The deputy governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Lagos State in March 18 election, Princess Islamiyat Oyefusi, speaks to MUHAMMED LAWAL on the challenges facing the state chapter of the party, among other issues
The Labour Party gained popularity before the general elections in the state but failed to win the governorship poll in Lagos State. What went wrong?
I do not think it is the case of what went wrong. The election was marred by a lot of violence. There were attacks on our agents and the voters that were voting for our political party. There was so much violence going on in Lagos State that nearly 50 per cent of the people that voted in the presidential election on February 25 did not turn up on March 18 because of the violence. Some of our agents were beaten; they were stabbed and non-indigenes were being discriminated against. They were beaten, and because of that, fatigue set in and everybody was scared. So, they just literally did not turn out to vote and people that turned out to vote were not able to do so.
I have evidence to show of people being stabbed in the head, stabbed in the neck and flogged at their polling units. It was violent and I pray and I hope that we never see such an election again in Nigeria. Sometimes, I wonder and say, ‘Are we fighting for independence again or are people coming out to exercise their civic rights?’ You just wonder what was going on in Nigeria, but it was just too violent and that was what went wrong. The security operatives at the polling units were overpowered. There was not enough security on the ground. There were thugs at the polling units. Even in front of my house, they were shooting up and down, and I could not go out. It was that bad.
Many believed that if your political party had formed an alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party, both parties would have stood a better chance of upstaging Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Did the Labour Party at any time before the election consider any alliance?
I do not think that was the reason why we did not win. We worked with a lot of political parties; and they came out openly for us. The PDP supported us; they worked for us because we came from the PDP. So they know us. The PDP supported us because Dr Olajide (Adediran) did not step down for my principal. For the alliance, if you look at the presidential election, we won without any alliance, the margin was clear. The PDP did not even get a quarter of the vote that we got. So, they realised that they must form an alliance with us for us to win effectively in the governorship election, but I keep repeating that the reason was not that one did not step down for the other. The level of violence is the reason. As I am speaking to you, the Labour Party is still paying hospital bills of supporters who were attacked and injured at polling units.
How did you feel when a hookah-smoking image was used to represent you during the Lagos State governorship election?
I went online and I said it was not me. For me, the crown does not fight ordinarily. I am from a royal family and I have never smoked in my life. I don’t know how to smoke. For me, this is a political game. If you are in politics, you expect everything. Look at the French President; he was slapped when he went out to campaign. Look at the King of England; people were throwing things at him. That is all part of the fun of politics. So, for people that normally search for my picture on Google, you see that the image they used does not look like me. So, it is not something to fret over. What got me upset was when they brought discrimination and ethnic profiling into it.
Why did you leave the PDP to join the LP?
I had always been with the PDP regardless if they gave me a ticket or not. For me, I studied the manifesto of the Labour Party and it aligned with what I wanted. The PDP was the first party in Nigeria that every appointment, every selection and every election, you have 35 per cent of women. There was a case where out of 22 people, we had one woman. It became very clear and glaring that they were only paying lip service to 35 per cent affirmative action in favour of women and they were never going to implement it. That was the last straw that broke the camel’s back for me. My principal (Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour) moved to the Labour Party and they asked me to be his running mate because we both ran in 2019 senatorial districts in Lagos. Our agenda and vision for Lagos State. So, I accepted the offer.
Some people say that the Lagos State governorship candidate of the LP, Rhodes-Vivour, does not have the experience to govern Lagos State and that the state is too big for him. How will you react to this?
I do not agree because Jakande did not have any experience and he remained the best governor this state has ever produced because he knew what good governance was all about. People had access to housing and healthcare, etc. It is not about experience. It is about delivery of service and we have the vision of how we want Lagos to run based on what we are generating in Lagos State. So, he (Rhodes-Vivour) is very qualified. He went to one of the best schools in the world and Nigeria.
He has worked with various governments in China and the United States. How much experience does (Babajide) Sanwo-Olu have? (Akinwunmi) Ambode and (Babatunde) Fashola have never governed a state before they became Lagos State governors. Some of them worked in the civil service; they have not run a state. How much experience did (President Bola) Tinubu have when he became the governor of Lagos State? I always believe that the vision is the drive because the global environment is changing the vision. If you do not have the vision, you can’t do this thing. You cannot know when to make a change. You cannot keep building a state with the vision of the 1970s. The youth know about this piece that is driving the economy; that is what governance is all about.
The Lagos LP supporters seem to have moved on after the elections. Do you think you still have their support and solidarity?
