Dr. John Adisa Oke popularly known as Legacy is an astute politician and a notable stakeholder of worth in Ogbomoso North local government.
Following the political tension arising as result of the alleged brawl that recently took place in the home of Dr. Saka Balogun, Dr. Oke spoke to selected newsmen to share more lights on what transpired and remote causes of the alleged fracas.
In an exclusive interview on Thursday, while reacting to the happenings which occurred at Baba Saka Balogun’s residence in Ogbomoso on Tuesday, he said there is nothing like stampede as reported by some faceless group stressing that Baba Saka Balogun is a highly respected person and no one would have any reason to unleash mayhem on him.
He said: “It has got to a point to let our Baba know what is right and wrong. We need to let him know that there are some elements that want to use their closeness to him to take advantage of other people.
“Baba is supposed to be the father of all but they want to use him to divide us. So, that is why we want to let Baba know that we all worked and have been loyal to the PDP. We have been in this Party for decades and we did not go anywhere.
In 2019, I contested for the Federal House of Representatives seat, in which Honorable Segun Ogunwuyi clinched the ticket. You can ask anybody, I worked tirelessly for the Party. I have never been involved in anti-Party. Even in 2022, Hon Olufemi Onireti and Hon. Akinwale Akinwole got the tickets of the House of Reps and the Senate respectively. We all contested together but they met me in this Party but after the declaration of the governor, I succumbed. But, to my surprise, Baba Saka and others are coming up with a list even without the inclusion of some of us who have been in the party and very active for quite a long time.
As a stakeholder, I have been a major financier of the Party, contributing human and financial resources in millions of naira to make the Party what it is today.
I have been putting my efforts into this Party since the time Ogbomoso was a-no-go zone. I personally sent a lengthy text message to Baba Saka Balogun on two occasions before the meeting. I learnt that they were calling some names and some stakeholders have been disenfranchised but Baba never responded. I still called him to let him know we are not in agreement with the situation. I am not only a stakeholder of the PDP but a stakeholder in Ogbomosoland. I stand to be corrected.
Oke-LEGACY however stressed that what they did was a protest and nothing like stampede. “Nobody was hurt and nothing was destroyed. We only went to Baba to tell him that the other people have an agenda and you can see the way they have secluded some stakeholders, which I don’t think the governor supports. Before the election, we were stakeholders but why will they be secluding some stakeholders after the election? Is that fair? Is that justice? You can now see the difference.”
“Everybody has worked for this victory but we should know how to manage it. Let us be united and be magnanimous in victory than for some people to turn Ogbomoso North into a battle ground. We only went there to protest, took our placards to let Baba know that we have been disenfranchised. Before I even went there, I sent him a lengthy message, which I equally copied some stakeholders. But I was shocked when Baba told me I was not among the stakeholders again.
When asked if he was the only one whose name was removed from the stakeholders list, he said names of many people including notable stakeholders were removed. “Is that politics? When you need people, you use them and dump them when you no longer need them. And Baba should be the one to balance things and not supposed to be one-sided. Is that fairness? Is that justice? If you don’t need us, just tell us to leave the party. Tell us that you want to take all the positions. I am not contesting for any position but we have all worked for Governor Seyi Makinde. Why should we be disenfranchised? One position is for one person but when people are disenfranchised, they feel there is something crooked happening.
“Let people participate in the process and that is why it is politics. That is why it is consultative. A situation whereby you do it authoritatively, this could lead to anarchy, it starts to become something else. So, it was peaceful as we voiced our minds and nobody was hurt. And I believe that peaceful protest is part of politics.
Responding on the footage that party members were echoing ole, ole, ole, meaning thief, thief, thief; he said in a situation like that, some people will use some foul language and he think it is out of pains.
He said: “This kind of act has been going on for many years. I can tell you that if you look at those at the meeting called by Baba Saka Balogun, I was the Youth Coordinator in 2019 for Governor Makinde in the whole of the state. In the last election, I was also the Youth Coordinator for Oyo North senatorial district in 2023 election. A lot of party members are pained and Baba is not connecting with them at the grassroots. These are the people we see every day to give N500, 1000 and above at ward meeting. If you critically analyse the way they did the protest, you will see that they composed themselves.
“I am not denying the fact that I was part of the protest. Yes, I was but no thugs were there. The people you see there were PDP members. Are PDP members thugs? These were the people who voted for governor Makinde and we all know ourselves. It is only when we want to start pretending as if we don’t know ourselves. All they want to do is to install their own candidate and use the party chairman as the vice. That is their plan and we knew it before they did it. The party chairman has been there for eight years. We have 10 wards in Ogbomoso North and why must everything go to one ward (Osupa) where we picked the House of Reps member, Senator, Woman leader, youth leader, Ex chairman of BCOS, Ex Chairman of Signage and the present vice chairman which baba want to impose again on us by all means. That is not political balancing as far as I am concerned.
In the last election, all the male candidates in the last Assembly stepped down for the female candidate all because the governor wanted at least one woman from each senatorial districts, and we did it in Ogbomoso as a sacrifice for Oyo North. This was also replicated in Oyo South except Oyo Central. We are women-friendly. All the 15 aspirants stepped down for our female candidate. We worked for her and she won. Not only that. Even before her, Alhaja Mulikat was a female candidate likewise Wumi Oladeji whom both spent 8years in the House of Representatives and State Assembly respectively. So, as it is, things are not balanced and that is why we are telling Baba to show fairness and justice in power distribution.
However, when asked whether he has a preferred candidate, he responded; “You see, what I want to make you understand is the fact that there must be party supremacy. When things are done in a fraudulent way, that is when you see fallouts and we are not settling for that because governor Makinde will not be on the ballot in 2027.
“We have to be careful with the way we manage the affairs of the party so that it won’t turn into something we cannot manage. I can tell you that what we are enjoying now is the personality of Governor Makinde. So, if we don’t manage to create a political structure after governor Makinde, I can confidently tell you that we won’t like the outcome in this constituency. That is why I am telling you that party supremacy and inclusivity are very important.
“Few years back, when some people did not get what they were looking for, they defected to another party to prevent our party from winning, but came back when they lost and Baba is still putting them as stakeholder above us that we are consistent with PDP. This party is for everybody and things must be done fairly.”
Oke-LEGACY called however appealed to Governor Seyi Makinde to intervene as the father of everybody and should look into the matter critically.
“Nobody want to labour in vain. We used to be stakeholders before the election and nothing has changed. It is all greed. That is ‘used and dump’ technique”, he submitted.
