Alhaji Babatunde Mohammed is the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State. In this interview with STEPHEN OLUFEMI ONI, he bares his mind on the chances of his party in the forthcoming general election and assessment of the administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, among other issues

It is just a few days to the commencement of the general election, how prepared is your party for the elections in Kwara State?

We are fully prepared to win the elections across board in Kwara State. First and foremost, I want to say it loud and clear that the PDP in the state will come out stronger in the elections by God’s grace and with the support of the electorate. The leadership of the party and the teeming loyal members are not leaving anything to chances as we have been working hard and round the clock to ensure that PDP takes back the reins of power in Kwara State. However, to go back to your question, our members are working assiduously in all the 16 local government areas and 193 wards of the state to ensure that our party wins the election by landslide.

Going by the defeat suffered by your party in the 2019 elections, what really do you think are PDP’s chances in winning the forthcoming elections in the state?

I have already told you that PDP will come out stronger in the elections by the grace of God and with the support of the people of the state. What happened to us in 2019 was a temporary setback and it can happen to any political party. But considering the fact that the All Progressives Congress (APC) government in the state has failed the people, I want to tell you that the people across Kwara are now telling the governor to pack his load from the government house because he cannot solve their problems. He has been there for over three years without commissioning a single project.

Kwara is one of the few states where the governor has not commissioned a completed project. Some little projects which the governor has embarked on and completed are projects that should be done by local governments in the state. I was opportune to serve as a councillor between 1991 and 1993, all the projects that the governor has done such as one kilometre roads, interlocking, culverts and drainages fall on the schedule of the local government councils. I want it to be on record that PDP is a peaceful party and Nigerians will agree with me that when we were in power, the issue of insecurity was not like this.

We can talk of so many things like the issue of economy that we have today and others. All these unresolved issues have made it impossible for the APC government at the federal and state levels to settle in the last seven and half years and will certainly affect them in the elections.

What’s your assessment of the performance of theAPC-ledgovernmentinKwaraStateinthelast three and a half years?

I will rate the performance of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq very low; about 30 per cent. Even with non-conduct of local government elections, the 30 per cent performance has gone down. It is unfortunate that a governor could be elected and he would kill local government administration because for over 36 months now, there is nothing like local government elections in Kwara State. It has never been like that before. The governor only appointed Transition Implementation Committees (TICs) in all the 16 local government areas which should not have lasted for more than three months and can be extended for another three months if the government is not able to conduct local government elections for one reason or the other because after six months, they are regarded as illegal occupants of the office. Don’t forget, that a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) took the governor to court on the local government elections and the court ruled that members of the TICs have no business to be in the local governments. By now, the people of the 193 wards in the state should have been enjoying the dividends of democracy through their elected councillors. We should have had elected chairmen, who should have been overseeing the administration and finances of the councils. Sadly, that’s not happening here in Kwara State.

Are you saying that you can’t see tangible projects that the APC government has undertaken in Kwara State?

Let me tell you, Kwarans are not fools or robots. We have what we call Internally Generated Revenue (IGR); the governor is yet to come out and tell the people what he has been doing with it in the last three and a half years, ditto for the monthly allocations he’s collecting on behalf of the people. The APC government also cashed on the failure of past administration to access the UBEC fund, but the governor should tell the people what he has done with the fund he has accessed. Even an NGO, EnetSud, has come out to allege that a particular contract was on the high side.

The campaign slogan that won the 2019 election for the APC in Kwara State was ‘O to ge.’ Do you think the party’s manifesto has been fulfilled?

The manifesto has not been fulfilled. Remember that seven different groups came together in 2018 with the ‘O to ge’ slogan and they used propaganda to deceive the people of Kwara State. They cited what was happening in neighbouring Kogi and Osun states and they promised the people that they would replicate those programmes in Kwara. But after winning the election, it was difficult for the governor to manage the people in the party.

As I’m talking to you, APC in the state is divided into six groups and a larger percentage of the gubernatorial aspirants in the APC have pulled out of the party. Some of them are with us in PDP; some have gone to Social Democratic Party (SDP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Young Peoples Party (YPP) and other political parties.

It is a very terrible thing because when you have a man with two wives and cannot manage the family, how can such a man be called to be the king of a community? Actually, that community cannot develop and that is why it has become difficult for the party to manage the state. The party came with a propaganda that is full of lies during the 2019 elections but if you travel across the state today, the life of ordinary people in Kwara has not changed. All the facilities they promised the people are nowhere to be found. The better salaries they promised the workers have not been implemented.

As a major player in Kwara politics for long, having been a councillor and later speaker of the state House of Assembly, what do you think has changed in the state between 1999 and now?

