How things fell apart in Osun APC—Najeem Salaam, Osun ex-Speaker

 

How things fell apart in Osun APC—Najeem Salaam, Osun ex-Speaker

Dr Najeem Folasayo Salaam is a two-term former speaker of Osun State House of Assembly. He speaks in this exclusive interview with TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE about how former governor Oyetola and Aregbesola’s political allies fell apart, as well as their suspension from APC, among other issues. Excerpts:

YOU seem to be quiet politically these days, especially since your suspension from the All Progressives Party (APC) by the Osun State chapter. What informed your quietness?

At times in life, you just want to talk even when nobody is asking you anything. At another time, you want to be on your own, especially when things don’t go the way you think. You retreat and study the situation to know who to work with.

For example, after the crisis we had in APC, when what you fought and laboured for turned out to be the hunter that is hunting you, you rather go back to your room and rethink on how best to handle the situation and come out stronger.

This is the case most especially when somebody who you laboured for to get to a position of authority now turns to be your enemy, and makes you look like a stranger in your own house, it means you need to rethink and restrategise.

So, when you think about partisan politics generally, you will laugh. I have been on sabbatical but I’m getting out of it now that political activities are coming up. The era of silence is over. As an active politician, I can’t seat on the fence. People should expect to hear from me soonest as regard my political direction.

It’s like you were aggrieved about the turn of events in Osun politics, could you share part of your grievances that didn’t work in your favour?

It is not about whether I’m aggrieved or not. Before now, APC was known to be for the progressives. We have come a long way to this level. Right from the period Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1999 after the military era, when our fathers and leaders formed the Alliance for Democracy (AD) which won the governorship seat then by Baba Bisi Akande who served for only one term (1999-2003). Then the PDP took over the control of the state by Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola for seven and half years (2003-2010). Then, AD changed to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and later to All Progressives Congress (APC) with other coalition parties.

We were all there in APC making sacrifices to make the party stands and of course, it stands in the Southwest. In Osun, the party had been in power from 2010 when Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola became the governor through APC ticket. He was there for eight years and then Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola took over from him in 2018 before the current governor, Sen. Ademola Adeleke from the opposition party came to power. So, while Aregbesola was in office, we all struggled to make things work for the people of Osun State and the administration really tried its best. Don’t forget, it was not only Oyetola that wanted to succeed Aregbesola. I was also had the ambition and contested for the party ticket. But the leader of the party considered Oyetola, who was the Chief of Staff to Aregbesola, for the ticket. The development was tough and bitter, but we swallowed it.

Despite that, we all came together and worked for their choice and as God would have it, we won the election. But just immediately after the election, the story changed.

Yes, I was an aspirant but when it didn’t work out, I was promised to be given the position of the Secretary to the State Government. But when Oyetola became the governor, he changed the story. He made things to look as if I was begging him for favour. That was the beginning of my issue with him.

But you were still the speaker as of that time?

Of course, I was still the Speaker, but there was an understanding between us that when I completed my tenure, I would join him. And when I was about to complete it, I asked him about the appointment but he told me to go and rest for another two months. The two months have never come till today.

Yet, I took it in good faith. I know it is not always everytime that one must be in power or in position of authority. But what happened next was a surprise to me. The governor and his government didn’t want to see me and some other set of individuals again. This was despite we all worked hard and sacrificed our times, energy and resources to ensure he won the election.

It even gotten to a stage that anyone who has any attachment with Ogbeni Aregbesola then, he didn’t want to have anything to do with them. And I, for one, didn’t know why this was so. But that was the situation.

So, the expectation of having good and robust relationships with some of us, who worked to ensure his victory and put him in power never came to light. This is one part of the story.

Another sad side of the story was that we were completely sidelined and neglected in the political affairs and activities of Osun State. We had not been involved in any political activity, both concerning the governance and at the party level. It is no longer about holding a political office now but about relevance, about making your opinions and suggestions on issues of public importance, counted. So, the governor then believed that we were only relevant for election and not for his government. After all, he had gotten the power he wanted.

That was the beginning of the real crisis even though we kept on managing the situation until 2022 when things fell apart completely. I used the words fell apart because our people were not involved in any activity again from the ward level to national. So, we believed that if the governor and the party didn’t carry some of us along again, we could not leave our followers behind. That created factions in the party at the state level and we kept meeting and talking about the development hoping that one day, the overall boss, who is now the president, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, would call all the factions together and resolve the differences but he never did.

