Hon. Oyeleke Hassan is the Chairman, House Committee on Public Account, Kwara State House of Assembly. In this interview with News Editor (Saturday),Ajibola Abayomi, he took a critical look at governance in his state and the plight of the people of his constituency. Excerpts:

What is your take on governance in your state?

Given the funds from the federation account to Kwara State, I believe the present governor; Abdulfatai Ahmed, has not put in place any project that is commensurate with the money. As far as I am concerned, governance in Kwara State is at its lowest ebb.

Have you raised concern about your observations in the House?

Yes, I have done that severally. Even, recently, when the governor wrote to the assembly seeking endorsement to borrow N1.5 billion, two of us who are opposition members kicked against it. That is on record. That loan was not justifiable, at all.

Why?

The N10 billion loan taken by the governor for projects in the state is yet to be justified because many of the projects he took the loan for, are either abandoned or uncompleted. The Offa General Hospital is still there. N250 million was budgeted for it from the loan, not even N10 million was spent on it. The water project in Ilorin is still there uncompleted. The Ajase Apo empowerment scheme and others are nowhere to be found. So, because of that lack of sincerity on the part of the state governor, we are opposed to the N1.5 billion loan. Apart from that, the state executive is yet to explain or brief the assembly what they have used the N10 billion for. What they are doing now is to use the state's monthly allocation to finance the projects. That can never take them anywhere. What we were expecting from the state executive is budget for the House, to scrutinise and pass it by December. Rather, the governor was more concerned about loan. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) listed Kwara State as one of the states that should not be considered for loan for not keeping to the tenet of the borrowed money.  Today, the state uses more than N400 million to service several loans incurred by the PDP government. Our Internally Generated Revenue cannot match loan as confirmed by the Debt Management Office. The debt office said we have crossed the sealing put at 50.  Why the panic to get loan by the state government without even specifying in black and white what the loan was meant for?

So, on what grounds did the state assembly approve the loan?

Of course, PDP is in the majority, so they are acting on instruction from the above. We have our say as minority and they have their way as majority. We know that no matter the merit of our argument that the PDP lawmakers would never join us, but our position is on record.

Are you saying all this because you are in the opposition?

I am saying these for good of the state. I am the Chairman, House Public Account Committee, have I addressed the press on all I have seen as opposition member? Well, the House under the leadership of the speaker paraded the best from the PDP, so they rated those of us in the opposition based on the quality of our intelligence and contribution. There is no discrimination when it comes to airing our views at the assembly, at all. It was because of all of these that we, the opposition, members were disarmed from crying foul all the time. We are aware that the PDP members are handicapped by the type of decisions they take sometimes, because they have no option than to dance to the tune of their party on many issues, being in the majority. If they have joined us when we questioned the N1.5 billion loan, they would have faced problems within their party. For us as APC members, we are not bending the issue at all. Where there is need to disagree and tell the public, we will do so.

What were your expectations if you believe governance in Kwara is low?

Compared to the neighboring states that are not getting huge allocations like Kwara from the federal purse, we are far behind. I have challenged the PDP government in Kwara State to prove their achievements over the years. I am ready for a public debate with any of them starting from the level of commissioner. Go to Osun and Oyo states, I am not saying this because they are APC States.  We have read about transformation in Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Gombe, Jigawa, Imo, and Kano States, why is Kwara State different? I can't point to any major project under the current governor since he assumed office. I am not even talking about one kilometer road. If you go to Osun State, you will see massive developments in terms of road network, remodeling of schools, health service, social services and many others. The train service from Osogbo to Lagos is free, courtesy of the Osun State government that makes their goods cheap for their people. Lagos State has been a legend for others to copy under this democracy; same thing is happening in Ekiti, Ogun and Edo States. The Kwara State government has not performed optimally. I want them to challenge me on this on television. Offa General Hospital has been there since 1943, the state government borrowed money to renovate it, yet they could not fix it.

Offa was always in opposition in Kwara State for years, what was the reason for PDP's victory in the last Local Government election?

Please, ask the council chairman imposed on the people by the PDP and Kwara State Electoral Commission (KWASIEC) what he scored in his constituency? What happened was an act of desperation. They knew that APC won in 11 out of the 12 wards in the council. That was what we did three years ago and we maintained that during the poll. We delivered the local government when we were under Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), now that we are APC, we are even stronger. We have been showing the results from each of the polling units in the council, where is their own? I was two-time chairman in Offa Local Government. I know what I am saying. Check the history of Offa since the days of Action Group, Unity Party of Nigeria, National Republican Convention, Alliance for Democracy and Action Congress of Nigeria, we have always delivered Offa local government to the party we believed in. We have developed our political culture beyond pedestal level.

What is the myth in Offa people's political ideology?

For anybody to win election in Offa, the community has its own focus. We believe in the common good of every Offa indigene without discrimination, unlike the Saraki dynasty that believes all councilors and chairmen are subject to approval in Ilorin. We are opposed to that political arrangement; if APC tries that Offa people will leave the party. We want to choose our candidates independently. For you to emerge a candidate for election, the community will be sure of your background and antecedent of your family in respect to total commitment to the common good of all.

