Former Chief Whip of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the House of Representatives, Honourable Babatunde Oduyoye, speaks on the 2027 presidential race and the kind of governor Oyo State needs in 2027. Excerpts:
YOU recently said that Governor Seyi Makinde that you know will not join the 2027 presidential race through the back door. What are you making of the upscaled noise over that rumoured ambition in recent times?
What I said in the chat I had with newsmen is that I know Governor Seyi Makinde would not launch into such a race without taking some strategic measures. We’ve been together for a while and I know that he knows what it is all about. Some people might read meanings into last Saturday’s opening of the South-West Secretariat of the PDP, but I still believe that a venture of that magnitude needs strategic steps.
A few hours after that your last media interaction, the governor also spoke and what he said was that nobody could push his agenda for him and he repeated the same statement last Saturday. Did you compare notes before taking those positions?
No, we didn’t. But I still want to reaffirm that he would not join the presidential race through the back door. Secondly, you cannot go into an election without properly ensuring that all the important things are taken care of. There would be pressure from different angles, but he has also said that nobody will push his agenda for him. Let’s leave it at that.
You have been a progressive for decades, though you also happened to serve in the administration of Governor Seyi Makinde in the first four years. If the governor eventually joins the presidential race against President Bola Tinubu, are we likely to see a repeat of the 1999 scenario when the South-West produced two presidential hopefuls and won’t that cause some divided loyalty?
There won’t be divided loyalty, though former Governor Babatunde Fashola once said may our loyalty never be tested. What we know is that we have a sitting president and for now, we don’t have anybody who has said he wants to be president. Until then, everything would amount to speculation.
Prior to the 2019 general election, your major position was about generational shift in Oyo State politics. You talked about other states of the South-West having governors in their fifties and late forties. Governor Makinde had also spoken about age qualification of his successor. Are we sure the two of you are saying the same thing in the build-up to the 2027 election?
I still believe in generational shift as I did in the prelude to the 2019 election. But I am mindful of the constitutional provision, especially Section 177 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). There are constitutional requirements to contest for the seat of governor as expressly stated in the constitution. The minimum age is 35. But even an 80-year-old can contest if the people want him and they decide to vote for him. What is important is that we should ensure that whoever takes over in 2027 is within the age bracket that can allow productivity.
Some people have said it is too early to talk about 2027 but, in politics, four years could look like a day. One of the names being touted ahead of that election is your friend, Chief Jubril Dotun Sanusi. But recently, a statement was published in his name indicating that he was pulling out of the race. What implication do you see that having on the build-up to the governorship race?
Engineer Jubril Dotun Sanusi is a brother, friend and compatriot but, as far as I am concerned, he has not publicly declared interest in running for the 2027 governorship. Nobody is in the 2027 race in Oyo State as we speak. So, it is preposterous to say someone is withdrawing from a race that has not started. I read more about forums, groups, and all that. But that does not translate to a declaration. Some Support Groups have been making waves but that is not the same thing as public declaration for governorship. Until someone publicly makes a declaration that he wants to contest for governor, usually at the NUJ Secretariat or his political party headquarters, or somewhere else, such a person cannot be considered as an aspirant. As far as I am concerned, I do not think Chief Sanusi has publicly declared that he wants to contest for the governorship seat of Oyo State. And if he has not done that, which race did he withdraw from?
Some people are even of the opinion that it is too early to start propagating the 2027 election in 2024. By the first quarter of 2025, we should have a feeling of those who are interested in contesting. By that time, we would have known the contenders and the pretenders and it is only then that we can assess them and know those who have the genuine interest of the people of Oyo State at heart.
So, you don’t think Engineer Sanusi’s withdrawal from the race is tenable?
If you have not declared to contest for a race, you cannot withdraw from that race. That is what I am saying. I have neither seen anything in the newspaper or anywhere else where Chief Sanusi declared to contest the next election nor have I seen anything emphatic. Contesting elections is a public thing. It is not done within the confines of an office. That is what I understand, as somebody who has contested in three election cycles in Oyo State.
Looking at the state of Oyo State right now, what kind of governor would you recommend for the state in 2027?
I will recommend someone who can effectively improve on what the incumbent has achieved. He must be somebody who has the genuine interest of the people at heart and must have distinguished himself. He must be someone who has the capability and confidence to lead the people of Oyo State, a person who is compassionate and passionate about the feelings of the people. He must be someone who can lead the state out of this unhealthy dependence on federal allocations, poor power supply and inability to feed itself, even with thousands of hectares of arable land all around. Such a person must be prepared and ready. Governor Makinde launched the roadmap to accelerated development in 2019 and subsequently in 2023, he launched the roadmap for sustainable development. Wherever he left things in 2027, we cannot afford to lower the standards.
Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his team raised the bar of governance in the Western Region in the First Republic. They repeated the same in 1979-1980, when that team returned in the Second Republic. Subsequently, there has been a kind of lull in governance, especially at the sub-national level. We need to take governance in Yorubaland back to that plateau where Awo and his AG and UPN team left it. I don’t think Oyo State should return to a season where some people will say they want to contest without having a manifesto. Gone are those days that somebody will win an election before telling us what he will do. You cannot hold such people accountable. So, before anybody decides to contest, Oyo State people must know what the programmes are and they would take an assessment of where we are and where we want to be. It is only then that someone like me and other people who are citizens of this state would be able to decide whether or not he deserves our support.
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