Hon Segun Odebunmi popularly known as BUNVIC is a PDP lawmaker who recently defects to the ruling APC with over 5000 members of his political group who are PDP members, in this interview with Remi Oladoye, Hon Odebunmi explains why he left PDP
Sir your resolve to decamp to APC is surprising at this moment because people sees you as a very strong pillar in the party in the country, what informs the sudden change of mind
You are very correct, I can see myself as one of the pillars of PDP in the state and I love the party so much I can beat my chest that since the formation of the party I have never step out of it, whatever the situation, whatever the condition I always identified with the party and I could remember when I want to contest for second term in office of the chairman, Suruulere local government , I was sidelined even when it was obvious that my people are ready to go to any length to ensure that I won the primary election but the decision was made from the top and upon all, i considered it as one of the sacrifices to pay for the party to survive , I negotiated for political office for my followers and I remain in the party so my leaving the party is not about political or personal decision, its not about me as a politician its about the injustice meted out to my people
Can you expatiate that sir
Yes , during the life of Baba Adedibu, we are all ready to abide by any directive from Baba even if it’s against the interest of the majority, because of the respect we have for Baba we always abide by his position and I use to tell my people that we should endure it but we believe that a time Is coming when such things will cease to continue and that whoever has followers will have a say or influence in decision taking in the party and not quite long it happens and my people are able to determine who will be their representative in any platform and offices but all of a sudden the crisis engulf the party and it degenerated to the level that the leaders failed to identify who are people on ground , who are the paper weight that claim to be close to Abuja office and who are the people that are closer to the people , when the APC tsunami clears PDP representatives in other states and constituency and I remain the only one elected in Oyo state on the platform of the party, many people including those who knows me and not my political strength and those who might have not heard of my name before were asking how I made it, I am a silent achiever and I always identified with my people , after the election, I still identified with the party , I kept the flag flying even when my friends from other party are calling me I told them I will prefer to remain in the party, my people kept to their promise and we kept sustaining the party in my constituency and the state but all of a sudden, the power that be just came and they disorganized everything, people were not recognized according to their ability any more but people with sugarcoated mouth and influence in Abuja were given priority and considered , I think politics has gone beyond that when I came back home I withdrew to myself and ask my people to interface with the representatives of the party and advise me on what should be the next move, they met with stakeholders and consult may people and a decision was reached which is to leave the party since they did not consider my influence and efforts in sustaining the party.
You made mentions of leaders who are the people you are referring to as leaders
We have leaders at the National level of the party led by caretaker committee chairman Senator Markafi and we have emergency leaders who have left the party form a long time and believe they are the only saint that can drive the party,
You mean you were not carried along in the process of reconciliation and reformation of the party
Its not about me as a person, many people are not carried along, people who have been working tirelessly to sustain the party when they left for other party were sidelined and those who left the party for material gain were recognized and they made those who are loyal to the party to be in the cold as regard the party matter
Does that mean PDP is dead in Oyo State?
If you are refereeing to this political dispensation, I can authoritatively tell you that I am the only elected political office holders in the state from PDP and the moment I dropped the flag it is as good as dead.
But you play a significance role in the reconciliation process why the sudden change of mind
Yes we believed in bringing everybody back to the party and see how do we channel the course of moving forward but some people because of their selfish interest and ambition thwarted our move to unite the party, some members who plays anti party during the election even have more say , to the best of my knowledge if someone play anti party to the party he belong to and the necessary steps to be taken is to set up a committee or instigate disciplinary committee to investigate and whoever is found wanting is sanctioned but in the case of PDP instead of sanctioning them they are being rewarded then how do we move forward with that system , I remember shortly after I won the election some people approached me and they told me to drop PDP and work for another party but I refused I reminded them of an agreement to rebuild the party and told them if the agreement won’t be followed again they should let us go back to the drawing board to discuss it not in the midway of the election so I disagree of the move to vote for accord party
You mean you have been called to join Accord party before?
