POLITICAL gladiators in the pacesetter state from different political parties have continued to oil their political machinery in readiness for the 2019 governorship election, just as secret meetings are continually held, and alignments and realignments made.
Interestingly, the pioneer General Manager of OYSTROMA and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Engineer Rauf Olaniyan has maintained that his chances of succeeding Governor Abiola Ajimobi in 2019 are very bright.
Speaking to a group of online journalists under the aegis of South West Group of Online publishers, (SWEGOP) during the group’s breakfast media chat held in Ibadan, the state capital recently, the gubernatorial hopeful stressed, “I have not officially declared that I want to contest but even if I declare, my chances are bright. Irrespective of the strong forces you may be looking at, an underdog can still spring upsets. Like I said earlier, what would determine the chance of any aspirant is his qualification and some other parameters.
“When you take your dictionary, try and see the meaning of the word ‘underdog’. There is always an underdog in any setting. Even when you line up football teams in the World Cup, you will find out that there will be an underdog that will spring surprises”, he continued.
The former OYSTROMA boss, Olaniyan who recently dumped Accord Party (AP) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) also claimed that his new party can accommodate for as many governorship aspirants as possible, assuring that the swelling number of APC aspirants eyeing the Agodi government house would not undermine peace and harmony in the party.
“To what? Is it up to 1,000 already? So it doesn’t make any difference. The political space is wide enough for 1,001 aspirants to come out but there will be some yardsticks through which they will be decreasing by elimination.
“If you want to look at the aspirants, there is no way three parameters will not be considered, you want to know if that aspirant is sellable, is he a reliable person, is he a credible person, among other parameters. So you can see that if there are 1,001, one will eventually emerge”, he posited.
Olaniyan further disclosed that his relationship with Senator Rasidi Ladoja, the Accord Party leader, remains cordial and without acrimony.
The APC chieftain said, “there is no problem between me and Ladoja. ” In my office, I remember I drove one lady out of the compound because she used a derogatory word against Senator Ladoja. I told the gateman never to allow her enter the compound again. So it is up to that level.
“I simply joined APC because my people wanted me there. Long before I joined them, APC leaders were always courting me and asking me to join them. So, my politics is all about development of the people”.
