‘APC’s victory in by-election was daylight robbbery’

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman, Kola Shittu, in this interview with ADEKUNLE JIMOH, says the declaration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Abdulraheem Olawuyi, as winner of the House of Representatives by-election was a daylight robbery.

What efforts are you making at reconciling aggrieved  aspirants as a fallout of the PDP primaries in the state?

We are making efforts to ensure that all party members are one. After the primaries, the party leadership is already calling on all the aspirants to make them understand that the consensus that we used is acceptable and nobody will be left behind in the party’s decisions and scheme of things.

The party leadership has already talked to all the House of Representatives aspirants and all the governorship aspirants. Effort is on now to talk to all the House of Assembly aspirants.

That process is a continuous one is one. And we are happy that we are having good response now.

Can you retain power in 2019?

Honestly, as the chairman of the party, I have no doubt in my mind that PDP will win all the elections in February. I have no doubt because we have the populace behind us. We have the support of the electorate.

But, PDP lost the recent by-election in the state…

It is very clear to everybody that we contested against security agents. In fact, let me tell you PDP won that very election. The APC, with the help of the security people, thum-printed ballot papers at the collation centre. You also know that they were arresting all the influential stakeholders in the area before and during the election.

One of them is the special adviser to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed on Agriculture, Anu Ibiwoye. This is not good for democracy. If we had lost fairly, we would congratulate the winner. But, they have stolen our mandate. They know it themselves. That is why I don’t feel bad at all. But, in February next year, they will not be able to do this. All the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will be engaged with elections. They won’t have the time to bring about 150 DSS personnel to Kwara State. All the thugs they imported from Osun and Lagos states will also be busy in their states at that time. So, what are we talking about? Their jubilation will be short-lived in another 87 days time when we will be having another election. I am telling you.

You described the election as a daylight robbery. How?

Look at what happened in Ajase-Ipo and Oro. The APC was using police helicopter hovering round the sky while they were arresting people on the ground. That scared away our supporters and voters. That is why there was low voting because those who were on ground were not even sure they would not be dropping bombs. Our community members, some are illiterate. The sound of helicophter in the air is very scary. So, is that not daylight robbery?’ That is daylight robbery.

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The Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed knows this. All of them know this. They know that INEC thump-printed for them at the collation centres. That conscience will follow them to their failure in February next year.

Some people alleged general disenchantment among voters as a result of Governor Ahmed’s awful performance?

There may be complaints here and there as nobody is perfect. It is not only in Kwara State that local government staff are not paid. It is because of the economic situation of the country. Yes, some people may not be happy. But, that is not enough to say that we lost the election. The major cause of our losing the election is one, thump-printing of ballot papers, two, use of un-seralised ballot papers. By the time we get to the tribunal all these will be exposed. By the special grace of God we are planning to go to the tribunal to challenge the outcome of the election. The party leadership is yet to sit and decide on that but we are preparing for it.

It was also gathered that your ‘fronts’ did not ‘mobilise’ the electorate well. What is your response to that?

That is not true. If we did not mobilise the electorate well, why did we win? I am telling you that we won. People did not come out enough to vote because of intimidation by the security agents. That is what happened.

What is your advice to PDP candidates ahead of next year’s elections?

My pieces of advice to the candidates and ourselves is that we should work hard and continue to give the electorate the confidence they have in us. The by-election is not a true reflection of what the people want. We want to continue to talk to them not to be discouraged. I am telling you we are going to win the 2019 elections in the state.