There were other things I would not want to go into now. But the climax of this was when I and some few others were suspended from the party in 2023. We got to know about our suspension on the papers of newspapers and social media without concrete allegation leveled against us till today.

No allegation as how?

Yes, there was no specific allegation leveled against us and there was no committee set up to probe us. Whereas, we all know there are procedures to suspend party members, well-spelt out by the party’s constitution. There must be an allegation and a committee must be set up to look into the allegation, but, none was instituted in our case. We only read about it in the media just as every other person did.

What was your immediate reaction then?

Since I wasn’t the only person involved, we didn’t respond and we didn’t fight them. We just believed that what they did wasn’t the proper way to suspend party members. That was why we were watching them and till today, nothing tangible came out from that angle. The implication is that, at all cost, they didn’t need us again. Yet, we took the development in good faith and decided to go back to our drawing board and move on.

I can remember vividly in December 2023 when we were having an end- of- the year party with our members at the residence of former governor Aregbesola in Ilesa. He came out to tell us boldly that if by 31st day of December of the following year, 2024, the situation remained the same and nobody came to us, it truly means we were not wanted again in the party and so we then decide on what next for us.

Before then and in 2022 to be specific, before the governorship election, I made a public declaration with the authority of other major stakeholders to dissolve all factions and caucuses that had wanted to leave APC so that we have one strong united APC back, but nobody listened to us. There were many other things that happened which I may not need to say now. But we thank God for where we are today.

Were you saying you truly didn’t know your offence for suspension?

That is exactly what I was saying. There was no official statement from the party to any of us as regard any offence let alone the reasons for our suspension. We only knew about it through the media with the claim that our suspension was for anti-party activities that were not defined. At least, an allegation must be defined and supported with evidence and there was none in our case.

But what could have been responsible for your once good relationship to have turned sour?

I don’t know. All I know was that we were not involved again in any campaign activity of the party. We were not appointed into any committee. Nobody came to us. We were just watching. We only went to cast our votes just like every other eligible voter in Osun and we went back home immediately. That was it. Had it been we joined hands together, this story might be different today.

Could you now attribute Oyetola’s defeat in his second term bid to these crises?

Losing an election might be as a result of many factors and the internal crisis in the party might be one of them. So, winning an election requires a good team work, it requires rigorous campaign, good governance and all that. And we all know that two good heads are better than one. But when you are neglected and your voice is no longer recognised, you stay on your own and be watching.

But when last did you have conversation with both Oyetola and President Tinubu?

It has been a long time for both of them. However, the last time with the President was in 2018 when he was in Osogbo to lead the campaign team for Oyetola. We talked together as father and son on that day and I think that was all.

For Oyetola, it was a month to his second term bid election in June 2022. We met and asked him why couldn’t we settle our misunderstandings and have one big formidable family to make his second term bid election easier. He was given some advice at the meeting but he didn’t make use of them. Maybe, he believed he could do it all alone. And I think he tried his best but we all saw the result.

You mentioned earlier that President Tinubu ordered that APC governorship ticket should be given to Oyetola in 2018, how about the primary election that was held?

That primary election ‘get as e be’. We can’t call it primary election in the real sense of it. It was predetermined because figures were just allotted to aspirants to favour Oyetola. I didn’t like the outcome.

But still, you were appointed as the Director- General of Campaign team (Osun West Senatorial District) for Oyetola, how did it happen?

Yes, I was, because the party said I was the person fit for the job. I accepted the offer even though it was a tough decision for me. It was a tough decision because there was serious agitation on the ground that the next governor for the state at the period supposed to come from the West Senatorial District where I came from and neither from the Central where Oyetola came from nor from the East Senatorial district. The reason was that both the Central and East Senatorial districts have had their fair share of the governorship office, leaving the West far behind.

And since the party said I should be the one to lead the campaign team for Oyetola in my axis, I accepted it- to honour the party’s interest. In politics, party ought to be bigger than an individual. And so, we all worked together to ensure he won the election. It was only that the story changed immediately he won the election.

So, which political party are you now?