No, I was asked to direct my followers to vote for Accord party while I remain in PDP so this are the things that happens and so there is nobody even to sanction just to warn that what they did was wrong and never do it again
Are you saying the coming back of Accord Leader Senator Rashidi Ladoja to PDP is not a blessing for the Party
To best of my knowledge I don’t see it as such, some may see it as a blessing but to me it is not
People are still wondering how you escape the APC tsunami in 2015 , can you share with the public how you did it what gives you the strength
That is why I said I am not the one that did it, the glory and honour is returned to God and after God it is my people , actually I enjoy relationship with my people, its not about money, even when I don’t have I tell them and we shared experience and information , we discuss, deliberate,. You know politician in our area here cherished relationship, They want to see you , share their views and feelings with you some may not even collect money if you offer them so when you make yourself available they built confidence and trust in you and will follow you to anywhere and do anything for you to succeed even beyond politics
Are you joining APC to seek more political relevance or for 2019 ambition
The future ambition is immaterial for now , every politician is ambitions as we speak now, party leaders from other state are calling me to rescind the decision of my people on the party, they even promised me to return whatever I fell might have been taken away from my political camp and others but it’s not about me alone, may be if they have intervened at the beginning of the crisis , this wouldn’t have happened but it has , there is nothing we can do, we have consulting and seeking opinions for quite some times now and today we have made a submission which is to join APC
Do you see any future about APC in Ngeria especially in 2019 when people are already complaining about economic downturn do you see APC winning election ?.
It’s a matter of given our people more explanation about the economy, let me tell you what is going on in this country, whoever is the president it would happen , the failure to have a better plan yesterday is what we are witnessing today, Ngeria has been in the mid of suplursity in the past but we failed to plan for the future, we fail to plan for the period of scarcity, who are the architect of this failure, they are past leaders unfortunately members of my former party, lets be realistic, during the oil boom we have enough to reserve to plan for the future, but we fail to do that but with time we will get over it
What informed the decision to Visit your former political leader Otunba Alao Akala in his house in Ogbomoso
I have been to him before that Sunday , I went to him in Abuja to convince him to come back to PDP I was there around 9pm and I left at 3 am because that will be the first time we’ll be meeting after our departure, we discuss so many things and I also let him realize why he should come back to PDP, not knowing that as I was trying to convince him to come back to PDP some people are already planning and working against his coming back but whichever way, I believe God has the final say on ever human decision, finally he decided to stay back in APC and since he took the decision , I also concluded to continue with PDP until strange things started happened and our people decided that we look for alternative and I started consultation , part of my consultation is what drove me to my former boss again last Sunday to tell him that my people have given me the mandate to look for another political platform and where you are is one of the platform I am considering and I must let you know as a leader, and you know there can’t be today without yesterday and there is no way I will write my history without mentioning Otunba Adebay Alao Akala
During the visits of President Olusegun Obasanjo he said that you are a good man but you should look for another party, is another factor considered to join APC
Honestly I just remember now, you know our leaders do see things beyond our reach, he said so but I laugh over it,, I never believe its possible, I did not agree with Baba that very day, but today see what has just happened , may be that prophetic statement was the beginning of the ,move
In Ogbomoso today we have a Senator, a former governor and a serving member of House of Reps in APC with other political stalwarts in the party what does ogbomoso stand to benefit from the party especially in 2019 , do we stand the chance of producing the next governor ?
Thank you for this question, it is important to have a very solid foundation ahead any political dispensation that is coming in the last few years we have not been united politically in Ogbomoso and this has affected us, we are not getting it right and some people were somewhere praying for this town that they want us to speak with one voice and I can see the development is part of the manifestations of their prayers , and we are all planning to work together to come under one roof which I believe the city stand the great chance to gain from as regard the governorship, its only God that can determine who will be the next governor and I will be very happy if the party and people of the state can deem it fit to give us the chance to produce then next governor, we have capable hands if you want to give us opportunity to have 8 years we have good hand even if its four years we have capable hands, and I am sure we’ll never fail
