Senator Ajayi Boroffice in this interview with OLUWOLE JOSIAH talked about his sojourn in politicsDid you expect the All Progressives Congress to record the kind of victory it had in the presidential and National Assembly elections?
Yes, I was expecting it. Judging from the mood of the nation which was driving towards a change and because of the reputation of Jonathan’s administration which lacks integrity and focus, I was sure that a very credible candidate on the platform of a very credible party would definitely bring about the required change. When Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) emerged on the platform of the progressives, I was sure that the APC was going to win the elections. Therefore, the performance of the APC in the presidential election did not come to me as a surprise.
It has been said that the crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party in Ondo State and other parts of the country, and not much of APC’s strength gave you victory even in the face of the PDP’s financial strength. What is your response to this?
With the on-going political evolution in the country, it is clear that you cannot monetise everything. Yes, they had a lot of money, they had power, but Nigerians are becoming more and more politically aware so that such things do not influence their decisions. What every Nigerian wants is a better government. They want a good means of livelihood, good roads and of course, when you go out, there is the stigmatisation of Nigeria as a corrupt nation. It is something that is worrisome. Yes, they had money and power, but the will of the people was and is to bring about the wind of change in the country and that was what has happened. At that point, money becomes immaterial. If you consider the amount of money spent during this election you would think that the PDP would win the South-West hands down. It did not work out. The Obas and the royal fathers became royal errands boys. Some names like Gani Adams, Dr. Frederick Faseun, who pretend that they are fighting the course of O’odua, were bought over. The so called Afenifere people betrayed the Yorubas. But all these said and done, we were able to organise our thoughts, the people and deliver the zone to the APC and Buhari. Thus, it is sure that you cannot buy people over when they are convinced or when they have a conviction. It is a political evolution that if we continue to move along this trajectory, I believe in the next 20 years nobody will use money in politics.
Why did you join politics having excelled in academics and public service?
People often say that ‘my people want me to go into politics,’ but in my own case, it is not just saying it or dreaming it. I retired as a Director-General of the Space Agency. I believe I have made my mark. I have reached the apex of my career as a don, the highest you can go is to be a professor, and I held so many offices, such as dean, and so on. I also reached the apex of my profession as a public servant as a Director-General. I have made my own contribution to the development of the nation, particularly in the area of space programme. With the appreciation of what I have done, my people made me the Asiwaju of Akoko Land. That is the four local governments of Akoko. Looking at the mandate of Asiwaju of Akoko Land, I realised that it is something that could be achieved if I were to be a politician. I made it clear to them, and they said, ‘okay, if that is the case, go into politics’. That was how I eventually made up my mind to go into politics to help my people actualise their dreams of enjoying the dividends of democracy in Nigeria.
Why are you returning to the Senate?
Judging from my own perspective that I don’t think I was fulfilled this last four years because when I did not pick up the governorship ticket in Ondo State under the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria, I was under tremendous pressure to cross over to the PDP. I resisted that pressure and because of that there was the effort to send me out of the Senate which then succeeded. But it is like a punitive measure that I was completely silenced. In the last four years you will notice that I did not make any contribution to the debates on the floor of the Senate because I was never given that chance. However, I know that when I go back on the platform of the APC, as the ruling party, I am going to have a fair opportunity to express myself and contribute to the debates on the floor of the Senate. But I was very active in the area of committee work. The legislature plays a major role and if we take it serious, we can bring about the change that Nigerians need. My going back will give me another opportunity to do more and bring the dividends of democracy close to our people. A lot more can be done and we can move the Senate to a higher level of performance in terms legislative duties in the democratic system. All these are motivations that are pushing me back and I thank God that I have secured another opportunity for a second term.
How did you survive the attempt to declare your seat vacant?
I think it was due to the tenacity and commitment of my colleagues in the APC. There was a tactical error in the way the petition was made. The petition was written by the PDP. Under normal circumstances and according to our order, that petition ought to have come to the Senate, read on the floor before being referred to the Committee Ethics. But the petition went to the Senate President, who immediately referred it to the Ethics Committee. The procedure was not followed, because of that the report had some challenges. When it was brought to the floor of the Senate, Senator Lanlehin refused to second it and because he refused to second it, it created a little crisis in the Senate. The report had to be withdrawn. With consultations here and there, and as I said, for over a year I was not privileged to make contributions, but I maintained my cool headedness and I tried as much as possible not to step on toes.
Would you say that the President of the Senate handled the matter maturely, because it was then a PDP affair?
I will say that the Senate President is my friend. Left to him, he would not have taken the matter seriously, because in the tradition of the Senate, nobody has been sent out of the Senate because he changed his party. It has never happened, but I think he was allegedly under tremendous pressure from the PDP and Governor Mimiko, who wanted me out at all cost. But he was able to resist that pressure. I give him credit for that in handling it in a very mature way and I think he realised that I am his friend, quote and unquote and though I think he did very well as Senate President in this matter.
Did you expect to get a fair hearing knowing that a Labour Party Senator was chairing the Committee on Ethics?
Yes, I thought so, because the case was clear. The Constitution says if there is a faction in your party, you can leave the party. It was obvious that there was division, in fact, factions of the LP and the case was in court. The faction that I belonged to had its structure and ran an office. So I thought that with that, the case was clear. I didn’t expect that the panel would be biased. I went into the committee with full confidence that surely that I was not in breach of the constitution in defecting to the ACN. Unfortunately it didn’t work out so. They did not follow the path of justice.
