Honourable Saka Lawal is the deputy governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the governorship election in Ondo State taking place Saturday, next week. In this interview with Yinka Oladoyinbo, he speaks on the chances of the party in the election, among other issues.YOU served in Governor OlusegunMimiko's cabinet as a keymember. At what point did you fall out with him'From the third month in that cabinet, I knew our chemistry would not gel. The truth is you do not know the true complexion of people until you see them occupying powerful offices. I mean, we were all rabid about his ambition to be governor because we thought it was an opportunity to inject fresh idea and create a new platform for progressive governance. But in the end, it was the worst experience of our lives. Let me tell you the truth: none of those in Mimiko's cabinet is happy today. They are all complaining and each time they creep in in the night to open or continue discussions with us, I tell them I understand and we exchange knowing glances.Look, throughout the 22 months I served in the cabinet as Dr Mimiko's Special Adviser, no one knew how much was coming into the state; no one knew how contracts were awarded, not even commissioners in charge of ministries. Some of us could not stand a government of one man or a tin god. Only he knew how much a contract was to be awarded for and which contractor was getting what. It is on record that I asked questions on the very floor of the cabinet chambers about these anomalies. The next day, the council was dissolved. Let me tell you, by March 2013, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will be busy in Ondo State.But how is your party, the PDP, coping with the perception problem generally attached to it'The PDP has no perception problem in Ondo State. In fact, it has perception advantage. See, you don't go to the market to announce to the people, a falling rain. Everyone in the market sees the rain; they know the intensity and they know its capability. One who is a hero is the one who is providing shade and succour to the people. Let me tell you, virtually everyone in my state is in opposition to bad governance, yahoo-yahoo leadership and promise and fail. The point is that the PDP and Chief Olusola Oke are the face of the opposition and hope in Ondo State and there is no one who can prove it better than me. I was in the Labour Party (LP) from the beginning and I served for 22 months in that government and now I am the deputy governorship candidate of the PDP. The PDP is reaping the fruits of its diligent service to the people in the past.So far, we have received not less than one million people into the party. I mean, I have toured all the 18 local government areas and all the 203 wards of the state with my boss and leader, Chief Oke, candidate of our party. We were never selling the party; honestly, we were just keying into people's frustration and desperation to get out of servitude.The state government is reeling out a plethora of incredible achievements as it goes out to campaign to the people. Aren't you intimidated by these'The tigritude of the tiger consists not in self-praise or market shout; it is the ample bones of the deer and buffalo, the cow and zebra that portend that a tiger once passed by a place. Everyone knows this government is a gamesman. In spite of the over N600 billion collected from the Federation Account since 2009, what is there for the people to see' We have a government which is campaigning for a second term without a single road commissioned in the first term. This is a government which promised a multipurpose events centre called the Dome within three months of being in office, but up till now cannot account for either N1.5 billion or any physical structure called the Dome anywhere in Ondo State. The government promised a gigantic maternity hospital in every local government area of the state, but it has been celebrating just one three-ward clinic built in Akure in these three years, whereas the chairman of Mushin Local Government Area in Lagos commissioned seven in one day.This is a government which promised a mega school in each local government area, but which has only constructed four in three local government areas in nearly four years, and yet none is functioning up till now; a government which repaired less than 100 metres failed portion of Ogbese' Owo Road for N127 million; a government under which state specialist hospitals could not pay Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) bills and were cut off the national grid for upwards of six months; a government without elected local government managers for four years; a government of neighbourhood markets, water fountains and roundabouts. I can go on.But Governor Mimiko described the PDP as a finished party and your ticket with Chief Oke as clueless and hopeless...The Bible describes the devil as the father of perdition. The current tenants of the Alagbaka Government House know that the game is over. Let me tell you their game. They seize the public by the jugular by suggesting some nationalistic sentiment, whereas it is a strategy of deceiving and enslaving the people. They tell the people they are fighting for their rights but, in the end, they rape the people and enslave them. The people are no fools; the people know which party gave them 1, 200 kilometres of roads. They know who gave them 400 blocks of six classrooms. The teachers know who gave them the best training facilities and promotion without tears. They know who gave them Olokola Free Trade Zone capable of employing 200,000 youths of this state, as well as the Ondo State University of Technology. Ikale, Ilaje and Ijaw people know who gave them the Alape Bridge, the Aboto Bridge, the Igbokoda'Ayetoro Seaside Road, which was the first time anyone would ever drive a vehicle to those sides.They know who gave their children bursaries without tears. They know who established the popular Sunshine Honey Factory, the sericulture project, the Cassava Processing Industry capable of processing over 400 tonnes of cassava daily. Even the governor knows this and he is putting up a strong face. The game is up; the plane has overshot the tarmac, the end has come for grandstanding, ineptitude and window-dressing.What is your view concerning the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)'s readiness for the election'First, we believe that INEC must do all within its power to make this election free and fair and, so far, we have no reason to complain. If INEC can deliver on all measures it has promised so far, then I will say we are ready for a credible election. Two, the electorate must also do all within their powers to make their votes count by voting according to their conscience. The security agencies must be alive to their responsibilities and must show impartiality and forthrightness. Now, I know this last count has always been the albatross of Nigerian elections. I also know that this is the absolute hope of our opponents. They intend to exploit the Nigerian factor by subverting the security agencies and then have their ways in perpetrating all the electoral fraud. If the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and National Security Adviser (NSA) want elections to count, then they must insulate themselves from all forms of compromise to political interests.I believe in President Goodluck Jonathan's deliberate efforts to make elections count in this country. Even if that is all he achieves in his tenure, Nigeria will never forget him. Ondo State is known to be very volatile and this is on account of the political sophistication of the people. The president must take particular interest in the election, as it would count, either, way for him in the international community. You know the greatest coup against bad governance is the thumb of the people, while the greatest coup against the people by the army or police is compromising the electoral process. We pray that will never happen.The PDP in Ondo State is enmeshed in crisis. Don't you think this can have a negative effect on the party'There is absolutely no bickering within the PDP system that i know. The ingredients for this are just not there. Yes there have been fifth columnists, who like Judas Iscariot, have made themselves available for the panicky incumbent to destabilise the party. Because of their perpetually precarious economic situation they have decided to take the perilous job of going into the lair to count the teeth of a hungry Lion. Yes, some of these elements want to stay within the party and work against it. But with a man like Chief Olusola Oke who radiates confidence, love and promise for our party system, I think bickering is a thing of the past.Let me tell you in plain terms what I see every day in this party. I see the urge to serve, eyes on change and muscles already working an Ondo State that works. Everywhere in the world, democracy works when there are options and options have always been the harbinger of the best decisions. Our party have an internal system that fosters unity. Those who seek to harvest discord and bickering in PDP are already biting their fingers. I am telling you.
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