are frowning
at the idea, what do you think?
Let’s talk about the PVC, PVC
is available in states where APC will win elections, even in the North where
people are currently displaced, the collection there is more than 80%, in the
south, its less than 60%, south west 66%, in fact before February 14 it was
just 44%. Apart from that, PVC has been collected by unknown people.
Does this mean we are not ready
for this?
My own opinion is; Jega should
be sacked and prosecuted.
But the President says he has
confidence in him and has no plans to sack him, a lot of people don’t see
anything wrong with Jega…
Excuse me, what are we saying?
I got my own PVC on February 18 four days after the initial date, including
some of my family members. So there is a conspiracy somewhere.
The INEC Chairman was installed
by the president himself, should he not be working for him?
The president has told him not
to work for him, he told him to just do his job but he has refused to do his
job. Let’s look at it from here, if in a ravaged area, 80% collection has been
recorded and here where there is no Boko Haram we find it difficult to get our
PVCs till now, what are the implications?
If you win what do you have in
mind, what are the things you intend to put in place?
I want to tackle the issue of
poverty.
How?
Thank you. It is somewhere in
our constitution, either section 22 or 24 that you have a right not to be poor.
It talks about the social responsibility of the government that no citizen
should be poor. All I want the government to do is to make that law compulsory.
That is one thing I want to fight for. It is a pity that nobody is talking
about it and that is what I want to work on and by God’s grace I will make it
compulsory that something must be done for the poor. Whether monthly or weekly,
they should get a certain amount from their government. The second thing is
Accountability. I know this is very difficult. APC keeps complaining that PDP
is corrupt, is APC not corrupt? Including Tinubu’s wife, Senator Remi Tinubu
and Ashafa? Anyway, that is by the way. I do not see any one talking about the
constituency allowance, when you collect billions on our behalf and there is no
account for it, is that not corruption? Every quarter, funds are released by
the federal government for every community and nobody talks about it, is that
not corruption? From the House of Reps to the Senate, they are corrupt. YAYI
has been there for twelve years now, what has he done? He goes on TV and
announces that he purchased GCE forms, he must be sick. He also said he built a
school in one community “with my own personal funds” he is an idiot. If he did
those things with his personal funds then what happened to our funds? I am
talking of the over hundred million released quarterly into the constituency.
That is the point, we need to change these people. There is no accountability,
if I have that opportunity, I will empower people, especially the area boys. I
said on TV last week that most of the area
boys have been bastardized by the APC, you see area boys using brand new cars
for hooliganism. From Lagos Island, Mushin, Alimosho, you see them using Jeeps,
for instance, MC Oluomo, what can you do? Why would they want to go to school?
What then are we teaching our children?
What if they are not ready to
be skilled?
They are ready to be skilled,
that is the point. There has to be a plan. I have some of them working with me;
for instance I have Jubril, he was with Saula, then I was young, I was not in
school, I just finished my school cert and I thought I needed to capture one
garage too so I kept on fighting Saula and I was using that boy against Saula,
but now, the boy has been trained, he now works in Dubai and earns about 800
dollars monthly. I have two or three of them in Canada as I speak with you.
Their orientation has changed
from what it was?
It has changed.
Does that also buttress this, I
have heard that the Lagos West constituency is under developed?
Yes. I am trying to wake people
from their slumber, when you collect money on their behalf and the money is not
seen, where is the money in Alimosho, Agege, Iju, Ojoo, Badagry? There is
nothing to show for it…emphasis is on Lekki where Tinubu lives, it is on
Surulere the hometown of Fashola and on Ikoyi that’s all. Every year we have
Christmas decorations from Ikeja to VI, never to Badagry or Ojoo or Agege or
Mushin…development is keyed to the city centre. Till now, call any local
community, if you can get a single pipe borne water donated by the government,
then I don’t need to contest in this election, I will resign, it means they
have tried. The moment YAYI and the others start coming out to declare what
they had in the quarter and what they did with it; there is no need for people
like us in politics. I am an Entrepreneur by birth; I have been involved in
business since my school days. When I was in UI, I was a Barber, during my
masters in LASU, I was a ‘Kabukabu’ driver, my route was Iyana Iba to Iyana Ipaja.
