Kwara State All Progressives Congress (APC) Secretary Prince Yemi Afolayan spoke on the Ahmed Administration, the activities of the party and the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP)’s struggle for relevance in the state. ADEKUNLE JIMOH met him.

There were allegations that candidates were imposed during the recent APC ward, local government and state congress. What is your reaction?

I feel sorry for those who made that allegation. If they follow the political history of Kwara State, they would know that those of us who moved with our leaders from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) have moved with the election winning machinery that we inherited from the late Dr Olusola Saraki.

And when we moved to the APC, we moved with 193 councillors, elected 16 local government council chairmen, 22 members of the House of Assembly, all state, local government and ward executives. By the time we left the PDP there, was none left. For anybody to get up and say party executives were imposed in APC, the person has just woken up from the wrong side of the bed. In any case, who has complained? People at the venue of the congress saw genuine joy on the faces of the delegates that came and there was a loud ovation. So, there is nothing like imposition.

How will the APC react to the zoning of the governorship from Kwara Central to another zone in 2015?

The PDP, as far as we are concerned, is a finished party. When we moved, there was nothing left and, because there was no person of substance that was left, that was why they went and brought one Solomon Edojah to come and steer the ship of what was left in the PDP. Then, if there was anybody left, they could have picked that person. Then, the PDP started groping its way in darkness. That also snowballed when President Goodluck Jonathan came to Kwara. The national headquarters of the PDP did not know they did not have anybody. They even went ahead calling our telephone numbers as if we were still with them. They called several times; the National Women Leader of PDP called the state women leader, who moved to the APC to help organise people to take Ankara for them, not knowing that there was nobody of substance left. They came to Kwara disappointed and that informed their decision to hire people, Jews and Gentiles from neighbouring states, to fill the Metropolitan Park, just to receive President Jonathan. Today, as I tell you, anywhere they pick their candidate from, certainly, they have lost Kwara.

For instance, our leader, Senator Bukola Saraki, in his normal routine visit not too long ago on a weekend, was received by a huge crowd. He had to trek from the airport to the Emir’s palace. This is somebody that has the control of the party, the people and government. When the PDP says it is picking its governorship candidate from the Central for one particular reason or the other, it shows that it is living in a fool’s paradise.

In 2011, two governorship candidates came from the Central; Senator Gbemisola Saraki of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) and Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN) of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). At that time, our leaders picked Abdulfatah Ahmed from Kwara South and won with landslide victory. So, I don’t see any reason why anybody should lose sleep on the PDP picking candidates from anywhere, even when the PDP leaders are in disarray.

Are you saying that Ilorin people will not vote for one of them, if a party decides pick its governorship candidate from there?

What we are saying is that there is loyalty to Senator Bukola Saraki; there is loyalty to the APC in Kwara Central. Come rain, come sunshine, the people will vote for the party of their choice, which is the APC that is doing wonderfully well in the state. Because the APC is in government now, it is in charge and control and the people love what the government is doing. It is not a question of whether Ilorin people love or hate their own. What goes around comes around.

But, the PDP claims that Governor Ahmed has underperformed..

I like that word “claim” because it is very difficult to wake up somebody who is not sleeping. The PDP chieftains claiming that Governor Ahmed is not performing are either blind or they cannot hear. Otherwise, they would have seen that the governor has built on the performance of his predecessor and the unprecedented development going in every senatorial district is unequalled to any they could think about. If they say that he is not performing, it is giving a dog bad name so as to hang it.

Abdulfatah Ahmed has renovated the General Hospitals in Ilorin, Offa, Omu-Aran, Kaiama and Share. Apart from that, there are several basic health centres across the state that have been massively renovated and equipped.In the education sector, over 450 classrooms have been built and renovated by Governor Ahmed and the opening of rural roads is there. There is the supply of transformers across the state. 70 percent of the communities now enjpoy electricity. The PDP chieftains are talking with their tongues in the cheek.

Some people in the PDP have said that Dr. Saraki won the previous elections because of the support of the Federal Government and that the situation will change next year…

When they talk of the federal might, it amuses me because anybody who hasn’t got the people cannot get votes. The Abuja people are not coming to Kwara to vote. They are talking about the Federal Government bringing finances. Look at the Federal Government that is corruption-ridden. Some of its ministers are enmeshed in one corrupt case or the other and the government has lost credibility. You are talking about the federal might, a government that has no shame, a government that is sitting down doing nothing and secondary school girls are being abducted by the Islamist sect, the Boko Haram. A government that has no sense of security. Is it the government that will come to us in Kwara where there is peace and harmony? They can’t disturb the peace of Kwara. Even, when they come with political gangsterism, we will not allow that to happen. The Federal might has nothing to do with the election when people come out to vote for who they want. The PDP that is talking about the federal might is still living in yesteryears.

Is the APC not threatened by the decision of three former governorship candidates and a billionaire businesswoman, who is very close to the Presidency, to fight it at the poll?

I like that combination. It is an amalgam of people who are failures. The billionaire you have just mentioned does not even know where Marafa-Pepele is talking about politics of Kwara. This is somebody who is completely out of touch with the state.

A business person invests his money where it will yield returns. I am made to understand that that business person has invested so much that, even for the presidential rally they did in Kwara, the party is yet to pay her back. So, would she now put her money into bottomless pit? Anybody who spends his money on the PDP in Kwara is putting his money on bottomless pit and will never have a reward. So, we are not threatened. Who are the governorship candidates? Gbemisola Saraki, Mohammed Dele Belgore and Abdulrahaman Abdulrasaq. All of them put together have failed before and they will fail again.

What is the plan of the APC for Kwara in 2015?

TheAPC government will be a continuation of the foundation of development that was laid by Senator Bukola Saraki. Before 2003, the state used to be a civil service state. But, since the advent of Dr Bukola Saraki’s governorship endeavour, the state has changed.  The state has now become the commercial nerve centre of the North Central geo-political zone. People are coming to Kwara because it is a state of harmony. The commercial life is springing up every day and job opportunities now abound. In 2015, the government of the APC will make life more abundantly meaningful to Kwarans.

Critics have also said that the Saraki dynasty is fond of fielding candidates who are not popular in their domain…

The Saraki dynasty does not have penchant for picking politicians who are not popular in their areas. The first qualification, second and third in politics is loyalty.

What happened to Senator Simeon Ajibola, who is described by some people as a sleeping senator, was because of his loyalty to Oloye, not because he was popular or better. For the insignificant people we left in the PDP, actually, we have not lost anything. Some of them have been coming back and we accept them because, when they go, we don’t feel it. When we left, the national headquarters of the PDP felt it as the house became empty in Ilorin. Then, they went and took an office in Zango area of the town. If you know the history of the building, nobody has ever occupied it and did well. Even, a good restaurant was put there and it failed. They have failed by picking an office that is synonymous with failure. The APC is comfortable. We are on course. Nobody died during our congresses as we don’t believe in political rascality