I’m now in a party that will move Nigeria forward, a party that believes in genuine democratic process, a party that is ready to end poverty and hunger, a party that is ready to promote integrity of Nigeria and its people at home and in the Diaspora, a party that is ready to bring employment to the youth of this country, a party that is ready to address the issue of electricity, look into all the crises we’re having as a country-the inflation, the insecurity, poor education system, poor healthcare delivery, poor infrastructures and lots more. And that party is the African Democratic Congress (ADC)-the newly formed coalition party. There is genuine need to change Nigeria’s narrative for better. Our people deserve better governance.

But some believe you’re the most preferred candidate by Aregbesola for the next governorship election in the state, how do you react to that?

Well, people have the right to think and say whatever they like. But what I know is that Aregbesola did not tell me that. I respected him. He is the only Osun State governor, who completed two terms and also installed a successor from the same party. No any other former governor of the state had beaten him to that record.

I am also the only state assembly speaker who completed two terms and installed a successor also from the same party. Though a thing like this is by the grace of God and not man.

So, maybe people consider this similar attributes or any other things to think that I’m Aregbesola favourite for the position. But he is yet to tell me that.

Does it mean you still have an ambition to become the Osun State governor?

As a politician, till we die, we will continue to have interest and ambition. But what is paramount to me as a person is that I don’t struggle with God. I leave my things for Him to decide.

I may have an ambition and direction but it is only God, who can bring it to pass. So, I don’t look away from God. I must listen to His voice as I am so much believing in the life after now.

After all, my interest is to serve the people of Osun with sincerity of purpose. Anything other than that is not my interest.

So, to answer your question, I will say yes, I have the ambition. But if God say no, nothing I can do. I can’t be so fanatic about ambition because I’m not God.

Even the position I’m today it can only be God. I don’t have any godfather but the God almighty, the only one that knows tomorrow.

So, whatever He brings to my side, I will accept. But as a politician like every other, I still have the ambition.

But some described your eight years’ tenure as the speaker of Osun State House of Assembly as a rubber stamp of Aregbesola’s led executive arm. What do you say to that?

It is quite unfortunate that most Nigerians expect parliamentarians at any level of government to always be in open confrontation with the executive arm. They believe that should be normal way for a serious parliament to go. But that is not what parliament is for. The purpose of having three arms of government is to checkmate, collaborate and work together for effective service delivery- to serve the interest of people at any level of governance.

So, if you are to fight, you can fight internally without exposing yourself to the outside world. If you try to correct an executive arm of government, for example, and they listen to you, why must you have to go to the chamber and be saying bad things about them again? If you checkmate them and they listen to you, why must you still make unnecessary noise? What will the noise achieve?

The laws are enacted to serve the interests of the people. The house of assembly is supposed to be a town hall where people gather to discuss issues of public importance and come up with resolutions that will capture the interest of the majority. That is what the house is for. The issue is that people must say something. It is either they say good or bad. That is human beings for you and they are entitled to their opinions. But I must say that the House under my watch was never a stooge of the executive. We tried our possible best for the people of Osun and the posterity is there to judge. We must continue to educate our people that parliamentarians are not exist just to fight the executive arm. They are to collaborate and work together for the betterment of the society.

You will turn 60 years old on August 8th what can you say about your political journey?

I can say many things. But I will first thank God for giving me life. In His infinite mercy, He took me, a son of nobody, and put me in a position of relevance in the society. It can only be Him and I will be forever grateful unto Him.

So, I can say it is not about been a speaker or got to this level that I’m today that are most important, but for what I was able to do by the grace of God for my constituents and the people of Osun State in general. I have come a long way in political governance. I started as a supervisory councilor in my local government. I then moved to the state House of Assembly as member, first for two years (2007-2009). I was elected again for two consecutive terms. I was there not as an ordinary principal officer but as a Speaker. That was a big opportunity made possible by God. My intention was to serve my people when I was elected, but God did it in a miraculous way that I served in the highest position of the state legislative arm.

Also, it is a great honour that I broke the record of Ejigbo voting pattern by being the first and still the only person that the people of Ejigbo axis would vote for for three consecutive terms. First was when I served for only two years in the House and another were for the two terms when I served as the speaker. In all, I served for 10 years as a lawmaker. That has never happened in the political history of my local government. It had always been that if the Ejigbo Central that has five wards produced the chairman of the local government for example, the other six wards would produce the House of Assembly member and vice versa. That narrative changed with me just because of the love people have for me and my performance in office. They didn’t see me as a failure. And I give God the glory and I thank my people for the opportunity. I am ready to serve them the more.