In Lagos State, the opposition voices have been suppressed. So, there is no opposition voice. Anytime you say something and say, ‘No, let us do this; this is not what you are supposed to do’, it sounds like a criticism. Yes, I do agree that we have some extremes. With the LP being quiet now, it looks like our followers have dropped off and they have given up entirely. We have not lost the support base; we are just waiting to hear from the tribunal, and after that, we will move, but we are working and we are building.
Your political party petitioned the election tribunal, challenging the outcome of the governorship poll. Are you optimistic that the LP stands a chance of winning at the tribunal?
You see, I try not to comment on a case that is in court, but I believe that we won this election. The evidence there speaks for itself. We believe in the judicial system of Nigeria. I am 100 per cent confident that if they allow the process and if the evidence is analysed, they will know who won this election. We have to change politics in Nigeria because if we do not get this right, I fear for this nation; Nigerians may completely lose faith in the country. The Japa syndrome is a result of losing faith in the country.
The Labour Party accused the APC of carrying out attacks on its supporters before and after the election. Despite this, the LP in the state was said to have taken care of the victims without following the cases even with video evidence. What is your view on this?
They were attacked and I have video evidence. We are paying hospital bills of these supporters. I have paid over N6m. The government did not raise a finger to help us. People were running into my father’s palace because all the polling units around there and people were not allowed out of the community or to even go and vote. That is why I said that we should never again allow this to repeat itself in Nigeria. I cannot assume the amount my principal is spending to care for people, and the party also spent on caring for people.
As I am talking to you, there is still someone at Ikorodu, who we are still taking care of because his leg was cut with a machete. What is even more pathetic and appalling is that the government of the day did not acknowledge that such a thing happened. They never apologised to the youth. They said it was a lie until the videos started coming out. This is what we should never again allow to repeat itself in Nigeria.
As a notable daughter of Ikorodu, do you think the people of Ikorodu supported you and your party during the general elections?
Yes, they did. We had to battle for the presidential election in Ikorodu. Based on the result sheet that was given to us, we had 60,140 votes and the APC got 50,000. But with the result that was eventually declared by INEC, we were given almost 39,000 votes and the APC was given 50,000 votes. If they did not vote for us, where did we get 39,000?
What will you say about the belief that it’s almost impossible to unseat the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State, especially in the governorship election?
We have proven that they can be unseated. They had not lost since 1999; we did that on March 18 and that was the first time they were beaten. Like I said to someone, you do not go into war and say my opposition brought machine guns. You knew you were going to war; so, you should have brought a better machine gun. But it was not expected that people were going to get flogged at the polling units. They had never lost Eti Osa, but they lost it.
Do you think people have moved on from the ethnic issues that took centre stage during the governorship election?
No, I do not believe so. I think it is still taking place with all the things we are reading. I think we need a serious re-education of people, which is what we want to start doing after the tribunal. People have not moved on.
Since you have been encouraging women to join politics, with what you witnessed in the last election in Lagos State, do you think women can withstand violence during elections?
Not only are they terrified, even their husbands tell them not to go there. When it becomes too violent and too dirty, it is not an environment conducive for women. We were fighting for affirmative action and it is the same thing for people with disabilities. So, we need those laws to back the agenda and if we do not have the law, I am afraid that in 10 years, we are still going to be here, you will see how many women we are putting out there.
What is your view on the ongoing issue in the state chapter of the LP where the party now has two factional chairmen?
There is no party that does not have issues. The one in the LP is just prominent because it was the party that came out on top. It is the party trending now and that is why it has its problems. It is a pity that we are in this situation. The young people are being disheartened by what is going on. I think that after the tribunal, you will see a different LP. After the tribunal, when we get to congress, these issues will be solved. The people have spoken and they have elected a leader, so, all the divisions will die. You cannot challenge the people; if you do, the case will be proven. However, right now, we do not have a congress. So, most people see this as a selection instead of an election. We have that problem. However, I do not have the details of the cases of the allegation or what case the other faction is saying.
This ongoing saga will hopefully end in October when the higher courts pronounce the final judgment on the issue; nevertheless, I must state categorically that it is time to sanitise our courts and the judicial arm of government. This whole problem lies at the door of the courts. It is very wrong for two lower courts of the same nation in two different states to pronounce two different judgments on the same issue. It is grotesque enough that we as a nation have just allowed and used the judiciary to destroy our democratic processes, but now, we are using it as a mechanism for desecrating our political parties.
