By Sola Ajisafe, Esq.
“Ekiti people are 100 per cent loyal to Asiwaju. Ekiti presidential election results was among the first that came in. We shall compare full loyalty to partial loyalty when we get there. I am proud of Ekiti senators.” -Akinlaborn
The above quote was taken from the Liberal Platform WhatsApp group. It was an opinion expressed by one important member of the group. Those who know will understand the depth of the message. It is deeper than konga.
Yesterday, the social media went on overdrive, when it became clear that Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, against many expectations went against the party, the interest of Mr President and the wish of the Ondo State people, particularly, the good people of Ondo South senatorial district, to vote for Abdulaziz Yari, former governor of Zamfara State for the position of the President of the Senate in the 10th National Assembly.
It is heart warming and compensatory that both Yari and Ibrahim, who “yari-ed”
all “lu-lled” at the National Assembly yesterday to a superior political strategy. Asiwaju “na your mate?”
I was in my hotel room in Abuja monitoring the events when an elderly friend of mine from the South, in the person of Honourable Tawose entered my room and informed me that they have started voting and that it was “your friend Jimoh who supported the nomination of Yari.” I could not hide my surprise. I never knew when I said “what?” He said, “But we told you when you people were begging us for him to go to the Senate. We said we knew him.
Fortuitously, I stayed in the same hotel with many people from the Southern senatorial district. When I tried to feel their pulse, they were not surprised because they never expected anything different. But they were not only angry but disappointed.
Sometimes ago, when Jimoh Ibrahim appeared on Seun Okinbaloye’s programme on Channels, and made some profound statements to which he received many flacks, I came to his defence on the issue of the economy, simply because, I have worked with him and he has always had very iconic and big ideas. But I was uncomfortable with his political choice as it concerns the National Assembly elections. I made efforts to get to him but since he won the election into the Senate, he had been incommunicado, unlike when we were preparing for both the primaries and the election proper. All the same, I stood stoically and defended him. I almost fought a younger cadre who referred to him as “Palmpay” on account of his 90-day debt payment theory.
On the issue of the Senate, I was convincing myself that it was either a strategy or a slight disagreement that would be resolved before the elections. I never knew Jimoh had basically “Yari kan le.”
Although, I have always claimed a relationship with Jimoh and I have always seen him as a smart person. This relationship dated back to 2003 on account of many things. I considered him and I still see him as a rare breed, an intellectual giant – no apologies. I know of his courage which people termed arrogance – so what?
I have seen him translate his big ideas to great dreams and achievements. I know of his capacity to think on his feet. I admire his ability to convince Sunshine Stars to win the UEFA Champions League.
Unfortunately, I never knew he could be so politically naive, lacks street credibility and savvy, socially unenlightened, culturally dumb and unintelligent with no historical understanding. I have always considered that he retained some levels of local content, coupled with his vast educational attainment.
Unfortunately, numerous degrees and educational attainments is different from being street wise. I was in a world of my own and lost interest in going for the various ‘owambes’ across Abuja, to which I was invited on Tuesday. I kept inside my room until later in the day.
The significance of the statement quoted above can only be understood if you are a true believer in the wellbeing of Ondo State. The people of Ondo State suffered significantly under the Muhammadu Buhari administration, despite our best efforts. For the eight years of Buhari to which many of us almost gave our lives, our state never received any reasonable compensation in terms of projects or appointments. For eight years, all we got was Minister of State. Until the era of Prince Ademola Adegoroye, both Professor Daramola and Senator Alasoadura, who came before him never made any significant contributions or impacts as ministers. They achieved nothing.
The question in the mind of the people of Ondo State was: would the election of Senator Godswill Akpabio and Dr. Tajudeen Abass as heads of the leadership of the National Assembly cement the new political thinking of Nigeria? Granted the inauguration and swearing-in of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, as Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, our people believed we have started a new journey of prosperity, because within this few days in office, the story of Nigeria had started to change and the song on their lips had become that of joy and great expectations.
