INTERVIEW: Makinde can’t impose successor on PDP but collective decision — Ex-Oyo Deputy Gov, Gbolarumi
A fresh power struggle appears to be brewing within the Oyo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party as former Deputy Governor Hazeem Gbolarumi steps forward to coordinate what he calls the “recognised PDP.” In this interview with Punch correspondent, WALE AKINSELURE, he challenges the widely held notion that Governor Seyi Makinde is the party leader in the state and the alleged sidelining of PDP founding members
We understand that you have certain political interests that have led to a new assignment regarding the Peoples Democratic Party in Oyo State. What is your new assignment?
My task is to coordinate the new PDP in the state. Since the Federal High Court nullified the Ibadan Convention, my task is to revive the party for the benefit of its members. I have never defected from the party, and the party must move forward. When you are a PDP person, and you believe so much in the party, and you have the interest of the people at heart, you will try as much as possible to rescue the party members. My assignment is simply to coordinate. The national secretariat told me, ‘You should not allow PDP to die like that.’ I’m the link man for the national leadership of the party, which said, ‘Go and work it out and make sure you revive the party in the state.’ That’s just my assignment.
When you say new PDP, what do you mean by that?
What I mean by new PDP is the real PDP. We used to talk of faction, but now there is no more faction. But some people still believe that they can still factionalise it by going to court, since they have heard the judgment of the court that it’s in favour of one side. Probably, instead of saying new PDP, maybe I should say the recognised PDP. The court said, ‘This is the recognised PDP, this is the recognised NWC.’ What else are we looking at?
At what point did you fall out with the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde?.
My duty is simply to rescue the party in the street. So, there’s nothing, there’s no problem. There’s no cause for alarm. So, we don’t have any issues. Everybody is just fighting for survival. I have only protected the party for now.
Is this a mandate of the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike?
No, it is the mandate of the leaders of the party at the national level. Those are the people who believe in feeding the party because we are landlords; we cannot allow tenants take over the party just like that. We have been in the party since 1999, and some people came to join us and had the opportunity. When you have believed in the party since 1999, and you have never ever joined another party, you just have to ask yourself, ‘What is happening? What do we do? How do we go about it?’ Okay, we say let’s look at it from two factions. So, whoever lost in the battle might not even be interested again. Probably, they may decide to go ahead with the fight, without reconciliation, believing that they are going to fight it till the end.
And some other aspirants believe so much in the party, and they want to contest with the party, but they don’t have any opportunity, since one side has lost, and the other side is triumphant. We just have to come together at the end of the day, work together and forget our differences.
But the other faction has gone to the Appeal Court over the judgment you talked about. Why is your national leadership not awaiting the decision of the court before assigning you this task?
We shall all wait because we believe so much in the court’s decision. But, until we hear from the Appeal Court, there is a subsisting judgment, and we are working with the current judgment. So, we all wait to see the outcome of that.
The governor of every state is usually regarded as the leader of the party in that state. Governor Seyi Makinde is seen as the leader of the party in Oyo State. Are you the new leader or another leader of the PDP in the state?
It’s not in our Constitution that the governor is the leader of the party. Seyi Makinde met some people at the party. He met some of the founding fathers of the party. How will he be the leader of the leaders who have been in the party for a long time? So, I don’t believe in that because it has never been in the PDP constitution. It’s just a general belief that the governor should be the leader of the party in the state. It is just a culture; it’s not in the Constitution.
So, are you the only leader on your side now?
There are other leaders. I can’t be the only leader. It’s not possible. I’m only trying to be at the forefront.
You mean other PDP leaders are backing you?
Yes, many of them; in fact, all of them. We are all working together, and we meet often.
What is the goal of these leaders?
The target is just to rescue the party in the state. We have suffered for the party. We have been at the party. Some of us have been unable to get the dividends of democracy. At the party, we suffered a lot.
You must be looking forward to the next convention of your party as you are being rumoured as a governorship aspirant for the 2027 election…
(Cuts in) Definitely, we are planning to hold the convention and congresses as soon as possible. At the forthcoming convention, I can only be an aspirant. Some people might have an interest too. It is a thing for my people to say, ‘Gbolarunmi, this is your time. You just have to come out and contest.’ I’ve tried it many times. I even contested with the incumbent governor during the second term. That is to tell you that I’m still very interested.
You were usually on the convoy of Governor Makinde to events until recently. Has he reached out to you to find out what is happening?
He hasn’t, but I wrote him that I would be interested in the governorship after his tenure. I sent him an official letter, which was acknowledged without any reply. There has been no response from him till date.
When did you send him that letter?
I did that late December, last year.
You might be up for a battle against the incumbent governor, who wields a lot of power…
(Cuts in) He is a two-term governor; what else is he looking for except that he wants to go higher? He’s an incumbent governor for now. He has every right to decide whom to support. If he’s not ready to support my ambition, fine. But that does not deter me from making a try.
When you were quite close, did the governor tell you that he wanted to run for the presidency?
No, he didn’t. He didn’t tell me anything.
So, what do you make of the speculation that he wants to run for the presidency?
There’s nothing bad in that; he’s qualified. I do not see anything bad in such an aspiration; he has every capacity. He served the state for two terms. Bola Tinubu also served two terms as governor and became the President. So, nothing is stopping him from vying for it.
Are you one of the people described as “aggrieved” members of the PDP?
When you say aggrieved, we are talking about the core PDP members. This government has neglected the founding fathers of the party in the state. He (Makinde) has put everybody in a cooler. He is now grooming a new set of people. What for? And you cannot retire somebody who is still very active in a political party. Do you see any active man who says, ‘I’m retiring.’ If you examine this, it means the person is no longer relevant in his constituency. You can’t retire from politics when you are still relevant.
In putting some people in the “cooler,” doesn’t that show that Makinde is a smart politician?
Some of us are smarter than he is. If he’s smart, we are smarter.
Is this about the fact that the governor has talked about nominating his candidate for the governorship?
He doesn’t need to say that. It will be an insult to us for him to say that he wants to bring a successor. It has to be collective leadership. We have to think together. Let us agree on who and who. You can’t just singlehandedly nominate someone as if he were running his own company. How can you say that? You can’t say that. It’s an error. He has tried his best and should allow others to try too. Life is soldier go, soldier come, but the barracks remain. He cannot impose. It is not done.
He has said he wants a younger person as governor.
Why must he decide to say so? Is he God? How old was Oba Rashidi Ladoja when he became the governor? He was over 60 years old. How old was Lam Adesina when he became governor? How old was Kola Ishola when he became governor? Is he God? I heard it on the news. And I asked him, ‘Why would you dictate to the people of your state?’
The PDP is in factions, while the ruling APC continues to increase its numbers. Where will PDP derive its formidability for the 2027 election?
I don’t have any fear because I believe that the PDP will bounce back.
But this PDP is fragmented…
It is normal. Normally, that is how it is supposed to be because it is just about interest. When some of us see that it is about the interest of yourself, your group, not the interest of the party you are representing, definitely, some people will revolt. We have started regrouping. All the leaders who believe so much in PDP are coming together to make sure that we come out well in the 2027 elections. We have started, and I am sure that within the next few days or months, we will get over it because people still believe so much in the PDP in the states.
Credit: Punch
