APC governors govern on pages of newspapers— Alao- Akala

Christopher Alao- Akala,who governed Oyo State between 2007 and 2011 when he vacated office for the present governor, Chief Abiola Ajimobi shortly after that year gubernatorial election. Penultimate Thursday, Akala formally declared his interest to run for the office of the governor of his state.

In this interview, shortly before the declaration, Akala said his entrance into the gubernatorial race is in the interest of the people whom he claimed have been clamoring for his return, because, according to him,” it is one thing to scratch somebody’s back,it is another thing to scratch the body where it is itching him”.

The PDP, shortly after it won the Ekiti election, said it was going to claim another victory in Osun. Having lost the Osun election now, what is the post mortem?
I hope you know we are already in court, contesting the election, so I would not want to talk much about it.

However, what is certain is that the opposition party is more pronounced on the pages of newspapers than doing the real work of governance. The APC governs on the front pages of newspapers. They are propagandists. They like propaganda. They talk more than they work and people have realized that now.

You know we people in Oyo State are quite exposed, because we are highly educated and so, because of that, it is now even more difficult, unlike before, to throw any garbage at them and they accept it. The people are wiser now. They won’t vote for just anybody again and it is obvious now that if it was PDP, the party would have made a lot of difference in their lives.

Are you saying that in the last three years, the APC government has not done anything for the people?
Well, you have not got enough time to compare, because if you know our environment very well, then you know what I am saying. I am not saying the man has not done anything but, compared to what people like us have done, he has not done anything.

There wont be room for comparison if anything had not been left undone. It is because certain things have been left undone or have been done wrongly, that is why the clamour for me to return to office.

Again, it is one thing to scratch somebody’s body, it is another thing to scratch the body where it is itching him. If you scratch it where it is itching, of course, the fellow will enjoy it more. That is what we are going to do when we return to office. You need to study your people and know what they went, how they want it and you give it to them, not what you think is good for them.

But people are still clamouring for the same APC government to return for second term.
You don’t live here. So you don’t have knowledge of what is happening here.

But we read all these in the media.
That is what I was saying earlier. They are propagandists. You have just confirmed that now that they govern on the pages of newspapers. But we know what is happening here in the state, not what they feed the public through the media