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Immediate past Chief of Staff to
Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Elder
PeterAdebayo Babalola (Peter Power) has
been nursing ambition to become the
Governor of Osun state come 2011 under
the platform of Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP). In this interview with newsmen in
Oshogbo recently where he declared that
the time is ripe for him to occupy the
exalted position after being pressurized
to step down. Our correspondent, SEFIU
AYANBIMPE was there, excerpts:
Q: Having served as commissioner under
the military and later Chief of
staff to the incumbent governor for
seven years, one expects you to be
contented. Why do you want to contest
again?
A: I thank God for everything. I
served as a commissioner for two years
under the military and I served as the
Chief of Staff under Governor
Oyinlola for good seven years. I want to
serve just for continuity sake.
Governor Oyinlola has done wonderfully
well and my party, the PDP has
appreciated what is on ground as a
politician, you don’t want whatever you
believe is good to stop and I want to
build on the foundation laid by Gov.
Oyinlola it is a task that must be done
by my party and that is why I’m
seeking the ticket on the platform of
PDP.
Q: What are the programmes you have
for the people of the state?
A: Talking on education which is our
industry in the state, we believe
that people should be well educated. We
have to start from primary to
tertiary institutions, all our
institutions should be well overhauled
and
the teachers would be motivated. In
terms of agriculture, without food, man
cannot survive. I would pursue
agriculture vigorously, in terms of
inputs,
fertilizer and rural road, we are going
to open up more roads in the rural
areas so that our farmers can bring
their farm produce to the market where
they would sell them. The free trade
zone will be opened to the farmers and
the inputs for agriculture will go
“parri passu” with the Free Trade Zone
so
that our farmers will bring their yams,
cassava, banana and tomatoes to the
Free Trade Zone where they would be
displayed in the zone.
In the area of Health, everybody knows
definitely that health is wealth ,we
will stock our hospitals with drugs and
the medical personnel including
doctors, nurses, pharmacists and others
would be motivated. But in all, in
Osun State as I have promised all
workers whether in the state public
service, local government and others
would be motivated. I’m one of them
because I am a unionist, I will ensure
that their salaries are paid latest
on the 28th of every month and you have
to be retrained and improve, so
there won’t be any dull moment. All
workers in Osun State, I believe would
put in their maximum contributions to
improve the economy of the state.
Q: You have been in government for quite
sometime precisely since 1997, what
challenges in your own opinion are we
facing the state?
A: Honestly, I have not been in the
government continuously for the past
thirteen years. I was the commissioner
for agriculture between 1997 and 1999
and I was Chief of Staff to Governor
Oyinlola between 2003 and 2010. I was
not in government between May 1999 and
May 2003.
Challenges? Well, Osun is a civil
service state. There is no industry.
Everybody in the state is more or less
like public servants and that is
affecting our internally generated
revenue (IGR) but today, Osun State is
sitting on gold. So, what stops us from
tapping the gold? We have to thank
God and thank Governor Oyinlola’s
administration; he secured all the
licenses from the Federal Government. I
will want a situation whereby Osun
State will be taking derivation fund
like what is happening to Delta and
other Oil producing states.
We will pursue that vigorously and I
promise that within twelve months of
our administration, that gold has to be
tapped. It is just a matter of
encouraging companies that have the
technicalities of how to mine the gold.
Then another thing is to encourage small
scale industries to spring up
because we are very lucky in Osun State
most especially, Osogbo where we
have stable power supply. Electricity is
available if not 24/7 we can say at
least 24/6. That one will encourage
entrepreneurship and many small scale
industries will spring up.
Then, we will also guarantee security
because when there is security of life
and properties, people would have rest
of mind and definitely trade would
flourish.
Q: Eighteen of you are in the
gubernatorial race in Osun State. What
advantage or edge do you think you have
over others?
A: Well all of us in the race are
qualified to contest the governorship.
You
don’t say you have edge over others, I
think whoever God ordains will get it
at the end of the day and I believe only
God can do it. When you say you
have a programme, other aspirants too
have programmes. Although, some are
well prepared while others are not
prepared, it is only God that knows the
person who will get it. But for me, it
is not a do or die affair. I’m
prepared to serve my people, if they
give me their mandate and give me a go
ahead, good but if they say no, it is
still okay, I am a businessman, I have
my business still flourishing, I’m
surviving and I thank God, then I will
go
on with my business and I am praying for
long life. I only want to offer my
service to my community and to the
people of my state because I have
programme that will benefit the people.
Well, out of 18 aspirants, God would
ordain whoever he thinks would serve the
state well. But out of the 18
aspirants, I’m well known in the state
and people know that I have the
ability and capability to deliver the
goods and I’m going to be a governor
with a difference to do what the people
of the state want and what will make
the state to progress.
Q: Zoning of the governorship position
is a problem which the party is
facing in Osun. People are claiming that
the position has been zoned to a
particular area. Has this been resolved?