One great question that is in the mouth of every Ondo State indigene is “are we going to partake in this great story or it is going to be another Buhari era?” Among our three senators, I considered Jimoh to make the highest impact at the Senate. Because of their different personalities, I was of the opinion that Jimoh has the chance of being a bulldozer, while Adegbonmire, SAN, would be the man to soften grey areas and bring in the contacts; while Ipinsagba will use his age and experience to coordinate their efforts. Unknown to me, Jimoh had other plans.
What Jimoh did on Channels television had laid to waste our expectation and making a direct confrontation with Asiwaju and the Presidency was a tactical error and a political disaster.
Despite my defense of his claim to be able to solve our debt issues within 90 days, his refusal to see that voting for Yari was a calamitous position and a sacrilege to the people of Ondo State became a grave concern. Going on national television to advertise himself and insisting on having the Ijapa – Tortoise – personality. It belittled him and called to question and reduced his educational attainment than it uplifted it. He did not only get many of his facts wrong during the interview, he took the wrong turn by maintaining a vain estimation of himself.
The question is who do we blame for this inelegant, void display of value and tact and childish behavior?
We cannot blame Pa Jimoh – a bricklayer – who laid a solid foundation for Ibrahim, just like any African father would do. I met other Jimoh siblings, particularly the late Akintola Jimoh, a versatile lawyer and complete gentleman. May the good Lord bless his soul. We cannot blame majority of Ondo South leaders and the people across party line who insisted that they will not to have anything to do with Jimoh politically, because they know he will betray them.
Can we in all honesty blame the governor of Ondo State, who saw in Jimoh a man of high intellect, courage and capacity and believed he will bring his intellectual fecundity and international outlook to bear on the political process in Nigeria?
Can we blame Jimoh Ibrahim, who exploited the system to his own advantage. He discovered there is poverty in the land and adopted the “stomach infrastructure strategy” called “Aseyori.” He brought 2-kilogram rice and Indomie and distributed to the people under the scorching sun. Blame the system that threw up characters and elements like Jimoh Ibrahim to the detriment of the people they are to serve. Blame a political process that only see leadership from a merchantile perspective and not from the Omoluabi angle. Blame a party structure that thinks more of self than the views and wishes of the party members, but the personal gains that will accrue to them.
Do not blame Jimoh but blame some of us who got emotional about everything and felt education or acquisition of certificates is the best thing. Blame me for mobilizing people – even though I do not have a vote in Ondo South – for
Jimoh Ibrahim.
Without any contradiction, I can claim to be one of those that made his coming to the Senate possible. If he believed it was his money, he should perish the idea, because people would still have collected his money, eat his rice, collect his branded caps and still vote for his opponents. But for the insistence of Mr Governor, who not only convinced, compelled and literally “blackmailed” the Southern senatorial district leaders, there is no opportunity in this world by which he would have won the primaries. Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu commanded Chief Olusola Oke and other political leaders and appointees in the area to go and “deliver” Jimoh. Otherwise, his millions would have been in waste.
When he told me he was awaiting Mr. Governor’s approval to contest for the Senate, I never doubted his capacity. I knew that was a place for him because of his inherent capacity. I started reaching out to my friends in the South about his ambition. Almost all of them swore by anything that is good that they would never work for Jimoh. I reported back to him and he always encouraged me to prevail on them. When eventually he told me that the governor had asked him to go ahead and he started consultation, I intensified my efforts. Many of them already pitched their tents with other candidates. All of them had issues with his behaviors and values. I went out of my way to convince them. I practically exploited my relationship with these people and also blackmailed many of them. To the glory of God, I dragged many of them to his camp. Many of these engagements were not only through sms/WhatsApp and telephone calls, some were physical meetings. I always report back to Jimoh. It took time, resources and efforts before we got results. When they did, they became pillars of the campaign during the primaries.
Even after the primaries, I continued my engagements with some of the political leaders of the South, particularly those who still felt bad about the way the primaries was handled and many of them were still opposed to Jimoh’s ambition. I called series of meetings and went to the houses or offices of many of the leaders. I can name names, I have records of all the activities in this regard. There were many reasons why they did not want to support his ambition. Aside from his vaunted ego and conduct which can be encapsulated in lack of good interpersonal relations, he was said to have trust issue. While I could deal with the previous, I never knew he could not be trusted to keep his words.
