Encomium
ALL Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant, Dr. Leke Pitan has further restated his commitment to serve the people of Lagos State if voted into power come 2015 after clinching the party’s ticket at the primary election which is likely to hold between October and November this year.
He said this and much more when ENCOMIUM Weekly was at his Ikeja, Lagos office on Friday, July 25, 2014.
What’s the latest about your political ambition?
It’s on course. Just as I told you, it’s more of an offer to serve the people, an offer to sell the party to the grassroots people. Mine is just to act as a link between the party and the people at the grassroots. An offer as the party’s ambassador to implement the socio-welfare manifesto of the party, being the person who has been the arrow head in delivering first services to the people in the party, on the platform of our old party that we used to get to where we’re now. So, the project is very much on course. We are keeping it, we’re very much in touch with the grassroots, and the response has been wonderful. It’s like this is what they have been waiting for.
When will the APC conduct its primary elections?
That will be between October and November.
That means the rumour that no primary election for the governorship ticket is unwarranted then?
As you rightly said, it’s just a rumour. There is no element of truth in it at all. There can’t even be any truth in it. It’s like telling somebody to deliberately go and take poison. Telling APC not to conduct direct open primaries at the ward levels is like advising the party to deliberately take poison. APC won’t do it because we know the implication. We appreciate that things have changed. It’s more of a product that the public wants to believe in than less of the label. The party will put out its best product. And the party knows how to bring its best product in a very transparent way by making sure that every card carrying member in every ward has the opportunity to vote for his or her candidate. And don’t forget, we are not talking about just governorship alone. Even, for other positions, the party now knows that it can’t just take the people for granted. It must still allow primaries to take place in other positions in such a way that the card carrying members can elect their candidates for various political seats.
It’s because the party is strong now that the general public has a lot of say and we look at the pedigree of the candidates we’re putting out for the elections. Things have gone beyond the issue of party label, it’s personality issue now because we don’t want to give the opposition any chance to operate. So, we will block all those loopholes, I know that. It’s only for the party to say it, rather than leaving it to the rumours flying around. It’s important to put a stop to the rumour because we know the party realizes the right thing and will do it. And that’s what the people are expecting. Transparent and direct primaries at the ward levels.
Do you think your intimidating credentials and pedigree can stand you out of other aspirants in the party?
First, I want to say that my other colleagues vying for the ticket have their own good sides as well. I believe I have been close to the grassroots, serving the people. The opportunity given to me, I utilized it very well, creditably and more importantly with integrity. And I know that the people remember, both the party members as well as the public. And the general public is the ultimate deciders of who gets into public offices. I believe that I stand a very good, rosy and bright chance, both within and outside the party.
With the conquest of APC in Ekiti by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a lot of people believe that your party is doing well in terms of electioneering campaign. What do you think the APC has not done well that could be addressed before the subsequent elections?
The party is looking deeply into the Ekiti issue, studying and researching into it so that all the necessary loopholes will be blocked. Where errors have been, will be corrected and where we appeared to have been cheated, would be highlighted with a view to ensuring we prevent a repeat of the cheating by the other side. I can tell you that a lot has been done concerning that. We still have another election coming up in Osun State, and we don’t want a repeat of what happened in Ekiti in Osun. We’re in the majority in Osun State because we believe the people there love our governor in that state. As I have told you, the issue now is about the product. We thank God, our governor in Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is a man of the people. He is well loved there by the people, especially those at the grassroots. And I believe strongly that people will vote for him. We believe for the rest of the states that will have their elections next year, the party will continue to research to ensure that we get in touch with the people at the grassroots. More importantly, we will ensure we conduct open and direct primary elections at the ward levels so that many people get to participate in order to make it easier for the general public to accept the products we’re offering them. We also know that the personality and pedigree of the person we’re presenting, and his link and acceptance by the general public that will determine our getting into power.
The situation in Osun right now has become that of the cry for Stomach Infrastructure, just as it happened in Ekiti which perhaps gave PDP an edge over APC, so to speak. From what angle is your party looking at that?
Again, the party has identified some of the things and we’re continuously studying the situation. And we continuously respond appropriately, with a view to getting through to the grassroots because we know that that’s where the power belongs. We know that that’s where our own defence lies and we won’t lose sight of that.
Let’s talk about the restriction on Okada operation in Lagos State, the issue is still generating reactions, especially among Okada riders, and we learnt they are in warm consultation with PDP now to give the party their votes in the next governorship election. What’s APC doing about this?
We’re preparing special package that will ameliorate whatever losses or perceived losses the okada riders may think they have to further convince them as a government and as a party that we mean well for them. Several programmes and strategies are put in place by directly assisting them to upgrade to tricycles. By making sure we curb the excesses of the law enforcement agencies so that they don’t step out of their bound to go and start harassing Okada rider where they are rightfully supposed to be. We will also make sure we professionalize the enforcement kits by making them be headed by professionals who have a lot more at stake, and who bring to bear professionalism in such enforcement. And third, by providing more transportation buses with larger capacity so that people don’t suffer about the restriction of okada to certain roads. Those roads that okada riders won’t ply, we will make sure more buses are provided to reduce commuters’ waiting time. These are the issues we are going to look into and tackle.
The issue of school fees in Lagos State University (LASU) is causing disaffection between the government and some Lagosians, especially those who have their children in the institution. What are you going to do to address the situation if you become the governor of Lagos State come 2015?
Thank you very much. First, the present government has done very well. They made sure the lecturers and students are back in school. And we must thank the governor and his cabinet for that because fees have been reduced now. But special packages are being looked into to further cushion the effect of even the present level. Special packages are being put in place to ensure that all those who are still affected, something is done to identify them and ameliorate their condition. That’s ongoing as I speak to you now.
Let’s have a flashback at your days when you served in the administration of former governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Commissioner for Health, and also for Education. What were your success records then?
The records are still there, speaking for themselves. I was pronounced by the government, party and the public to have done well in the health and education sectors. In fact, they used to call those two flagship ministries. We were like the image of the party and the government. We did wonderfully. The public directly benefitted. We gave hope to the hopeless in both sectors. And the staffers there enjoyed the period. We thank God, the staffers are still nostalgic about those days, and we intend to bring back the days by improving on the situation. The present government has done well too because the salaries the government is paying now are far higher than the ones we were paying during our time. But we intend doing more to take it higher in terms of socio-welfare situation of government workers. That’s what we will look into, God willing, when the people of Lagos State give us the opportunity to be the governor of the state.
– TADE ASIFAT