A: Zoning has not been a problem; the
PDP, our party has come out on the
zoning. The governorship position has
been zoned to Osun West and Osun East
senatorial districts and that is why all
the aspirants are from the two
zones. Two of us are from the West
senatorial zone and the two of us are
well qualified for the job. Somebody who
has served as SSG for seven years
is qualified and myself who has served
as Chief of Staff for seven years is
also qualified too. If Governor Oyinlola
is going after serving for eight
years, he doesn’t need to prepare any
handing over note. It is continuity.
The most perfect thing to do to ensure
that continuity is to either hand
over to the SSG or chief of staff. But
as I have told you, only God can
ordain a candidate.
Q: As a former commissioner for
agriculture under the military, what can
you
point to as your major achievement?
A: I was a commissioner for agriculture
between 1997 and 1999 during
military administration. Osun State can
remember that, that was the only
ministry that was generating revenue for
the state. Before I became a
commissioner, the monthly revenue for
that ministry was between two or three
million naira a month. But the very
month I came, the monthly internally
generated revenue jumped to N14 million
and consequently before I left in
May 1999 the IGR of that ministry was
N23 million a month and that was the
highest record generated by any ministry
of government at that time in the
history of Osun State. Even, the salary
of workers in Osun State at that
time was N42 million, it was only that
ministry of agriculture at that time
that built its own secretariat built
through the efforts of my friends and
myself and that ministry of agriculture
then ;which is being used today as
offices by the State Teaching Service
Commission (TESCOM) and the
Agricultural Development Programme (ADP)
prompted the former governor of the
state, Chief Bisi Akande to construct
the state secretariat at Abere with
Red Brick which we used for the
construction of the ministry of
agriculture.
The Red brick used for the state
secretariat was a replica of my own
ministry of agriculture.
Q: Have you received the blessing of
traditional rulers in the support of
your gubernatorial ambition?
A: Yes they are fathers of all. I think,
I have been to nearly everyone of
them. They prayed, they blessed me and
wish me well in my endeavours. The
support they are giving me is very
encouraging.
Q: Your party, the PDP in its effort to
strengthen internal democracy
insisted that it will conduct primary
elections to choose its candidates.
Are you in support of going for primary
election?
A: A politician must be in support of
going for primary election. Anybody
telling you that he has been adopted is
a lazy person and is not popular.
Although, adoption doesn’t come
overnight as the candidate must be
popular
but yet, you must be ready to go into
primary election to assert your
popularity.
Q: Will you step down for any candidate
if people that matter and leaders in
your party ask you to step down for a
candidate?
A: It depends on who you are asked to
step down for. In 2003 when PDP had
not come to power in Osun, everybody
knows Peter Power as a PDP man since
2001. I was privileged to be one of
those who woke up PDP and worked for the
party in Osun and in 2003 when
providence had it that I should step
down for
Prince Oyinlola to go and learn and be
move matured in governance I stepped
down for Governor Oyinlola and I was the
Chief of Staff for seven years,
would you said again that I should step
down? Step down for who? I believe
this is my time and this is God’s time
and this is why my programme is God’s
own project, true I believe that the PDP
leaders will ask all others to step
down for Peter Babalola by this time
around and this will be by the special
grace of Almighty God.
Q: What advice do you have for other co
– contestants?
A: To everybody, let there be internal
democracy which Mr. President is
advocating. Let there be transparency
treat everybody equally, don’t create
special interest in one person and give
everybody level playing field. If
anyone is chosen and if there is no hide
and seek game, everybody will be
happy at the end of the day. We are now
18 contestants and all the 18 cannot
occupy a seat at the same time but if it
is open, everyone will be happy and
will support the candidate. PDP is our
party and collectively we are going
to build it since we have no other place
to go.
Q: Recently, the election petition
tribunal delivered its judgment on the
retrial of 2007 gubernatorial election
and governor Oyinlola emerged
victorious. The opposition has gone on
appeal and even recently Governor
Oyinlola also filed an appeal on the
case inspite of the fact that the
judgment favoured him well, we are
moving to the end of the tenure. What
advice do you have for the opposition
and even Governor Oyinlola?
A: Well, everybody is exercising his own
right. After the judgment has been
delivered, opposition went to appeal and
the appellate court ordered a
retrial which had been done and they
have gone on another appeal now and
this is the final appeal now and
judgment will also be delivered. All
what I
can advice is that we should accept the
verdict of the court. And like
Governor Oyinlola’s tenure, I believe it
is ordained by God and for the past
three years people have been challenging
it without success. Why can’t they
accept God’s verdict?
Q: The next general election will hold
in the country in a few months times
what advice do you have for co –
politicians?
A: What I can tell everybody now is to
come out and sell their programmes of
your party to the electorate. This is
the time to tell the people what your
party has in stock for them. Tell them
how the state, local government and
the nation will move forward. This is
the appropriate time to tell them.
This is the time to prepare. People
either fail to prepare or prepare to
fail. Our party is preparing now. People
are not on the ground now, they are
still chasing 2007 elections in court,
so, they are preparing again for
failure in 2011 elections because people
don’t know them and they are not
yet prepared to tell the people what
programmes they have for them. If your
programmes are acceptable, they will
vote for you and if not they will throw
you out.
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