Yesterday, many theories were propounded why Jimoh did what he did. Some said he was following the orders of Mr Governor, who had disagreed with the zoning arrangement. It was even said all the three senators from Ondo State voted for Yari. I know of a fact that these two postulations were not correct.
Zamfara where Yari came from is in the North-West and Aketi specifically opposed the North-West having two principal officers. If he opposed the zoning of Deputy Senate President to the zone, why will he encourage Jimoh to go and vote for the same zone for the Senate President? It just did not make sense.
Two, the proposition, that both Adegbonmire and Ipinsagba voted for Yari, is from the pit of hell. Only Jimoh did and Mr Governor did not give such directives. Even if he did, Niyi Adegbonmire will refuse such instruction.
This action by Jimoh Ibrahim will have political consequences. I am bold enough to tell him and let him know he has crossed a political red flag.
I may not know the consequences he will suffer for this sacrilege, but he should, just like Senator Tayo Alasoadura, for siding with Bukola Saraki in 2015. I expected Jimoh to use the Senate to correct the bad impressions that people of Ondo State, and particularly the elite in the South have for him. He has missed a golden opportunity to redeem himself. Now that he has lost it, he will need ten times efforts to change the narrative.
In the process of convincing the people of the South to vote for Jimoh, one issue that continued to arise was that his ultimate aim was the governiship seat of Ondo State. I denied it. The reasons are he told me his focus was to become the Secretary General of the United Nations. That was why he went to acquire the many degrees from the Ivy League universities he attended. He said every of them were either from Cambridge, Oxford or Harvard. He said it was a deliberate effort on his part to attend those universities.
When information started getting to me that he said he wanted to contest for the governorship of Ondo State, I denied it on his behalf, based on what I knew. But when our common friends began to harass me about it, I decided to confront him. All he told me was that he would invite me to Abuja for discussion. I am still waiting for the invitation.
If it is true that he is nursing a governorship ambition, it would negate what he told me and confirm the position of those who said he cannot be trusted. It will also confirm the position of those who he gave his words that he will not contest and they supported his senatorial ambition. He made this promise to many of the
elders of the South senatorial zone, who were compelled by Mr Governor to support him. I know he made the promise to Chief Olusola Oke, SAN, Mr.
Wale Akinterinwa, and probably Princess Oladunni Odu. If he reneged on his promise to these people – not that he cannot – there are political and electoral consequences for it.
On my part, the consequence of his current action and negation of his promise is that for the first time, he will not enjoy my support. Not enjoying my support means he will not enjoy the support if other like minds like me in Ondo State. This is not a threat, it is a statement of fact.
Mr Jimoh Ibrahim may wish to rely on his money and his dollars. If it failed him and Yari on Tuesday at the National Assembly elections, where they scored just a negligible three votes, that of the Ondo State primaries will be the mother of all defeats, and it would be very personal and painful. It is going to be a duel between a people who do not have money and a man who has too much money. It will be a contest of integrity and idea against lack of integrity and money. We will contest the political space of Ondo State with him every inch, and he will find no place to stand. His only saving grace is if Arakunrin and Asiwaju asked us to work for him, that is the only time he can pick the ticket. On his own account, “he will lose ‘l’áyé, wọ́n á gbọ́ l’ọ́run.” That is he will lose so woefully.
Jimoh Ibrahim, by the singular act of betraying the people of Ondo State and more particularly the people of Ondo South has committed political harakiri. We will unleash all the known progressive forces against him and he will know what it means to be a team player, a party man and a man of his words.
I speak today as the voice of the progressive forces in Nigeria and Ondo State. Except, God, Asiwaju and Arakunrin intervene on his behalf, it is better for him not to waste his N5 million per delegate. He will not get delegates that will vote him but he will get people that will collect his money. Ó ti fi orí já political ilé agbọ́n, àwọn agbọ́n òṣèlú máa taá.
