Encomium
Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon is no doubt one of the strongest politicians in Lagos from the platform of APC. In an exclusive interview with ENCOMIUM Weekly, the amiable Senator opened up on why he is contesting as Lagos State Governor in 2015 against all odds and his relationship with Bola Ahmed Tinubu….
In 2015, you are one of the people that Lagosians look up to Among other contenders, what stands you out?
I would say it’s time to give other people a chance because I rely on the electorates and my constituents. I’m now moving from a small constituent to a larger constituency that covers the whole state, and I hope that what I have done in the past while giving out service at various levels and capacities will speak for me. Also, my party members will ensure that I get the party ticket to be the flag bearer for the gubernatorial election. By extension, it will also open for me confidence during the General election because we are constantly in touch with the people as it is expected of us.
In as much as you are going to serve your people, you are a two term senator, one term member of House of Representatives and one term chairman…the people will ask ” What more do you want”?
If you choose a career, you will want to progress in that particular career because you do not want to be stagnant. Career progression will make you want to move from one place to another. Also, the electorate themselves, by voting me at every election were investing in me because they are putting their confidence in me and they must follow up their investment into full creation. For people to ask what more do I want, is like saying, we have a barrier above which anybody can get.
What are your fall back plans in case you don’t get your party’s ticket?
I expect free, fair and transparent primaries because if we have that and I happen not to emerge winner, I will work with willingness with whoever wins. Because that is the spirit of the party members. Others will say “he will be given the post of a Senator if he does not win the Primaries,” but I also expect someone to have taken that post already. So if someone is there, how will you take the Senatorial seat from that individual. ACN has said from the on-set that, “In leadership we would make sure we imbibe the culture of internal democracy in the large political party,” and that you should all expect.
You are no more a Senator and you have not gotten to the primaries, how far do you think your faith will take you?
It is not a must that you have to be somewhere before you are active in politics. You can still do a lot of things and play you role as a politician. Like I said, there have been progressive investments by the electorates, so if at a point they feel this is how far they want you to go, so be it. However, in politics, any profession, career or business, you must have your exit day because there must be a time that you have to withdraw and watch others regardless of what happens. So, I believe I have my exit day.
There is a school of thought that says, You are a man of the masses and another says, because you have an independent mind, some feel they can’t pocket you. What is your take on this?
There is no cause for alarm in that regard because you may be independent minded but the most important thing is, you are part of a team. I believe the essence of a political party is to be in the government and bring dividends of democracy to the generality of the people. I cannot start to say I’m not independent minded, so as to satisfy some people. Rather, it is for them to judge. One thing I can assure I am a team player, when I belong to a party. I carry everybody along and this has been demonstrated over the years. I always believe you must be able to strike a balance between all contending forces if you are an executive. As a chief executive, you must be able to think on your feet because there would be situations that would require instant action.
For your two terms senatorial positions, what are the special duties you carried out that can arrest the minds of Lagosians?
If you heard a statement from PDP over representation in the House of Representatives, I would not like to use them as my referee because no matter what, they will always have something bad to say about the opposition party. When we criticise government policy, we are all news objects. If anybody says we have not done anything in the House of Representatives and senate, I will pardon their ignorance. I am proud to say that in the history of this state, no one has attracted more projects as I have attracted to the state even beyond my senatorial district and they are there for people to see in terms of ICT centers, libraries, toilets for schools, boreholes. We even went as far as providing solar energy boreholes, provision of desk and equipment to hospitals, building of health center and many more. I have done a huge number of projects and I challenge anybody to come up with a list. Because I don’t have anybody to flog myself with would not make me flog a dead horse. The records are there for anyone to go and check. In terms of legislation, recently there was a list of bills and motions sponsored by each senator and I was one of the three senators that came second. Thus, before you criticise you need to check your records, so that you don’t get yourself injured.
Now that the primaries would soon take place, what is the relationship between you and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu?
He has always been a leader, a father (don’t mind the age difference), a role model and go getter. Some people may think he is stubborn but he knows when to be and when not to be stubborn. You can also regard him as an “independent minded” person. The issue with young people is that, when they have a role model, they try as much as possible to copy some of the things he does, perhaps that explains his attitude. You cannot but look up to him as he has paid his dues and contributed a lot to the political development of this country and beyond the state. Such a leader is very rare to come. And of cause, we have a very cordial relationship.
What is your take on the anointed candidate (Ambode), and as it in any way affected you relationship with him?
I have always tried not to discuss personal issues about individual aspirants because we still belong to the same party, and this is why some of them are not well experienced in this game. Anybody can go out to say that he has been anointed as a political strategy, but if people come out to say we are in support of this person, it is legal because you are only expressing the law of preference which you have the right to do. So, it is not possible to have anointed about four people for the same seat. The only solution is to go for primaries and when one person wins, it becomes the duty of the others to support such a person.
There have been insinuations that in as much as you don’t discuss individual personalities, you have a systematic way of sending your message across. For instance you said, “Grassroot politicians are better than technocrats”?
That is an issue because somehow, they mislead some people into saying, you are better being a technocrat than a grassroot politician, because you want to enlighten them without even knowing the difference between the two. If you are ashamed to be called a politician then don’t go into politics. At the same time, we have professional politicians who are still technocrats and can give good and quality accounts of themselves. Most people become famous because of their political position not because of their area of specialisation. If we don’t start to correct that impression before we know it, they will just condemn all politicians.
In a situation where PDP does not have a strong candidate for the governorship election and you were called upon to cross carpet to PDP would you go for the offer?
No.
If it is a no, what would you say is the source of your drive towards this election and your party?
My drive towards internal democracy goes beyond my person, and that is the feeling of majority of the party members and purpose. We must make sure there is a correction within the party and whatever correction we want to make must be within the party as well. I won’t run away to another party because of that. Instead, I would remain in the party. If there is abnormality, we must correct it because it is for us to make sure that we start to imbibe internal democracy so that when we leave, it would have been entrenched in the system.
Would it be right to say, having been through all the elective posts in the party, does that make you a right candidate for the election?
I have said that several times. It is part of what is giving me the inspiration because I know we all develop gradually. Right now, the electorates are better enlightened because you can’t push them any longer.
After 16 years, they should be at a level where they would want to take their own decisions or should be independent minded about who they want regardless of the party. That is why we must have a periodic, free and fair election, so that they would come out as king.
-FEMI OYEWALE AND DOLAPO AMODENI
