Opeyemi Bamidele, who represents Ado-Ekiti/Irepodun-Ifelodun Federal
Constituency, recently inaugurated Ekiti Bibire Coalition office in
Ado-Ekiti but the inauguration was disrupted by mobile policemen, who
used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Bamidele, fondly called MOB, found
time to answer questions from journalists, where he accused the Ekiti
State government of disrupting the inauguration. Excerpts:
What is your reaction to the disruption of your rally?
I
must say that what happened to my mind was a major setback for
democracy in Nigeria and a major set back for Ekiti State. This is a
state that is widely celebrated as Fountain of Knowledge and a land of
honour. One would not have expected that there would be such an
unprovoked act of terrorism against the innocent people of this state.
I insist that I have a right like every other Ekiti citizen, to aspire
to be governor of this state.
I insist that by the grace of God,
that I am qualified to lead this state. I insist to answer to the
clarion call of Ekiti people, which as you have seen cannot be a ruse.
I have no doubt that the government of Dr Kayode Fayemi has further
enhanced my campaign.
*Bamidele
Ekiti
people have seen what happened, the government instigated the blockage
of roads leading to Ado Ekiti as early as 6:30 am and for several
hours, vehicles could not move into Ado Ekiti from all the major roads
leading to Ado Ekiti. It took the intervention of eminent citizens and
elder statesmen in Ekiti including Aare Afe Babalola to prevail on the
Inspector General of Police to intervene in this matter and get the
State Police Command and soldiers to send thugs out of the road.
The
ruse was that members of the road transport workers were the ones
blocking the road. But it became obvious to everyone, at the end of the
day, that it was the state government that did not want my independent
campaign group, Ekiti Bibire Coalition to be launched and did not want
me to have a platform to declare openly my aspiration to govern this
state from October 2014. To the glory of God, the declaration has been
done, the facts speak for themselves.
Ekiti people have made it
clear that whatever love they have for me was real. I must say that I
am overwhelmed by the show of solidarity, I am overwhelmed by the
mammoth crowd that came to the venue of the inauguration and we chose
to hold this campaign at our campaign office to avoid any kind of
crisis.
We have four venues and we asked the Commissioner of
Police to choose one. I am familiar with the provision of the Electoral
Act and I know that until 90 days to the election, you cannot hold an
open air rally and the Police Commissioner said to us ‘you can do it in
your office or you can rent a hall and do it in a hall and anywhere
that is fenced’.
And following his instructions, we had four
options, the police approved one and at about 12 midnight the previous
night, I got a call that we could not use the venue.
Even though
it was very late to demobilize the people, I still called everybody
and told them to forget the approved venue and use our own office.
Nobody
had a problem with that, even the Director of the DSS and the Police
Commissioner said it was okay. I will not be the first person to
declare his intention to run for governorship in 2014, at least five
other aspirants from various political parties have done it, so that is
why I am surprised that the state government will make a big issue out
of my decision to declare my intention.
Who would you say actually disturbed the rally, was it the police, thugs or the state government?
I
will say very clearly that the disruption of the rally was at the
stance of the state government and this was an information I gathered
five days ago. I wrote a letter to the governor to say that I learned
that a meeting was held in the office of your Chief of Staff, attended
by several of your political appointees, who said it was an affront for
anyone to run against a sitting governor, who was still interested for
a second term. If anybody would have a second term I do not think it
should be at gun point. I insist by my own antecedents that my right
to aspire is inalienable and as far as I am concerned, whether the
governor likes it or not, he has challengers in me and in other
aspirants.
Anyone who wants to do second term in office, should
leave it in the hands of God and let the people decide. To intimidate
people out of a race can only lead to tension in our polity and that is
what you have seen. I wrote a letter to him (Fayemi) and I published
the letter.
Do you have a copy?
Yes I do. I published the
letter, as a matter of fact, as a paid advertorial in one of the
national newspapers. Let me say again that I take this as a battle but
it is not a battle that I will fight as an individual, it is a battle
that God will fight, it is a battle that Ekiti people will fight. Ekiti
people will get the kind of leaders they deserve.
It is the
decision of the people to determine who becomes the next governor of
this state come October 2014 and no amount of intimidation will make a
difference. I have learned early enough in my life to develop a high
sense of indignation and injustice. I take this as another battle of
life to fight but I am relying on God to fight this battle, I am
relying on Ekiti people to fight this battle because I know that things
cannot continue to be this way.
With this rising tension, are you not worried that in the build up to the election, there could be violence?
I
do not think so because as far as I am concerned, this is a
demonstration and exhibition of a sense of leadership complex. This is
leadership complex because I cannot understand why a sitting governor
should see someone in the House of Representatives as a threat to
him. They keep saying I am not relevant but as far I am concerned,
Nigerians can see what is happening. There are at least 20 other
aspirants in Ekiti state today from different parties, but why this
administration today, has made me such an issue is a puzzle only they
can solve.
But like I said, it is a manifestation of leadership
weakness, it is a manifestation of morbid fear of Ekiti people. As far
as I am concerned, this can only strengthen me. I do not entertain any
doubt that by the grace of God and by the popular demand of the people,
I will succeed Dr Kayode Fayemi as the next governor of Ekiti State. It
is not going to be by magic, it is not going to be by violence of any
kind because I am not given to that, it is going to be by hard work.
Through the grace and favour of God and through support of the people,
I will run a scientific campaign in this state.
I will go to
people at their homes, I will not run away, I will run a campaign of
issues and make it very scientific. As far as I am concerned, anyone
who thinks this will deter me or discourage me from running this race
is mistaken.
I believe that every act of oppression can only
strengthen the resolve of Ekiti people and it is only a matter of time,
these issues will settle themselves.
By the time the chips are down, you may not be allowed to contest the election with the governor in the same party.
Well,
I have not seen any reason why I will not be allowed to contest. This
is a democracy, I have not seen anything that will disqualify me from
contesting. The only way I will not be allowed to contest is if I were
not eligible.
But a candidate has already been picked by the APC
I
am not aware that APC has picked a candidate, I am aware that APC has
been registered as a brand new political party, I am also aware that
APC has no structure in Ekiti state.
Membership register
I
am aware that the only mandate given by the interim national leadership
committee of APC, at this point, was for people to go back to their
respective states and open membership register and begin to register
people.
No congress has held, either at the ward or local
government level or state, so you do not have ward executive, local
government executive and you do not have state executive. How can you
have a candidate? And if anyone is saying APC has a candidate, then, it
is obvious that they do not want Ekiti people to be part of APC and I
do not think anybody would do that. In any case, where I will contest,
on what platform is a decision I am going to leave in the hands of
Ekiti people. I will consult widely and I will continue to consult. As
far as I am concerned, the platform on which I will run for
governorship of this state will be determined by the people of Ekiti.