How long will you people want to remain in opposition?

We found ourselves in opposition because of two examples. One was the example of Prophet Mohammed (SAW). When he began his movement in Mecca, he was in the opposition before he later became the majority leader.  Cornelius Adebayo was in the opposition in Kwara State before he became governor under the leadership of late Olawoyin. Our late leader was robbed of his electoral victory but he remained in the party until they understood him, the people joined him and he won at the end of the day. The PDP leadership in Kwara is running from pillar to post. They are confused. They are lobbying to join APC, Labour Party, and the rest. They will be lucky if they join APC. We have a popular saying in Offa that says, Laare bu u re, okan o gbudo ju kan lo, which literally means equity and justice. We want a party where the structure will be decided by our people within our domain not outside Offa. Our commitment is beyond infrastructural development. Imprisonment is not limited to prison. You can be on the street and still be imprisoned. We will never join a party in which our people can't have a say in who becomes its chairmanship and councillorship candidates.

Will you people survive in opposition, to deprive yourselves what the majority in the state government would have politically allocated to your local government?

We have highly resourceful people helping the community; our town secretariat completed with about N1.3 billion is one of the best in the country. Our monarch, Olofa, single handedly built a palace worth about N1.4 billion, that is one of the best in Africa. We have Offa High School, the first in the whole of the northern region. We produced the first northern lawyer in the north, the first Professor of Geology in Africa, and we have more than 100 professors. Our people are hard working. Because of the environment we found ourselves in, we are like the Israelites. If the state government refuse to complete that General Hospital two years from now, we will raise funds to complete it. Many of the social amenities here are through community effort. We have about two private hospitals, Offa University is in the offing, we have three private polytechnics fully developed, and Federal Polytechnic, and we also have three Colleges of Education. Without the state government, we are on. Our people are in civil service, it's just that the state government keeps marginalising our people who are qualified to be directors, except the few they gave moribund ministries. We have our links with the Federal Government because at that level, it's a competition. Nobody can block us. What has even been the state government's impact in Offa?

Are you saying since the tenure of Bukola Saraki, the former Kwara State governor, and up till now that the state government has no single project in Offa?

They have some few things and roads, but why our people are not carried away by that was because we know what we deserve. Offa Local Government gets more than N100 million from the federation account monthly. How much is the state government releasing to the council? They just give stipend to the council for workers salary and operations. Offa is one of the 16 local government in Kwara State, the state government deducts millions of naira from its allocation every month, yet our people has not enjoyed pipe-borne water for the past 10 years. Oyun Rivers is close to Offa, the state government has refused to buy generating set to connect them to the drinking water, despite series of complaints.

What machinery are you people putting in place to check rigging in future elections in Offa?

If I have my way, I will want the power to conduct the local government election to be taken away from the state government and given to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in order to reduce the influence of the governors. In future we are going to ensure that the returning officer for Offa Local Government did not run away. If Senator Bukola Saraki is doing this to Offa people, what moral right does he have to accuse the PDP National Chairman, Bamagar Tukur, of bias. With the way we are going, the APC has the capacity to win the governorship in Kwara State. We will do the follow up. We will never surrender to intimidation. Nobody faces Offa without consequences. They will meet their own waterloo sooner or later.  They should allow us be like our brothers in the South West.

Are you saying your people are craving to join their kinsmen in the South West?

Of course, that was the beginning of Offa problem in Kwara State. It was because our people in 1935 led that agitation that was why they poisoned the mind of neighbouring communities against us. If you read the Yoruba history, Offa was part of the governorship province under Alaafin of Oyo. We are descendants of Alaafin. We are his governor in this region. Our province in those days extended to Iwo. We have no business being in the northern part of Nigeria. We should be returned to the South West that is where we belong.  Check out our tribal mark, does it look like that people from the north? We are minority in the north central. Does my generation have hope in Nigeria to vie for the presidency? If I want to stand for presidential election, the northern people will say you are a Yoruba man, the South West people will say you're from the north. That means my generation will remain in pains. If Offa was part of Osun State, I will have the moral justification to use the Yoruba platform to vie for the presidential seat, if I so wish or any of my people do, without any discrimination.  The Ogian people in Ejigbo from Osun State have the same tribal mark with us even though our ancestors are from Igbae. For now, we are like black men working at Buckingham Palace. There is a limit to our aspiration in Nigeria. As it is now, things are now normal. Let all the progressives come together and work for the common good of all and take our destiny into our own hands. No matter the situation, we have to create a structure that will permit everybody to rise to the top and reject a situation where an individual will pocket our future as it is happening presently in Kwara State. We should allow the best person to emerge, irrespective of where the person comes from. Look at China, their population is an advantage. That should work for us in Nigeria, but in Kwara State, a dynasty will not allow equity and justice. That will be rejected.