Senator Christopher Iyiola Omisore is the immediate past Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation. He represented Osun-East Senatorial District between 2003 and 2011. In this Interview with SEFIU AYANBIMPE, Omisore speaks on the security report allegedly written against Governor Rauf Aregbesola and his government, the current security challenges facing the country and other sundry issues.
Since you left the Senate, you have not been around, where have you been?
I am doing my post graduate Diploma in a university in Paris. For the past five years, I have been on and off running the programme because of this National Assembly job. Once I left the Senate, I engaged in full time work on my studies and I shall be submitting my thesis by God’s grace by the end of this week. During my leisure time, I normally organize party rallies for members of the party at the state, local and the ward levels. Party members come together and deliberate and of course watch the trend of events with the ACN government in the state and see what and what they are doing so far. So we are like a shadow government to guide them and guide the people of the state too.
What is your assessment of Aregbesola’s government in the last one year?
Aregbesola’s government is just a government of propaganda and nothing else. Nothing substantial has been done in the state and you can challenge any journalist in the state to tell you his achievement. Nothing has been done, they are one year in office, nothing to show for it and the administration has so far collected over N72 billion from federation account. There is no mega school building, no mega road and hospital to show for it but they are re-branding the state, doing a flag and causing trouble and crisis everywhere. The governor was recently bragging at the Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko and also that of Kogi State and causing trouble across the land which shows his level of incompetence and dereliction.
We can notice a large crowd of people around your house, are you preparing for the next governorship election come 2014 in the state?
No. we meet here regularly and the meetings are not about any election and when election comes we face election squarely but it’s too early to be talking about election now. What we are doing here is discussing how to build our party. We are planning on how to mend fences and make comparison between us and the current government. We have been there for seven and half years or so, we now see the newly imposed ACN government who would be there for another one or two years.
Do you mean all allegations made by the PDP are true?
Well, the allegation against the government is not an allegation as such, it’s a thing you can see yourself. I was the deputy governor 13 years ago and there was security attached to the government house. We have mainly SSS and police and sometimes CID who go around with us. But in his own case, he goes around with thugs; he is habouring thugs and has a trained security squad. I was told that he is training about 2,000 people now in Cuba who are going to cause trouble in the next election. In the last election, Aregbesola used the O-YES youth to cause trouble and rig elections in the state. I have told people that we are going to go to court; we must not see any O-YES in the next election. We are going to match them. We would insist on only the police officers, SSS, the INEC officials and the designated people not all these crooks who are calling O-YES, O-GUARD or O’ anything because they are using them for election rigging and we will stop them in the next election. He has O-YES and O-THUGS but very soon we shall take appropriate action against it.
If he allows the SSS to go out with him, they will write their reports on a daily basis and he won’t like that. Why must a governor need a body guard or thugs to surround him? It’s unethical and I am ashamed for this state. He has not proffer answered to the allegations levelled against him up till date. Aregbesola use to go around with thugs. He came in with thugs during Ahmed Tinubu ceremony. A governor should be going out with police men and SSS but he goes out with private body guards. These things are obvious and you have to see things for yourselves. He should explain why he goes round with thugs.
There is an insinuation that you, Senator Iyiola Omisore and PDP are the architect of the accusations raised against Governor Rauf Aregbesola and his government?
I came back from the United States yesterday (Friday), so I read all these allegations online about two weeks ago. This is the first time I am reacting to it. I am not even aware. I am doing a research in the World Bank Institute, WIPI, for about two weeks. So, it was when I came that I started hearing about the security report on Aregbesola that he is planning to Islamise the state. Let the man answer the question before him. I can’t be talking to Aregbesola. What’s my business with Aregbesola! When we were all in Alliance for Democracy (AD), we know our levels. He was waiting behind with the
area boys and shout outside when we were in AD’s meetings. If not because of Salami’s judgment which paved the way for him to enter through the back door and Salami too is now at home.
