Lagos 2019: Lagosians know APC has their best interest in focus – Jimoh

Hon. Olumuyiwa Jimoh, represents Apapa Constituency 2 in the Lagos State House of Assembly. Jimoh who doubles as the Deputy Majority Leader of the House who recently spoke with some journalists in his office, justified why the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state decided to pick a male deputy governorship candidate for the 2019 election, against recent trends of picking females for the position, noting that the party might present a female as governorship candidate in the state anytime soon. He also speaks on the forthcoming presidential elections amongst other issues, PATRICK OKOHUE reports.

People believe that there were a lot of lists for the result of the primary elections of the APC, which one do we believe?
You journalists give yourselves a lot of headache, you pick lists from the social media and you say it is authentic. There is no serious university in the world that you can use goggle materials for research works and references. It must be a published literature.

It is only here that people copy things from the social media and make use of it which usually confuse people. The original list is the one from the party structure. If there is any substitution it must be from the party Secretariat.

People that claimed that they gave them forms to fill are lying, what they do is to get INEC forms from people that were given and do photocopy.

Why can’t I go to the party to get the real form and fill it? We have been called to fill Form 02 given to the party by INEC.

In the last election, your party lost eight seats to the PDP in the Lagos State House of Assembly. Do you see your party doing better than that this time around?
You know the circumstances that surrounded the last election. Parties voted on ethnic lines and we know the circumstances that led to that. The governorship candidate of the PDP then even said that he would rate Eze Ndigbo higher than other obas in the state.

People are saying that Lagos State is no man’s land. How can you say that, it is a fundamental question. You cannot try it in other places, we are not saying we cannot live with them. Can I go to another state and say that.

The Easterners don’t sell land to people from other places in their states. If we sell land to them, they shouldn’t say our state is no man’s land. If you are saying that, you are insulting the people that accommodate you.

If I accommodate you don’t see it as a weakness. It is better we check it now before it leads to what is happening in the middle belt, especially Jos in Plateau State. Some people are indigenous and some are not, but we don’t want that.

The 2015 Governorship Election in Lagos State was a close mark between the PDP and the APC. Now, the incumbent that people believe worked well will not be presented by the APC and the PDP is still presenting the same candidate. Do you see your party still winning the state?
Apparently. I am a student of society. The masterplan of Lagos State saw four governors coming, which is why we must ensure that the same party continues in office.

We all know the circumstances surrounding the 2015 elections. But for the present election, it is obvious that our party means well for the people. I don’t have any fear.

Those, who are planning the state said the incumbent governor has not done well. People are angry you may not know. Even the issue of Visionscape, they are saying that he has not done well. The Land Use Charge is also there, we want to listen to the yearnings of the people.

What qualities does the APC governorship candidate have?
If you look at it, you would see that he was the Commissioner for Economic Planning and for you to hold that position, you are like the Deputy Governor because virtually all the other ministries depend on you. You allocate funds for them.

He has also served as the Commissioner for Establishment and Training. He has always been in government ever since. He was also the Managing Director of the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) and he has always been in government.

Your party is presenting a male deputy governor after a long first time. What do you have to say to that?
I don’t think there is any serious issue over that. The issue of gender should not be raised here. We can even use a female as governor soon.

If we continue to use them as Deputy Governor, it means we are not sensitive, they can get higher positions. We have more females as Permanent Secretaries in the state.

They are more in the cabinet. After the governor, the next person is the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, not that of the deputy governor.

The President has just released a list of people that cannot be allowed to go out of the country and people see this as a return of Decree 2 of 1984, what is your take on this?
Well, the President has a prerogative over some issues. I have listened to the comments that the policy is a return of Decree 2 of 1984 we should look at our image.

In the past, Kenya was above us on corruption, now we are above them in corruption index. What the President wanted to do is to let the world know that we are fighting corruption.

The question is, are the people involved guilty or not. The President has been so honest to the extent he did not interfere with who gets what.

Would you have taken this stance as a comrade?
I am expressing my views as a comrade. I have my disagreement with the party.

Do you see Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s emergence as the Presidential Candidate of the PDP as a threat to your party?
I don’t see Alhaji Atiku emerging as the president of Nigeria now. We all know how rotten the country had been. That was why we did not vote for him to be our presidential candidate in 2015.

Don’t you think the current president has failed in the area of security?
Boko Haram has always been there, Maitasine has always been there.

What are those things that stood you out in the primary election?
I do my own campaign and I believe I can do my best. I didn’t even know the people that contested against me in the primaries.