29042019 - Economy bleeds as power system collapses

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Vanguard, MONDAY APRIL 29, 2019 — 29 We’re back to NADECO days Continued from page corruption and people who are obviously corrupt are part of your administration? So, who are you deceiving? Who is fooling who? What is your advice to President Buhari on his new cabinet? I will not give any advice to the APC Why? Because I don’t believe that legitimately they won the election. On the WAEC certificate issue around Senator Ademola Adeleke, the PDP governorship candidate, who the tribunal declared as the winner of the Osun State governorship election I don’t know what the issues around it are. The WAEC has come out to show that he has their certificate. As usual, it is the APC that does not want to accept defeat. Do you think Adeleke and PDP will make it at the end of the day? Yes, by the grace of God he will make it. How would you assess Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s performance in Lagos? He performed in certain respects and poorly in others. He did well in maintaining some roads. As for anything else, I don’t think he has done well. Look at the state of our hospitals, and state of our schools, they leave much to be desired. So, do you think the APC leaders in Lagos were right in denying him second term? I would not say that it was because he did not perform because I don’t know which APC leader performed well in Lagos State. Babatunde Fashola was there, he planted flowers. Ambode did his little bit, at least he cleared Oshodi of the mess that was there and built a few roads. Based on these, don’t you think it is a matter of regret that the PDP did not take advantage of the flaws to win the governorship election? I think the full blame has to go to the candidate because he was a let down. He let the party down. Otherwise, we should have captured Lagos State because the people of Lagos were fed up with the APC government. Going forward, what is the PDP doing to ensure this does not recur? There was a lot interference in the choice of a candidate from the national level. What we in Lagos State are saying to the national level is leave us alone. You played a prominent role in NADECO to return the country to civil rule. Giving the way things are in the country, do you agree with comments that we are almost back to the NADECO days? It is not that we are almost back to the NADECO days, we are right back to the NADECO days. It is unfortunate because thinking of the sacrifices of which some of us lost their lives and yet we are back to square one. How can we get out of this? I am sorry to say so, Nigerians are very docile. That is the problem. I don’t believe in violence, I believe in peaceful demonstrations. I believe that by now we should be demonstrating and asking for our rights but we seem to have been cowed into silence. How can we get the people to act? It is for the people themselves to fight for their rights. If they are not ready to fight for their rights they will always be trampled over by as Fela put it vagabonds in power or military. On calls for restructuring I support restructuring. I don’t believe we can carry on with this • Adewale MANY things have happened in the Lagos chapter of the PDP, especially as far as you are concerned, you even left at a point to contest the governorship of Ekiti State on another platform, but now you are back claiming chairmanship of the Lagos PDP, what is going on? This is my letter dated February 26, 2016 confirming my position and that of my executives, signed by Ali Modu- Sheriff and Prof. Wale Oladipo. The letter was addressed to the Commissioner of Police, Director of DSS and INEC, so there is no confusion about it. This letter states that I am supposed to be the chairman from May 2016 to 2020, but then there were challenges everywhere. People went to court and we also got judgement from the court and my name was also there too. But during that crisis, because this time there were two opposing groups in Lagos, when we did our congress, Chief Bode George also did a congress on his own and appointed a chairman. We also did our own and I became the chairman because I didn’t come from Chief Bode George he will not allow and for a year and half we kept fighting and when the election was getting closer, the national leadership of the party, through Uche Secondus, called us to order and said we should reconcile. So when we reconciled they said give it Bode George as the leader, who has been in the corridors of power for so long, he knows these people and because of that they will always say let us give it to Chief Bode George and once that happens, it means that year we are going to fail again. I knew we were going to lose the present unitary structure. If you look back when we gained independence, there was real progress in all parts of the country but now there is no progress. When they say we are going to the next level, I say the next level is going down, not up. How do you think the country should be restructured? In a restructured Nigeria, the states should have more powers. I was part of the constitutional conference. We made farreaching recommendations. Those recommendations should be implemented. Part of the problems we are having with the herdsmen, insecurity, etc,will be solved if the country is restructured. Do you think the current National Assembly has performed? I think they have, they have passed a lot of bills. They performed their role as a supervisory body and they did not allow themselves to be bullied by the executive. On comments that the