Do you have a god father? We
have heard your opponent admit that he has a god father, do you have a
godfather?
Yes, I have GOD the Father.
Yes, we know GOD the father,
but do you have a political godfather?
See, if I had a political
godfather, by now I would probably be the governor of Ekiti state or somewhere
else. But I have just been taken my time…
Do you think anything is wrong
with having a political godfather?
No, there is nothing wrong with
the phenomenon; I tried having Obasanjo as godfather at a time, then Bode
George…
People still think Bode George
is your godfather.
He is my leader. If he was my
godfather, I wouldn’t need to fight and contest against Salvador who has always
been there. Chief Bode George is my leader, more like a father than a godfather
to me. The reason why I changed my mind about choosing Obasanjo as my godfather
was because of inconsistency. Today this
person is in PDP, tomorrow its APC; that was the problem I had then. But the
person I am aligned with is Chief Bode George and Obanikoro, they are my leaders
and those are the two people I have aligned with but with my independent mind. They
don’t impose anything on me. I seek their advice and support, that’s all. Even
when it is financial support, I just meet them and talk to them, but they have
never imposed anything on me. In fact initially they talked to me about
Salvador. That he was the one that has been there all this while. I didn’t say
anything I just continued my own thing underground and when they saw it, they
could not do anything about it they supported me. PDP and APC on the issue of
‘godfatherism’, in PDP you have this person talking to the president anyhow,
the governor of Ekiti saying his own, the thing is PDP gives you the leverage;
you can be what you want to be and do what you want to do. However, reverse is
the case in APC. If you do not wash and kiss the feet of the leader, lick his
boots; carry his bag when you see him, you cannot move on. That is why APC
likes to empower the poor, they do not empower the rich or the Entrepreneur.
And even when they empower the rich, it would be a rich man that has been made
rich initially by Tinubu. Look at Ashafa, he worked at Housing, they arrange
CVs and then they move you to the next level…Ambode was the Accountant General
of whatever, they will say “oh he knows how to keep the state’s account and to
keep our records, ok move to the next level, oh you Osinbajo, you were the
attorney general at a time and when I had an issue with Chicago certificate and
the rest you defended me well, so we promote you, move to the next level.” So
there is never any fresh entry in APC. It is not possible. And why did I choose
PDP? Our congress is an open one, anyone can be a direct or indirect delegate.
APC can never say come and join our party they will only say come and vote for
us. There can’t be people like you in APC, you can only see people who got
there through a leader or through an indirect delegate…you know we have direct
and indirect delegates. Direct delegate means, I Segun Adewale wants to be a
Senator, I get my form and because you know me and want to support me, you get
the indirect delegate form to choose me. Of course there would be some
influences from the party but it is relatively open. However in APC, the
leaders choose the delegates, so Tinubu keeps on choosing and selecting.
We have heard of assassination
attempts from you and your opponent and we are confused; now who is trying to
assassinate who?
See, that is just propaganda.
You have seen YAYI, you can see how big and fat he is, anyone who works for
money cannot be fat. If you are fat, it means you did not work for it, you
stole it and you don’t know how to manage it. You eat everything. Bill Gates
has been the richest man in the world for decades yet he isn’t fat, because he
exerts physical and mental energy.
So who is trying to assassinate
who?
He said I tried to assassinate
him, why would I do that? In as much as they don’t change the figures, I’ll win
the elections easily. He said I was in his office, he is a billionaire, yes he
is rich, a man who drives a 70 million naira Jeep should be able to afford
CCTV, so where is the camera showing that I was in his office? There should be
a picture of me, but in my own case, I have a picture of him with criminals and
murderers. I will give you the pictures before you leave. One of the guys in
the picture came to my office to attack me with a gun, he was arrested and
taken to SARS, (Special Anti Robbery Squad) I don’t know if you heard of that
but I have his picture with YAYI. He empowers them by giving them guns, the guy
confessed but the case is stalling…in fact I need to follow it up immediately
and ask them what is going on with the case.
Have they made any arrests on
the other side that was traced to you?
No! It’s just propaganda.
That’s all.
Thank you so much sir.
Thank you.
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