How best do you think the government can curb the spate of corruption in the country in view of the N1 Trillion oil subsidy funds stolen?
Honestly, I was surprised because when I was the Appropriation Committee Chairman for more than 4 years, we were spending between 1.1 to 3 or 4 trillion naira for 4 years. I know that there is some hanky-panky along the line but I wouldn’t know the details. I am not into it at all. If they want to know, let them go through the normal channel. It’s unfortunate. You people will judge with time, it’s not for me to be judging anybody now. I don’t want to condemn anybody, let their work condemn them or praise anybody. But I know that God Almighty, who gives power, gives for purpose and takes for purpose. If you are spending people’s money and you are enjoying it today, you will meet your waterloo in the future. Let us compare and contrast the issue of governance.
It’s the recommendation that was rationalised. What happened was that with my experience in the National Assembly, there are some agencies that do the same job. So, at the end of the day, it increases our personnel and overhead costs. So I believe that those who will come out of service will appreciate this position as well, that is why I think that it is better to reduce the overhead cost and increase the expenditure on capital project and genuinely to moderate the existing agencies. Look at NPC, NIPC, EPZ, they all look alike. The only way for us to bring down our overhead cost depends on moderate civil service and the rest for the yearnings and aspirations of our people, the bulk of the money can now go to the capital project. But immediately after the capital project, they will not do anything. We want to show leadership by example.
How would you describe the clamour for regional integration being championed by certain political class as against the main stream politics?
In federalism, everybody look up to the center for so many things. Regional integration will not solve our problem here because everybody goes to the national government to collect fuel money. The Ogun State Governor recently donated armoured vehicles to the state police and he was thanking the federal government that they did waiver for him over a billion naira, so where did he get that one billion naira from? The agitation for regional government, is either the agitators are myopic or selfish, that is all because the national government, we know what we have gone through. I have been in the AD and PDP and I know the difference. Amosun was saying that he spent about five hundred million naira on waivers alone at least that would have bought four to five armoured vehicles as well. In a regional government, you cannot afford some things. It is lack of exposure of those people championing the regional integration that is the problem. I can’t really understand their problem and I won’t blame them because they lack exposure. I would have reason like them few years ago but now I won’t reason that way because I am exposed to the national government.
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Are you saying that it is better to join the mainstream politics rather than agitating for regional integration?
To be at the centre, it is better than being local. What happened was that when we were in AD as the Deputy Governor of the state within the confine of our party, it was a good idea. Having been exposed to national politics for more than four years, I discovered that we are all jokers here. There is little we can do as a regional government because there are federal roads and state roads and all these things have to work together. When I was the Chairman Appropriation committee, the area of water, electricity, road and power supply, I know we have committed more than 250 billion to start work alone and no government has done so much. ACN is a dictatorial party, a one way party, so I can’t blame them. Watch the change of government in 2014, gradually, peacefully and democratically but if the ACN wants to cause trouble and use their killer’s squad, we will match them. We are going to court to stop O-YES and their like from any election participation because that was what they used in causing trouble for us in the last election. We are suspecting that they are agents of fraud and riggering.
How far has the party gone in handling the reconciliation of its members who are aggrieved on the outcome of the last congress of the party because some chairmanship aspirants who endorsed Kayode Idowu have continue to boycott the party’s activities?
I don’t know what you mean by that because Kayode Idowu that you mention is already working with me. And you can’t be catholic more than the pope. It takes time to come around after losing election.
It’s a matter of time, we will come together and resolve all these issues and we are talking to ourselves as a family. Election is not an end but a means to an end. The end is winning the government and we are all working together as one.
What advice do you have for government on the activities of Boko Haram in the northern part of the country?
The government must do something appropriately on this matter. It’s a security issue and the government must take the security report from every state of the world. The government should take a decisive step no matter whose ox is gored and stop this Boko Haram problem for the sake of our fellow Nigerians particularly in the northern part because we do not have Boko Haram here.
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