The Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Oyo State, Hon Michael Okunlade, in this interview with YINKA OLADOYINBO, speaks on efforts to reposition the party, governance in the state and electoral management in the country, among other topics , excerpts:
The belief is that the SDP is falling into obscurity, particularly in Oyo State, why is this?I won't really agree with that because the party symbol is well known to everyone and it is one of the oldest parties in Nigeria but we have some challenges, call them Nigerian factor which is the most common. Many people have been so indoctrinated that if you are not in the PDP or the APC you cannot prosper politically and that indoctrination has been built into every Nigerian system, so if you say you are in the SDP people will see you as a joker, so that this has affected the growth of the party. Many people have forgotten that political parties are a creation of human beings. It is not the party that created the human being. They have been so caged in their minds that to be known you must belong to either party. The other aspect that I also called the Nigerian factor has to do with finances. Let's move on to the most immediate, the Ondo election, despite the hunger, despite the disillusionment of the masses, people still voted for money and I think it is deliberate on the part of the government to leave us as we are today. Even the fact that people attend meetings has been so monetized that the zeal for service no longer exists and all Nigerians are guilty of it. Even in our party we are supposed to hold quarterly meetings, but since we are not optimistic enough, we decided to hold it twice a year.
How will you react to the allegation that the Oyo State SDP is an appendage of Governor Seyi Makinde or the PDP?That is a wrong impression. Of course, I was also in the PDP but one or two things led me to join the SDP because of the nature of the governor, but unfortunately many indigenes of Oyo State do not understand who the governor is. We were together before the 2019 election, but he immediately became governor, the rest is history. You understand what he did to many people who defended him. I'm in the SDP and we're not together anymore, so whatever he's doing is just de-marketing the SDP and it all comes down to money, you know, he has access to information, he has access to money, he has access to a lot. of things, so Governor Seyi Makinde can never say that he is a member of the SDP or that I, Michael Okunlade, am an appendage of the governor and I want to make it clear that the SDP is independent of the governor as it has nothing to do with the SDP, they are just using it to cajole people. There was a time when they were reduced to the point of opening an office in Yemetu in the name of the SDP, but we are addressing that because we have informed the police and they have been invited.
But do you think the SDP is strong enough to compete and win the elections with the division into factions?First let me clarify something, there is no SDP faction in Oyo State, people are just manipulating things, they are afraid of us and the only way they can do that is to create faceless factions, if you go to INEC or anywhere else , no one can say. he is the SDP. On winning the elections, I want to categorically say that 'ajise bi Oyo laari', Oyo is different from any other state, with the passage of time, the SDP is going to win the elections in the state, we are working on it, we are re- Elaborating strategies day in and day out, we have a functional and physical office in Oyo State and with God on our side, we will make a difference.
Your party participated in the last local government elections in Oyo State, what is your assessment?Was there any local government election? It was pure selection, at first we didn't want to participate because we all know how local government elections are conducted across the country. But we did it in honor of the President of OSIEC, Barrister Olagunju. He told us separately that he has spoken to the governor and the governor has promised to hold a credible election and now we unanimously decided that on his honor we will participate and we ask that if something happens he will be ready to take responsibility and he said Yes. He swore by the Koran and for everything else that the elections will be free and fair. After the elections, I asked for his resignation, reproached him for betraying the trust we had in him, he apologized and explained that all the election officials appointed for the elections had not answered his calls on election day.
Looking at the Oyo State government in the last five and a half years, what is your impression? I don't want to discuss that because if I say something and the way people reason, they will think it's because we have problems or disagreements. , but the truth of the matter is that everyone blames the government at the national level, everyone blames President Bola Tinubu but the damage that the governors are causing is enormous. Residents of Oyo State are poorer than before because the governor has caged local governments and it is as if there is no local government in the state, no local government can function independently as it should. All other governors have given them free rein to award contracts. I am from Oorelope local government, the council has not undertaken a single project since the beginning of the current administration. If the governor had decentralized power, the poverty rate would have been reduced and many people would have been able to do something in their local governments. You know the way local government operates, it's exclusively for the local people. Until now, no one is interested in knowing what happens at the Secretary of State, most people go to their councils to get small contracts. Another problem we are having is capital flight, most of the jobs done are given to faceless people, we don't know the contractors, are they indigenous? and let us remember that one of the cardinal points of his campaign is that if he becomes governor there would be no more capital flight. But this is the worst experience we have regarding capital flight, the problem is not Tinubu, the governor should assume his responsibilities.
As a major player in the country, what are those things that you hoped the governors would have done differently?Governors should allow local government to function, particularly in Oyo State, breathe life into local government; If you visit the local government secretariats, nothing happens there. Everything has been cleaned up, if they allowed the local government to fulfill its functions, the poverty rate in the country would reduce.
Regarding electoral management in the country, what do you think can be done to improve our elections? Only the government can do it if they are really serious; They are taking advantage of the weakness of the electoral process. There are many advances in technology that can make our elections credible, but they won't because the current arrangement is working for them. If one survives an election in Nigeria, it is by chance. What “killed” Jonathan was that he appointed an INEC president he did not know. People know what to do; If you want credible elections, you have to start with the people in authority. It's very simple, even today you can vote in your room, you don't need to queue, we have some countries that hold their elections that way, but our leaders don't do it.
The agitations towards 2027 have begun; Do you think the SDP has any chance of winning the elections? Do you think you can do it alone or are you planning any merger?Working day in and day out, we are strategizing to strengthen our party in all 33 local government areas. If you have a good structure you can win the elections, but the unfortunate thing, as I said, is the finances. There is the question of trust between the divisions, you as president, if you ask them to go and do something, they will think that you have collected something, you have to talk, you have to sensitize them, you have to advise them that The best way to achieve this is to put all our effort for our party to grow and thank God it is gradually giving results and I am sure that before 2027 whether we will merge or remain alone, time will tell.
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