Saki-born Nigeria’s communications minister, Barr. Adebayo Shittu has said that he is confident of enjoying support from Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, when he aspires to govern the state in 2019.
According to Shittu, in an exclusive interview with The Nation, the fact that Ibadan people didn’t vote for him in previous elections does not mean they won’t vote for him in 2019.
He added that contrary to previous elections when the people of Ibadan mobilised for their own sons, they have changed.
Making a veiled reference to the incumbent Governor Abiola Ajimobi, he noted: “I mean people change a lot. Initially people were saying Omo Ibadan ni e je o se (Only an Ibadan indigene should govern) but now in Ibadan they are saying Ajumobi o’kan tanu (Kindness has nothing to do with kinship).”
On the agitation of the people of Okeogun for power shift, he explained that: “First, let me say that I am a very objective person. I want to look at it from various perspectives. Oyo has linguistically speaking about four zones. It has the Ibadan, Ogbomoso, Oyo and Oke-Ogun with the Ibarapa as the fifth. Ibadan has 11 local government areas. Oke-Ogun has 10, Ogbomoso has five, Oyo has four while Ibarapa has three.
“Over the years, particularly after the late Bola Ige, most governors have come from Ibadan. It was by accident of fate that an Ogbomoso became governor once. So, a lot of people feel that there must rotation and since the Ibadan have done it about three times, it should go to the next zone in terms of size of the number of local government areas.
“Of course, you must also realise that in terms of quantum of votes, Ibadan has always produced 52 percent. Oke-Ogun produces 18 percent and you see the wide difference. But it is a good argument, which got a lot of fillips recently because the Ibadan didn’t vote for APC candidate only but also Ladoja of Accord Party.
“It was the votes of Oke-Ogun that saved the day for APC and Governor Abiola Ajimobi. That is why even the governor said, for once, it should be the turn of Oke-Ogun because of what the zone did.”
Shittu affirmed that whether it was true or not that Ajimobi promised to reciprocate the political gesture of the zone by supporting one of its sons, he said: ”… Well, the fact is that he said it and it can be referred to. Whether it is true or not does not matter. But the truth also is, for me, as a person since I am one of the front-liners from the zone, I don’t want to become governor only for Oke-Ogun.
“That would be demeaning to my status as the most experienced and connected among the aspirants. I am also the oldest politician among the aspirants. For me, I feel that for once Oke-Ogun now has somebody who is more capable and qualified than any other person. I believe I will easily beat others during the primaries.
“So, for me it is not about where I hail from but bridges one has built over the years. I have always boasted about my robust relationship with the Ibadan people over the last 38 years.”
He went further to explain that it is not strange to see crowd when something is good, adding that “There are always aspirants, claimants, pretenders and all that but then when the chips are down; we would separate the chaffs from the wheat. There are so many people that have never held any political post or office yet they want to be governors. They have never been council chairmen, member of the State Assembly, Commissioner or Minister yet they are laying claims to the governor’s seat.
“You won’t deny them the freedom to make claims to that which they may not have the competence or capacity to do. That is why we would have a primary election at the appropriate time and people would be allowed to choose the most competent person as candidate.
He expressed confidence that he would succeed Ajimobi, assuring that “In fact, when people ask me if I am contesting, I get pissed off. If you have a child that went to Primary School and did so well, move to Secondary school and did so well, will you ask if he will go to the University? Among all the aspirants, I am the only one who qualified as a lawyer in 1979. I became a member of the Oyo House of Assembly from 1979-1983 where I was the most dynamic and visible.
“In 1983, I became Commissioner for Home Affairs, Information and Culture. In 2007, I became Attorney General for the State. In 2011 and 2015, I contested the governorship and today I am a Minister. Who other person has one quarter of what I have?
“So I don’t see how the competition will be a tough one really by the grace of God.”
He also said that it is normal for two brothers to have conflict, adding that “For me, I don’t hold grudges against anybody. He is my governor and leader of our party in the state. I am expecting to take over from him. So, we cannot afford not to be friends.
“I know that Governor Ajimobi and I have come a long way since 2007. We have been brothers and will remain so. Of course, in every relationship, there would be conflicts.
“I think appeared like a case of our discordance is the fact that we are coming from two different political backgrounds. He is from defunct ACN while I came from the defunct CPC. So, we had disagreements as to the composition of the party’s state executives then,” he explained.