The Senate will be wearing a new look, a configuration of APC in the ascendancy, what are your expectations?
I expect that the Senate will be realistic, not partisan in taking its stand on issues that are very important to the survival of this nation. We did not find that in the Seventh Senate. Decisions were taken on the PDP’s discretion whether it was in the interest of Nigerians or not, they put down their feet and got away with many of those atrocities. But it will not be so under the APC. We are a disciplined party, it is the first of this opportunity and we want to make the best use of it and satisfy the needs and aspirations of Nigerians. We will help build a government that will be responsive to the needs of Nigerians. I expect that this will be a different perspective to the Senate performance.
Many senators will not be returning and it appears it will be a fresh political turf for many. Would you hazard an idea of what zone you think the Senate President will be coming from?
Before that let me say that none of all those who sat on that committee and decided that they were sending me out of the Senate is returning to the Senate. They are gone with the change, except the APC senators. All the PDP senators have gone with the wind of change. Now the second question. I don’t want to hazard a guess, because politics is dynamic. You may have a template, but it may not fit in to what you are expecting. For you to be in the leadership of the Senate, you must be a ranking senator. There are no South-East Senators in the APC. South-South has no APC senators. So it means if you want to follow the rules of the Senate, they may not be a part of the leadership of the Senate. I don’t know how it is going to be worked out. This was not envisaged before the election when we were expecting at least one senator from the South-South and one from the South-East. As it is, those geopolitical zones have no senators not to talk of ranking senators. So, all these things will have to be looked into by the party and arrive at the conclusion. The way I see it is that as you make your bed so you will lie on it. If some geopolitical zones have decided to cast their lot with the PDP and such they are not represented in the leadership of the Senate, it is unfortunate, but that is politics.
With the expectations of the majority of the APC in the Ondo State House of Assembly, are you not sensing the Ekiti experience in the state?
I think the Ekiti experience is quite different from that of Ondo. Almost everybody in Ondo is fed up with the present state government; the governor in particular. We have all decided to vote against the PDP. In the last election we (APC) had two senators, and five members of the House of Representatives. That was before people like Olusola Oke, Gbenga Oguniya and many other very prominent members of the PDP defected to the APC. With their influence now, we are expecting that we will have about 21 members in the House of Assembly. If we have that you can now hazard a guess of what is going to happen.
Is that not bringing us very close to the Ekiti experience?
If somebody has been in office for six years and he has not done what he should be doing, how can you change him in the next two years to do what is right? I think it will be very difficult to convince our people to allow this government to stay for another two years. It is part of the political culture. If the governor is not doing well and the majority of the members of the House feel that he has committed impeachable offences, then he will be impeached. He will not be the first governor that will be impeached. Balarabe Musa was impeached in the Second Republic, Fayose was impeached once and he is going to be impeached again. He will break the record of impeached governors.
Many see politics as a game of betrayals as demonstrated in your defection from the LP to the CAN. Is this not a betrayal of the LP and Governor Mimiko?
People are just making unnecessary noises. When I joined the LP, I did as a practising Christian. I believe that the right thing should be done. Labour Party was a child of circumstance. It was not meant to be a political party. When we won the election, some of us believed that we should join our brothers and sisters in the South-West, so that we could form a political bloc that could negotiate for the interest of our people. More so, that we know the role Bola Ahmed Tinubu played in the emergence of the LP as the ruling party in Ondo State. But I could see that our governor wanted to be the lion of the West. He wanted to be the richest man in the South-West but that is not in the interest of our people in Ondo State. We had the opportunity to advise him to let us join our brothers in the South-West geopolitical zone, but he did not want it. He wanted to be alone and be a mega politician the way he was establishing mega schools and mega hospitals. That is the problem. He had always suspected that I had a governorship ambition and what he wanted to do was to cut me to size, and I had the opportunity to tell him that it was not so, but he didn’t believe and started behaving very funny. Thus, when I read his body language very well, I had to respect myself. I had to respect my age. I am older than him, I am more intellectually exposed than him and I am more socially exposed than him. I don’t think I should remain there and be rubbished by a young man, therefore, I had to leave. To be in politics is not the end of life. I am there because my people want me to be there and if I am in a situation where I cannot be self-fulfilled and I cannot perform optimally, I think it is more respectful to leave. I was prepared to leave the Senate if that was the decision, but at least I would have acted in line with my conscience. So the issue of betrayal doesn’t come in. if you look at the man himself, he betrayed Chief Adekunle Ajasin when he aligned with Akin Omoboriowo; he betrayed Adefarati and Agagu. He has a chequered history of betrayal. I have only changed my party once. I am proved right now, with what has happened in the country. People who don’t understand him, now do.
Do you think the APC can manage this success and the different interests in its fold?
People thought that the APC would not survive even at the registration point. The ruling party did not want it to start. At the party elections, they thought the party would break up but we went through that. Let me tell you that the people behind this party are shrewd politicians. They know what Nigerians expect, and will put the interest of Nigerians above the interest of individuals. Going through our constitution, one will see that it is clearly a democratic party and if one looks at our manifesto one will see that the interest of Nigerians is the most important. We cannot rule out differences or a situation where some people will try to project their own interest, but I think the party is disciplined enough. And with the image of our leader, General Muhammadu Buhari, who has zero tolerance for selfish interest, corruption and indiscipline, we will not find it difficult as a party to put the national interest above individual interest. A lot of sacrifices have been made for us to arrive at this stage and we will continue to do that.
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