The Ekiti State Coordinator, Tinubu/Shettima Grassroots Independent Campaign Council, GICC, Prince Akintade Olayisade, former SUBEB Chairman, former Chairman, Public Works Corporation and member, Governing Council, University of Calabar, in this interview with our correspondent, reacts to the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the President-elect in February, 25, 2023 Presidential Election in Nigeria.
Can you bare your mind on the outcome of the last Presidential/National Assembly elections?
We thank God for mercy and grace. It could only be God. APC went to the election as a party intact. No hanky-panky, no acrimony, no crisis and no factions. But the government policy was against the candidature of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu at that material time. Am talking about the issue of fuel scarcity and the issue of Naira swapping. Some people might say it’s a good idea and a welcome development for us to change our currency at interval, but it came at a wrong time and this seriously worked against our party. So it wouldn’t be out of way to say that it was the personality of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu that won the election, not the party as APC. It’s a sweet victory. The votes of the people counted. For the very first time, there had never been an election that is as transparent as this 2023 Presidential and National Assembly Elections.
Assessing the election, what are the factors that influenced the voting pattern in favour of your Principal?
In my opinion, I was expecting that the election would be landslide. I never envisaged for a minute that we would only win in twelve States out of the thirty-six States of the Federation including the Federal Capital Territory. Even though, we have 25% in twenty-six of the States which is quite okay. So, my own opinion as I said earlier was that the election if not because of fuel scarcity, Naira scarcity, because some people that supposed to travel home and vote couldn’t go because they didn’t get money. So it caused voters apathy. In a country where ninety-three million registered and they only recorded about twenty-six million votes, it’s not too encouraging.
Some people have raised issues about the election including the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, writing a letter that there were flaws and that the election should be annulled. Do you see merit on that or what’s your take on it sir?
Obasanjo, like others have said and I am repeating, does not have any moral justification to talk about election rigging in Nigeria, because he midwived the worst election in the history of this country if not the whole world. He came out openly to say it’s DO or DIE. “I would win the election anyhow“. And the man, Alhaji Musa Ya’dua, of blessed memory, the former President of Nigeria, was a man of conscience. He came out and confessed that the election that produced him was faulty, was fraudulent. The man said so. So Obasanjo as we all know is a stormy Petrel. He’s not really a leader or someone that you could dissipate your energy in listening to because it’s out of envy. He knows that the election was quite okay. Deep down in him, he knows but he cannot but talk for obvious reasons; Obasanjo does not want any Yoruba man to be at the helms of Affairs of this country. If you are playing a game with him, if you beat him to that game, you will become his enemy. There are only two people in this world as far as Obasanjo is concerned, Obasanjo and others. So he could hardly see anything good in other people. If you go by the antecedents, he tried all that is humanly possible in making sure that he derailed the government of Asiwaju Tinubu as Lagos State Governor then. But heaven did not permit. So the complaint of Obasanjo is not legitimate.
Sir, now that the election has been won and lost, and the winner basking in euphoria and losers writhing in pains, what’s your message to the winner as well as the losers?
As far as the election is concerned, there’s no winner, there’s no vanguish. Nigeria is the winner. Our country is the winner. Democracy is the winner. It’s not a particular party because Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu will govern all over Nigeria irrespective of the party affiliation, creed, religion, ethnic or tribal. Even if we are being joyful, we must moderate it. It’s not about one people joyful and others are not joyful. No. It’s Nigeria. We have to have a leader at a time. So Nigeria has won for one reason. For the very first time in the history of Nigeria since 1960, this is the first time that we have gotten a business-oriented man at the helms of affair in Nigeria.
Looking at the election especially the Obi’s factor, he got over six million votes. Were you surprised at his performance in the election?
I was surprised. I must be sincere with you. But before the conclusion of the whole exercise, I started ruminating over what must have happened and I came out with these factors. Firstly, primordial ethnic factor. If you see the voting patterns, that’s not Nigeria that we are praying for. Quite unfortunate that it happened that way. It has to be corrected. We must learn how to see good in other people. Secondly, primordial religion sentiment. It’s quite disheartening that Obi traversed the nooks and crannies of this country, went from one church to the other, telling them as if Tinubu has committed heinous crime by having Muslim-Muslim as his running mate. So the Preachers all over churches were telling the the congregations not to vote Muslim-Muslim, that they are evil. The end will justify the means. One of the things that we achieved in this election was that after this, religion is not going to be a major issue if it’s going to be an issue at all in our body polity. All we are yearning for is good governance. Whoever that can give it, so be it. It’s not about religion. Leave religion to churches and mosques. But religion in politics was quite pronounced to the point that some die hard christians didn’t want to vote for Muslim-Muslim. That one is a major factor. Another factor is the ENDSARS in Lagos and all these internet youths that don’t know the history and geography of our coexistence in Nigeria. Igbos Should be our friends more than any other tribes because after the war, it was Yoruba that salvaged them. Everything that they left behind in Yorubaland was given back to them. We supposed to be friends in all ramifications. Tinubu even curdled them. I would say maybe liberalism taking too far to the point that they are claiming that Lagos is no man’s land. Who can do that in their own area? So all those things contributed to the score of Obi.
A lot of second term Governors lost their bids. What lesson is it for them to learn?
It’s a great lesson. How I wish that they could legislate that whoever that has been in the executive should not dream of going into the legislative arm of government. But it’s a constitutional right. Nobody can take that away from them. Now that they have seen it, they have tested themselves and people have voted against them, it’s a referendum. They should know that if they do it right, they would get it back. A lesson that has to be learnt in the election is that it’s no more business as usual. The hero of the election is INEC under Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who has given Nigeria a very transparent election. Very very free and fair. In the history of electioneering in Nigeria, that’s the best one. So I give Kudos to INEC. That’s number one. Number two, I give Kudos to the Northerners. They think of Nigerian unity. They allowed it to overwhelm their personal aggrandisement because if they have to think along ethnic line or tribal sentiment like the way it was in the Southeast, SouthSouth that they only voted for their own son, if they do the same for Atiku in the North, am afraid, Nigeria will not get it right. But now, I believe, God be with Alhaji Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Alhaji Kashim Shettima. God will give them knowledge and understanding to paddle the canoe of this country. God will be with them. I believe with them, Nigeria will move forward.
Your group, Tinubu/Shettima Grassroots Independent Campaign Council campaigned in Ekiti State. So what should Ekiti people expect from Tinubu?
Even without GICC, His Excellency, Asiwaju Tinubu is deeply rooted in Ekiti. Without sentiment, his first daughter married to an Ekiti man, the people that are very close to him are from Ekiti. So we should be expecting great things. We have people who could talk to him and he would listen. May God give those people the courage to talk to him and the courage not to be selfish because some people if they get their own, they don’t care about others. May God raise leaders that will be able to take care of the downtrodden in this society. Also, Nigerians should be expecting prosperity in all ramifications. If you go by Asiwaju’s blueprint, he is a man that doesn’t deceive himself and he does not deceive other people.
What do you think the future elections would look like judging by what happened during this 2023 Presidential election?
It’s the downtrodden, the masses that also won in this election because the leaders will not take us for granted anymore. I believe in cashless electoral process. If you want to contest for second term, you will work. People will see what you have done. You will campaign. Not like in those days that you will be working towards storing money so that at the end of the day, you will be giving them money for vote. So they don’t work. But now, they will work maximally to save their names and if they want to recontest election, they should be able to win.