cost of running the National Assembly is huge I agree with that. The running cost is on a very high side. When we were in the Senate, what we were paid was level 17. So, you support cutting down the cost of running the National Assembly? Yes, I think the cost should be My claim to Lagos PDP chairmanship is to save party from Olabode George — Adewale By Patrick Azamosa Otunba Segun Adewale, popularly known as Aeroland, is not a stranger to crisis, especially when it has to do with the Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party. PDP. He earlier had a running battle over the chairmanship of the party but had to step aside to allow Hon. Adegoke Salvador ascend the position following the intervention of the national leadership of the party. However, with the defection of Salvador to the All Progressives Congress, APC, just before the 2019 election, Adewale is back again laying claim to the chairmanship position. When Vanguard met him, he spoke about his motivation, noting that his interest is to see things done right. Excerpts: 2019 election, but if I kept fighting and we lose the election they will blame it on me, so I had to step aside and they said they wanted Adegoke Salvador, who never won any congress.But George started having problems again with Salvador, because Salvador too wants to win election, so Salvador was forced out of the party, he had to go to APC. Was it Salvador’s exit that created the current problem? In a way yes, with that there was a vacuum again and the constitution in section 46, 47 states that if the chairman of the PDP leaves, the only way to fill that vacant position is by Congress or the state executive committee comes together and vote for a new chairman from the same Senatorial District as the last one that left. But Chief Bode George and the National Vice Chairman, South West, Dr. Eddy Olafeso did not follow our constitution, they jettisoned the constitution and said Dominic you are the chairman, without election, no congress, no ratification by the state executive committee. But that happened before the election and you did nothing then, what happened now? I was supposed to start fighting again, but it was about three months to election, so I decided to hold my peace and allow the decision of Olabode George and Olafeso. We want to win election. A lot of the South- South, South-East people are dying for us, every four years they go and vote for us, let us go and win, but because it was just three months to election I allowed them, but I was We had about 11 House of Representatives candidates that won election, but none of you heard about it, INEC had to ask for a rerun, there was not a single statement from the PDP to say this is cheating cut down. Again, when you watch the sitting of the National Assembly on television, most of them are not there. When we were in the National Assembly, we were there every day. I think it should be made part time rather than treated as a full time occupation because those who are there now are not treating it as a full time occupation. What is the way forward for Nigeria? Nigerians have to learn to fight for their right. Until they do that we will constantly be trampled upon by all sorts of dubious people who because they have money or have connections become our leaders. fighting indirectly. Dominic had 90 days to end his tenure, so after election there was vacancy again. The constitution does not allow acting chairman, it must be chairman, after that George wanted to field another chairman and we said fine go through the constitution of the party, but he refused. So I said if that is the case me too I am a chairman, that is what happened. So, I am claiming the chairman because if he can on his own be doing that every four years without recourse to the constitution, I can also lay claim to the position. I have documents and judgement that confirm that I am also the chairman because sometimes to solve a problem you have to create another problem. So, I am trying to create a problem for that problem that Bode George causes to be solved, otherwise we have already lost 2023 in advance because Dominic did not even win his polling booth, and Bode George did not win his polling booth. We had about 11 House of Representatives candidates that won election, but none of you heard about it, INEC had to ask for a rerun, there was not a single statement from the PDP to say this is cheating. Rita in Ajeromi Ifelodun did a second rerun, at the week end. Rita won, we won in Ojo, we won in Surulere, Oshodi Isolo, another one in Ikorodu, Somolu, but there was nobody in PDP to even write a statement condemning the act of INEC, rather PDP executive are now supporting APC that took our positions, saying that those claiming to have won election on PDP platform are not even members of the PDP. We are now the ones testifying against our own, we can’t continue that way, that is why I am fighting. I am not fighting because of me, I don’t need any chairmanship, I am busy, I have over 100 staff, over 18 branches I don’t have time, I have a lot of challenges on my neck, but our generation is dying, we can’t allow somebody with one leg in PDP and another leg in APC.
30 — Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2019 Terra Kulture stages Moremi the Musical for Ooni of Ife, other royalty When Kien and Friends entertained with classical music 173 authors compete for 2019 NLNG Prize for Literature Pg 35 Pg 35 Pg 36
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29042019 - Economy bleeds as power system collapses

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