In this interview with Bankole Taiwo, the Publicity Secretary of the Ogun State All Progressives Congress and the state governor’s Senior Media Consultant, Tunde Oladunjoye, speaks on the 2023 governorship election among other issues

Almost nine months after the 2023 governorship election in the state, what’s your general assessment of the situation of things?

Glory be to God for the continuity of democratic governance despite some political shenanigans. The government of the APC has continued its provision of legacy projects and good governance for the people of Ogun State. The Ogun Agro Cargo Airport is nearing actual commercialization; its quality and safety have been attested to by all and sundry and it has provided passage for eminent personalities, including the Vice-President, Senator Kassim Shettima, and Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The Buhari Estate abandoned by the immediate past administration is being actualized. On education, SUBEB is building and rehabilitating more schools and providing more infrastructure arising from counterpart funding of the state government. The 2024 budget has been submitted and that signals more infrastructure and dividends of democracy on the way. At the same time, the government, during the second term, is looking at improved power supply and legacy projects like the Olokola seaport project and the Kajola dry port project, among others. Road construction continues; Ilaro-Owode Road is almost completed. Ogun State emerged as the first state to convert vehicles to CNG in the whole country. And an initiative that happened even before the removal of the fuel subsidy by the federal government. The good works continue progressively.

For some time now, there has been disturbing news about security breaches in the state like the armed robbery, raping, and killing of students in the tertiary institutions, the height of it was the November 29 murder of the Director of Finance and Accounts attached to Governor Dapo Abiodun’s office. Is the ruling party worried?

As a responsible party like, we are worried. As of today, Ogun State is the number one investment destination of choice in Nigeria. Ogun State is adjudged one of the most peaceful, if not the most peaceful state, in Nigeria. We are the education capital of Nigeria. All these did not happen by wishful thinking. It is a result of hard work and thorough initiatives of the Dapo Abiodun administration. So, anything and anyone or group that threatens security in Ogun State is a challenge to all of us and for which we must not play petty politics. The current administration has been up and doing and has invested a lot in strengthening the security architecture of the state.

The Ogun State Security Trust Fund which was reconfigured by the governor has been of tremendous assistance and has increased synergy between various security agencies. The governor at the beginning of this administration bought patrol vehicles fitted with modern communication gadgets, motorcycles, and bulletproof vests among others, which were distributed to the security agencies to boost the security apparatus in the state. There has also been an additional provision of armoured personnel carriers. So, the government is not leaving anything to chance. Just last week, those criminals terrorising the students in Gateway Polytechnic, Saapade were arrested. The governor has vowed that those who perpetrated the dastardly act of murdering the late Director of Finance and Accounts will be pursued and brought before the law. And speaking of violence cheekily mentioned by the PDP, it is on record that a sitting House of Assembly member of the PDP was arrested with armed and wanted cultists at his official residence. That was after the lawmaker was alleged to have ignited the crises that led to the burning of banks and other multi-million naira facilities in Sagamu early this year during the cash-crunch challenge. The good thing is that the present administration is on top of the situation and has resolved that criminals will have no place in Ogun State.

The 2023 PDP governorship candidate in the state, Oladipupo Adebutu in a recent interview said he decided to remain in the UK where he had gone to receive medical attention after the general elections due to threats to his life. How do you react to this?

“Dey play o!”; that’s the social media slang that I will use to reply to the defeated governorship candidate of the PDP”. The truth is that he is running away from the law. Recently, the PDP itself, in a press statement on Friday, December 8, 2023, acknowledged that five of its members were being tried for vote-buying at the state’s High Court, Abeokuta, presided over by Justice Kehinde Akinyemi. The party said they were caught with 52 ATM cards and the PDP agent cards on the day of the governorship and House of Assembly elections. However, the party did not mention the name written on the ATM cards. So, you will then realize why Ladi Adebutu is still on his so-called “medical vacation” since April 2023. He is afraid of his shadow. We also know too well that he is running away from being arraigned alongside other members of his party. If he claims otherwise, the best way to prove us wrong is to buy a ticket and board the next available flight home. It is a classic case of the guilty being afraid.

The former federal lawmaker expressed his reservations about the judgments passed by the tribunal and the Appeal Court on his petition over the 2023 governorship election in the state. He expressed a very convincing hope of the PDP returning to powers after the Supreme Court judgment, what do you have to say on this?

He is a serial litigant. You would recollect the number of litigations in their party before he snatched the party’s ticket. We don’t expect him to do less. This is someone who thinks money can do anything. He went to the tribunal and we won unanimously. He proceeded to the appeal court and lost. After their initial infantile celebration of the minority judgment, we educated them that minority judgment is not the judgment of the court, and they started abusing the judges. Ladi said on national television that the judgment of the tribunal was a “joke” and that the Appeal Court judges were “perverse”! Can you imagine that? That is someone who had dreamt of being a governor of Ogun State. A dissenting judgment, however articulate, is not the judgment of the Court and therefore not binding.

The judgment of the court is the majority judgment which is binding as decided in Orugbo v Una in year 2002. To even worsen their case, the reliefs granted by the dissenting judge were not even sought by the appellants, the PDP and Adedibu, in their dismissed appeal. Perhaps they are not diligent enough to have studied the dissenting judgment vis-a-bid their grounds of appeal. What I know is that the court is not a Father Christmas. One wonders which mandate is he even claiming to have been given to him when the people rejected him. The electoral umpire confirmed the victory of the APC and its candidate, and the Court of First Instance and the Appeal Court have all affirmed the re-election of Prince Dapo Abiodun as Governor of Ogun State.

What is your take on the opposition’s strong opinion that the APC government has done little or nothing to make life more rewarding for the people?

What do you expect them to say? That’s the kind of opposition the Ogun PDP plays. See nothing good and say nothing good. That’s a party that cannot even resolve its decades-old internal contradictions, right from the era of General Ike Nwachukwu Panel.

The man called Lado in an interview said private companies will build roads in Ogun State for him as governor! Is that not laughable? He has no idea of governance and we thank the Ogun people for rejecting him at the polls.

As we move into the new year 2024, what is on the horizon for the people of Ogun State?

Ogun people should expect the continuation of good governance under the leadership of an Omoluwabi governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun. A dedicated and hardworking governor with a genuine interest in his people and not a talkative governor who walks about aimlessly or one who fights for everything and everybody.

culled from Punchng.com