Professor Mohammed Gani Yisa is the Deputy Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly. In this interview, he speaks with BIOLA AZEEZ on the Saraki dynasty and the politics of 2015 in Kwara. Excerpts:

As a prominent member of the Saraki dynasty, who will you say inherited late Dr Olusola Saraki's political dynasty?

The question is very simple. All of us are in Kwara and we know that if we are talking of Baba Saraki's dynasty, the leadership falls on Dr Bukola Saraki. He has taken a firm control of that dynasty. When you talk about the Saraki dynasty, some people look at his children, but that perception is wrong. We are all members of the dynasty. All those who have benefited from political power, generosity, kindness of Dr Olusola Saraki are members of that dynasty, except those who are ingrates. We are very many and we are expanding the dynasty under the leadership of Dr Bukola Saraki.

How will you describe the leadership style of Senator Bukola Saraki, particularly in relation to a statement credited to one of your kinsmen, Senator Ahmed Zuruq, where he described Saraki as a dictator?

For Honourable Baba Ahmed Zuruq to call Dr Saraki a dictator, I don't think he knows what he was saying and I don’t think the statement should be taken serious. This is somebody, who on a platter of gold, became the Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, through Saraki's dynasty. After serving as Senator for four years, he was again nominated as a federal commissioner in the Revenue mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission for five years. He was the chairman of Nupe Day celebration at Bida, where Dr Bukola Saraki was turbaned as Turakin Raya Kasa. In fact, he was seriously involved in the activities that led to his turban.

Turakin means somebody who is in charge of people, who is relating with the people and making people happy and for this man, who was part of the activities, to now describe him as dictator, I don't think he knows what he is saying. I read the publication you are talking about and he said he decided not to go for second term but that is not true because I am from his constituency. What did he do with his constituency projects? There was an electrification project from Tesongi to Rogun in Patigi Local Government, only the poles were erected. He said he was doing water projects for his people, out of about 23, only the one in front of his house functions.

When he finished his senatorial seat, he left, when he was called for appointment as commissioner in the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, he quickly came back. He later said he did not want to have anything to do with Saraki dynasty. I don't think he has that audacity to make any description of Senator Saraki.

People are insinuating that the impact of Shonga farms has not been felt. As a Professor of Agricultural Engineering, what is your reaction to this?

Those who say Shonga farms have not made any impact on the people don't know what the farms represent and they have not taken time to find out. These farmers were brought to the state to expand agricultural production; to create employment; to bring about technology transfer and to bring about infrastructural development among others.

Infrastructural facilities like electricity, water supply, telecommunication network and others were brought to the farm and its environs. On the issue of technology transfer, as at the time when the farm was established, the farmers were predominantly peasant farmers with farms of about two hectares. But, because of the influence of technology, they farm about 20 hectares now.

The advent of Shonga farms resulted in the establishment of Malete youth training farm. There is real mass production of crops like cassava, soya beans and maize in Shonga farms. There is no other place, where an individual farmer cultivates about 600 hectares, it is only in Shonga farms.

All I am saying is that the milk we drink either powder or liquid form is coming from Shonga farms. If we talk about employment, these farmers employed about 4,000 people at the peak period and they pay monthly wages which is more than monthly income of a local government. These farmers have also succeeded in bringing Fulani cattle breeders on board. So, the multiple effects of Shonga farms and many other commercial farmers to the state cannot be overemphasised.

Is the decision of Senator Bukola Saraki to move to the APC a popular one and what necessitated your defection from the ruling the PDP?

The defection was a joint decision of both the leader and the followers. It was a very popular decision. We had to leave the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because we were fed up with the way the party was being run. We were fed up with the way people at the helms of affairs in the PDP were heading. We were fed up with the way government of the PDP was running the affairs of the country. We were fed up with the dictatorship that was going on in the party.

The PDP was known to be a party, where issues were discussed before final decision would be taken, but as soon as the then national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, assumed office, executive meetings were held; agreements earlier reached were violated and we thought that if the PDP was allowed to continue the way it was doing, this country would be in serious trouble.

We have the issue of insurgency in the Northern part of the country. We have the issues of kidnapping and armed robbery. We felt all these things were happening because the leadership of the country, which the PDP produced, was not doing things the way it should be done. Of course, we also felt that our party then, the PDP, was leading a government that was so corrupt. Some ministers were involved in corrupt practices and the leader of the country seems not to be doing anything serious about reducing corruption.

Before 2011, there were agreements reached, especially as regards the presidential seat. You will recall that President Goodluck Jonathan completed the first tenure of late President Umaru Yar-Adua. Initially, the party said he should only maintain Yar'Adua's tenure. But, after a lot of begging, an agreement was reached that he should contest in 2011 under the condition that he would run only one term. But, as 2015 is approaching, we can see signals that the president will not stand on that agreement. In fact, publicly, he started denying the existence of any agreement. Some of our leaders felt that we should not be associated with such a sitting government.

So, these are some of the reasons that led to the defection from the PDP to the APC. You may recall that the whole thing started at the August last year's mini-convention of the PDP. What happened there was open to the people of Nigeria. Some of our party executives were said not to have been properly elected and that was what necessitated the mini-convention. And there were agreements that all these people be properly elected through a mini-convention because they were popular candidates. But, at the convention arena, some of these people were no more candidates because their names had been short-listed. In fact, delegates brought by states were denied entrance into the convention and we felt that the democratic party was becoming a party of one or two people. That was among the reasons why we left the party.