Adebayo Shittu is a former Minister of Communications. In this interview monitored on Arise TV, he speaks on his plan for run for the governorship seat in Oyo State in 2027, why he won’t join the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and why the CPC bloc will support President Bola Tinubu in 2027, among other issues. ANAYO EZUGWU writes

Are you running for governorship in Oyo State in 2027 and what makes you confident you will win?

By the grace of God. Well, I pray that God would enable me to get the party’s ticket. One thing which is to my advantage is the fact that of the about 10 aspirants for governorship in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, I am the senior most. I have been an Awoist from the late 1970s.

In fact, I joined in forming the then Committee of Friends and then the Unity Party of Nigeria, under which I contested election into the then State House of Assembly and won. And for four years, I was a member of the then State House of Assembly. Thereafter, I have also been a Commissioner for Home Affairs, Information and Culture at age 30.

That was in 1983. Again, I have been Attorney General of Oyo State in 2007 before becoming the Honourable Minister of Communications. So four different critical political positions, I’ve occupied.

So I’m the most experienced of all the aspirants. There’s nobody who has had that combination of critical positions as I have been. Secondly, I’m also the most active in the sense of my contributions to the emergence of our President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I had a coalition of support groups, which I led as Director General.

There were 1,141 support groups from all over the country, which I presided over, and we were all over the country without taking a cover from anybody. And consistently, I have the most news savvy person in regards to defending the party, APC, and defending the Bola Ahmed Tinubu government. Nobody has done that more than I have done.

You think these stands you in good stead to get the ticket and probably win and you’re not even switching camp to African Democratic Congress (ADC)?

By the grace of God, I am too experienced to join ADC.

You were among the CPC bloc that visited the President recently. And the Speaker of the House told the President that the bloc is not fragmented, insisting that more than 90% of CPC’s pioneer leaders remain active and loyal. He is definitely pulling wool over the President’s eye, don’t you think so?

You think the President is so naive that he wouldn’t know what the truth is? Well, nobody has better statistics than the Speaker. Let me tell you, how did Babachir Lawal leave the government of Buhari? And if Malami had been there, what is the situation in Kebbi State now, where Malami comes from?

And what is the situation in Kaduna State? I sympathise with El-Rufai because I knew the contributions that he put up during the formation of APC. And I wish that he is not undergoing the kind of experience he has now.

If I have a way of rescuing him, if I may use the word, I will certainly do it. But you know very well that his mentee is now in total control of Kaduna State.

It is too early for anybody to beat his chest and say this is the situation. In any case, if old members of CPC who have pulled out, if they were grateful souls, if they were people who appreciate what Tinubu did to salvage the image of our late leader, Muhammadu Buhari.

Our leader had contested election three times for presidency and he lost. He never regained that position that he wanted, the position of president, until Tinubu partnered with him to bring the whole of Southwest to his support. It was that the magic wand which brought about an eight-year Buhari presidency.

Why is the former SFG, Boss Mustapha not in the meeting?

He was not there and we didn’t miss him, if I may tell you. Mind you that Buhari’s 12 million votes never made him president. It was Tinubu’s contribution that galvanized his votes for him to become president.

And let me tell you, when you are talking of 12 million or 20 million or whatever million votes, these are human beings who cannot be forced to do any particular thing. We know the contribution of Tinubu in that election.

I was never a Tinubu person. I had always been a Buhari person. As a matter of fact, in 2011, when Buhari first contested for president, I also had contested for the governorship of my state as CPC governorship candidate. So I have always been part of the thing and nobody can tell me any new, any strange story.

You see, when a lot of people are looking at the fact that some people are leaving APC for whatever reason, they also forget that a lot more people, particularly key figures in government, who are still in government and still very influential, who were never part of APC are now coming into APC.

Malami has accused the CPC bloc support Tinubu of doing so for personal gains. What do you to say?

It means, in the same vein, we could also now allege that he refused, he checked out of APC for personal gains. So it doesn’t lie in his mouth. Is, am I there, am I in APC, because I was eyeing any personal gain.

I mean, he was a beneficiary of part of the good things that Tinubu did to bring Buhari into office. And he was there for eight years. So, does it lie in his mouth, when he has benefited from part of the contributions of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

You see, our politics will extend beyond this tango about personal gain or what is not personal gain. Today, I am almost sure that my friend, the former attorney general, he’s not finding it easy, even in his own state, Kebbi, because recently he was complaining that he’s been attacked by thugs and all of that.

So, you see, politicians will always try to create stories to justify whatever position they, out of personal benefit. When I say generally, I mean, maybe 90%, maybe 80% but it doesn’t mean the whole.

You see, nobody has taken as of today, because when they were trying to garner support in that coalition or whatever they call it, they tried to encourage me to come, but I didn’t see any need for it. I’m a statesman, and I’ve been in politics. I’ve left the state where anybody can bulldoze me into what is not convincing and what is not in the national interest.

Let’s do some mathematics here. You’re talking about getting this 12 million votes and winning 2027 presidency. There is resentment against the president coming from the North. In 2023, out of the 8 million votes that Tinubu got, 5.3 million of those votes came from the North. Do you think APC will find it difficult with the way the North is sounding against the current president to win the region?

Even when you are talking of the North, the North is not made up of dundees all through. There are a lot of people are thinkers, and a lot of people have talked to Mr. President. Come to think of it also, if you look at the number of people who live in APC, they are not up to the number of people coming into APC now.

Look at the Senate today. APC is almost controlling 80% of the Senate and these are human beings who also have influence, they have political positions, they have influence and all of that. They are impressed about the stability that Tinubu has brought into governance.

Let me tell you, I’m part of the masses because I don’t live in government house, and I don’t live in any parliament. As of today, I’m just chairman of a governing board. I mean, that does not make me to be a key person in government.

I don’t receive any salary from anybody. I live on my own, and I participate actively in politics, and I know experience of 47 years in politics have shown me that there’s nothing that anybody can bamboozle me about Nigerian politics.

It’s not possible for every individual active in politics to get political positions. I mean, we should appreciate that. It’s not possible. Let me tell you, there was an agreement between the two leaders at that time, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Buhari, they were the leaders who were dictating, and things will continue to change.

I mean, in politics, it’s a very dynamic thing. And I mean, if you become chairman does that mean you’ll be responsible for my feeding, or for the feeding of the people from your zone. It takes time and there’s nobody from all the states of this country who have not benefited one way or the other. So it’s individuals who felt they ought to have taken precedence over others. That will continue to cry