The Oyo State House of Assembly had a plenary session on 25 June 2015 and CEOAfrica was able to catch up with one of the honourable men who granted his audience and gave his view on a number of salient issues. Kadiri Tolani reports:

Can we meet you sir?

I am Oluwakayode Solomon Akande. I am representing Ogbomosho-south constituency in the 8^th House of Assembly of Oyo State.

Can we have a brief of your foray into politics?

I joined partisan politics in 1998. That was prequel to the inception of the fourth republic and when the country had three major political parties, namely: All Peoples’ Party (APP), Alliance for Democracy (AD) and Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP). I was a member of the AD. After a while, I joined the APP. The party later metamorphosed into the All Nigeria Peoples’ Party (ANPP). In 2005, however, I joined the PDP. Certain events later unfolded and with the chemistry of the political terrain late last year, it became expedient for my leader and I to defect to the Labour Party. It was on the platform of the Labour Party that I contested and won the election in my constituency.

You have defected to a number of political parties since your joined partisan politics. How would you describe your own political philosophy as it relates to the ideologies of the political parties which you have once belonged to at one time or the other?

My political philosophy is centred on service. I have always been concerned with what I can do to make the society better for the people. I have been so passionate about my principle and have always been concerned about moving in the direction of that principle. So as an individual whenever I find myself in an environment hindering my principles, the ideal thing is to leave such an environment and find another setting where your principles will be appreciated.

When we were in the PDP, we believed there was injustice on the path of who got the governorship ticket. We believed our leader, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala was a victim of injustice. So on the altar of this principle we decided to quit the PDP. To put more succinctly, my principle has always been the force behind my movements politically.

In what way then has your principle triggered you in frowning against the huge pay package of Honourables which obviously is not in proportion with what the average civil servant earns in the state?

Well, the current financial crisis is not limited to Oyo State alone. It is a problem affecting all the states of the federation and Oyo State is not an exception. We are really concerned about the plight of civil servants and pensioners in the state. As individuals who have consciences, we are also thinking of what to do to ensure that the arrears of salaries, pensions and gratuities are paid.

You should know quite all right that the thirty-six governors recently had a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari where they lamented about the difficulty they were going through in footing the wage bills of their states. Some of these governors even use their allocations in prosecuting federal projects which ends up telling negatively in the concurrent responsibilities. The current crisis is largely tied to the country’s waning oil revenue due to the fall in the price of oil globally. The President has equally promised to refund those state monies used in executing federal projects.

So we believe that when these monies are paid coupled with the amounts being gotten as statutory allocations, most states should be able to fulfil their obligations in terms of wage bill. Oyo State should not be an exception either.

Regarding, the huge pay package being given to the Honourables in the Executive arm, it is important people realise that we just came into the saddle. I have not received any allowance from the state government or federal government. So I can only give my take on what I have seen or received. That notwithstanding, if a sharp reduction in our salaries is what will guaranty more efficiency or bring about an alleviation of the situation being faced by our people, then so be it. The motivation behind leadership should not be about oneself but the passion to make life better for the people.

What is your take regarding the last gubernatorial election, which is still pending in the court? Being a member of an opposition party, are you in consonance with those who believe the election was fraught with malpractices?

Our party leader, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala who was also the flagbearer actually accepted the result in utmost good faith. It is clearly on record that when the result was announced by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Ambassador Akeju, my leader was the first person to call the incumbent governor to congratulate him. He obviously exhibited a rare sense of sportsmanship. So about the election petition filed by the Accord Party, they definitely have their reasons for challenging the outcome of the election. The matter is currently before the tribunal so it is sub judice. It is better for me not to make a verdict.

It was reported in Vanguard newspaper online that Governor Abiola Ajimobi was involved in a friction with newsmen at the meeting which the governors had with President Buhari in Abuja. What is your view?

I suppose that was reported online in the evening (Thursday) and thus it should be in print in Vanguard today (Friday). As you can see, the paper I have on my desk now is Tribune. So until I lay my hands on that paper, I sincerely cannot give a verdict on it.

Can you give a recap on the plenary session that was held today at the House of Assembly?

We had the first executive bill in today’s plenary session. The bill is a Revenue Law. Once it gets the assent of the Executive Governor, it would afford the state government the opportunity to put a revenue board in place. This will help boost the Internally Generated Revenue of the state.

We also had a motion being raised on the indiscriminate substitution of textbooks being used in public and private schools. We realised that the textbooks used in most private primary and secondary schools are quite different from the ones being used in public schools. It is indeed a sharp deviation from what used to be the norm in the 80s’ and 90s’. We are wary of the fact that such trend might bring about variances in the academic curriculum.  On this note, the House agreed to find out if there are any regulations allowing private schools to use textbooks different from the ones being used in public schools. At the end of the day, the House resolved to summon the Ministry of Education and the State Universal Education Board to our next sitting which will be on June 30, 2015. The views given by the two agencies will help determine the solutions which the House would proffer.

It was reported that there was a controversy that trailed the emergence of the Minority Leader in the House. Can you give us an account of what transpired?

The House is a House of rules. We have rules that regulate the activities and powers of the elected officers as stipulated by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

To cut the story short, there was a precedence and we acted by precedence. You will agree with me that in 2011, Accord Party was having eight members in the House which was the least then among the three parties whose flagbearers won seats in the House of Assembly. Despite having the least number of Honourables, Accord Party still produced the deputy Chief Speaker and the deputy Chief Whip. I suppose you understand how sensitive those offices are. In order to suit their political interest, the rule of the House was suspended. Order 7, rule 9 (1) stipulates that the minority party with the highest number of members should produce the minority leader.

However, order 8 rule 7 also provides that any session of the House can be suspended going by the two-thirds vote of the majority. So when the 8^th Assembly first sat, Accord Party tried activating the rule of the House which gave them the privilege to provide the Minority leader being the opposition party with the highest number of members. The Labour Party, however, simply employed the same manoeuvring which Accord Party took advantage of four years ago.

That is politics nevertheless. In fact, it is now a thing of the past. We all relate as brothers and when necessary we relegate our partisanship for the common cause of the state.