So many things have been achieved in the state. The late Governor Mohammed Lawal served for four years between 1999 and 2003 and Dr. Bukola Saraki succeeded him in 2003 and served up to 2011. I was a member of the state Assembly, first as the chief whip, later as deputy speaker and speaker. During Saraki’s period, he used the funds of the state to change Kwara for better.

I can tell you that before his tenure, we have about four hotels in Kwara but during his tenure, we had numerous five star hotels and hospitality business boomed in the state. We had the cargo terminal at the airport; we had the Metropolitan Square which is a replica of Eagle Square in Abuja, the overhead bridge and Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete. Many of our children have graduated from the institution and they are doing well in their different endeavours. While the University of Ilorin was closed down as a result of the protracted ASUU strike, academic activities were going on in KWASU, which was established by Saraki.

There was also massive road construction across the state, there was overhead bridge at the General Post Office, Ilorin and there was also the Aviation College, a replica of what is in South Africa. Also, Alhaji Abdulfattah Ahmed ruled the state between 2011 and 2019 and embarked on some essential projects which included road infrastructure, health facilities as well as the overhead bridge at Gerin-Alimi. All these projects attracted many people and businesses to the state. They have helped to grow the economy of the state. Unlike what is happening now, where the present administration is constructing a one kilometre road and calling it state project.

It is very appalling that the present administration has not utilised the huge resources of the state to develop the state. The governor should come out and tell the people of the state what he has done with all the funds. For the past 42 months of the present administration, there is no meaningful project executed in the state. That was why I went on radio to challenge the governor on why he has not invited the president or vice president or any of the governors to come to the state to commission projects.

Is that the reason for your low rating of the present administration in the state?

Yes, if I want to rate the governor, it cannot be more than 30 per cent and that 30 per cent has further been eroded by his failure to conduct local government elections.

Arisingfromyouroptimism, howmanylocalgovernmentareasdoyouthinkthePDPwillwininthe state in the coming elections?

We are going to win all the 16 local government areas of the state. With the support of God and the people, we are going to win in all the 193 wards and all the local government areas. We will win the governorship, the three senatorial seats, the six House of Representatives seats and the 24 House of Assembly seats. We are also going to win the presidential election in the state. Let me also assure the people that if we win the governorship election, we are going to conduct local government elections in the first six months of the tenure of our administration.

Your party zoned the governorship slot to Kwara North, what informed that decision?

It is very simple. In all political arrangements, you have to be fair. Kwara Central Senatorial zone represented by late Alhaji Mohammed Lawal and Dr. Bukola Saraki was there between 1999 and 2011 and Alhaji Abdulfattah Ahmed from Kwara South was there for eight years, 2011 to 2019. Therefore, it is the turn of Kwara North Senatorial District to have a shot at the governorship of the state. It is their time and we have to support them and give them a sense of belonging because Kwara belongs to all of us. Any political party that picked a candidate from another zone is just looking for a way to cause crisis in the state and that is not fair. That was why PDP zoned the position to Kwara North.

What’s your take on the committee set up by Governor AbdulRazaq and headed by Senator Sulaiman Ajadi, which alleged that the Saraki and Ahmed sold government property at ridiculous prices to themselves?

If the governor has evidence that truly some of those people who served in the two administrations bought government property illegally without payment, he should take them to court for prosecution instead of looking for cheap popularity.

What is your advice to the people of Kwara state ahead of the elections?

My advice to the people is for them to remain calm and peaceful during the campaigns and elections. Our party is peaceful because since we finished conducting the primary election, you cannot see any of our members causing trouble or any of our aspirants going to court to complain about cheating in the primary election because we conducted a peaceful primary election in our party. Our campaigns have been issue-based. There is nothing that concerns us about happenings in the other political parties. So, I want to once again appeal to the people of Kwara State to continue to behave in an orderly manner; we don’t want thuggery during the elections.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recently conducted off season elections in somestateslikeEkitiandOsun; howwouldyourate the elections and the electoral umpire?

I want to say that votes counted in the two states and others too like Anambra, where elections were conducted. For instance, in Anambra state, the people insisted that they wanted the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to continue to rule them and it happened. Equally in Ekiti, though my party, PDP lost in the election, i think it was fair and the Osun election made it clear that Nigerians are tired of APC. I gave kudos to INEC for conducting free, fair and transparent elections in the three aforementioned states. I want to believe that the forthcoming elections will follow the same pattern.

INEC should not lose its guard, while I also implore the security agencies, particularly the police, to be neutral and discharge their responsibilities without fear or favour. I also want to enjoin the youth to shun the antics of some unscrupulous politicians, who will want to engage them for thuggery. That is not their lot, so they should shun it. Furthermore, I want to implore the electorate to vote wisely by voting for PDP across board; both at the national and state elections.