Former Minister of works and chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Sen Adeseye Ogunlewe has described the composition of the principal officers at the National Assembly as the best that has happened to the country. In an interview with Saturday Vangaurd at his Ogudu, Lagos residence, Sen Ogunlewe stated that whether people like it or not, the development would benefit the President and the country more. Excerpts:
The defeat of the 2015 election was caused by Jonathan. If not, it is impossible to defeat PDP. Look at all the people that are playing games now including the governors, the Senate President, Speaker and others, they were from PDP. So, it is the majority party and it is going to come on board. We need Buhari now, no doubt, to straighten things out. And let us have a new direction to governance in the country.
I was a member of the presidential campaign team in 2011 and this sentiment of the North being short-changed was discussed extensively by the Northerners. The supporters of PDP said they were finding it difficult in the North to campaign because the Northerners believed they had been short-changed. They said, it was their turn to be President. So, if it were possible, Jonathan shouldn’t have contested and it would have been easy for PDP. This sentiment will never happen again in this country. When you are zoning, let the zone bring the candidate.
We will never have North and South dichotomy in an election again; we will never have a Christian-Muslim division in our election again, because we barely escaped catastrophe. If there was no zoning, the situation would have changed. That was what Obasanjo enjoyed in 1999 when two candidates came from the South-West. The people of North conceded despite the fact that Obasanjo lost in the North-West, he became the President. I think they have conceded enough. Is it proper for them to be short-changed this time? They wanted the power back and they got it.
As we are saying so, some people disagreed because they were benefiting from him. It was a cabal that surrounded him telling him what was not going to happen. People that stood their ground to defend PDP and Jonathan saw hell in the North. It was a total movement in the North. They brain-washed them that the South was already using their turn and they needed to take it back. We have learnt our lessons, if it was the turn of the North, let them have it. And if it is the turn of the South, let all the candidates come from the South.
If we can marry that, there will be less friction. The issues of ethnicism, religion are critical to the political decision of this country. And it can never go away. In England, the Scots have their own party and they vote en-mass for them. Why do we believe that some people will not vote for their own people? It is self-determination and I praise their courage. The same thing played out in national assembly leadership tussle. They said they wanted it for the North central because of Saraki and Akume. Immediately Akume stepped down for Lawan, a North-East person, I knew, they had lost it because Dogara is North-East.
