Honourable Afolabi Akinsiku, is a member, Board of Trustee (BTO) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), two-term member of the Ondo State House of Assembly, a Chartered member Institutes of Insurance and Arbitrator of Nigeria. A legal luminary and holder of LLB, from the prestigious Nigeria Law School Victoria Island Lagos State. He was a former Commissioner at the Ondo State House of Assembly Commission (A statutory board) for a term of five years (2016-2021). In this Interview with our Reporter he shared many light on the preparation of the PDP in the November gubernatorial election in Ondo State among many other issues. Excerpt.
Tell us about yourself
I am Honouarable, Barrister Afolabi Akinsiku, who holds the record of having represented Ondo West State Constituency 1 in the Ondo State House of Assembly for two consecutive terms of eight syears from 2007-2015, after which I was appointed as Commissioner 1 in the Ondo State House of Assembly Service Commission (A statutory board) for a term of five years of single term (2016-2021).
I spent unbroken ten years in tertiary education during which I obtain A levels certificate, BSc Insurance from the University of Lagos, LLB Law from the University of Ibadan, Barrister at Law (BL) from Nigerian Law School, Victoria Island, after which I was called to the Nigerian Bar as a Solicitor and advocate to the Supreme Court of Nigeria in December 1990. I also hold an MSc in Risk and Insurance Management, I am also an Associate of Chattered Institute of Arbitrator and a member of Chattered Insurance Institute of Nigeria.
After working with various chambers, I set up my chamber in 1994, Afolabi Akinsiku & Co. and also join academics later to teach Insurance and Law at the Department of Insurance, Lagos State Polytechnic, where I rose to become the head of the Department of Insurance to two terms of four years, after which I resigned voluntarily as Acting Director of Student Affairs to contest election into the Ondo state House of Assembly in 2007.
I also acted as the Director General Campaign for PDP in Ondo West Local Government during the 2023 general elections.
You have just be appointed by the PDP as a member Board of Trustee (BOT), how would you describe your appointment as a highest decision-making body of your party, now that the party is preparing for the gubernatorial election in Ondo State.
The emergence met me as a surprise, because I never thought of it. My activities, dedication and sacrifice in the little corner of Ondo Kingdom, and Ondo State in general would be recognized by the southwest caucus and the national leadership of our great party (PDP).
In this regard, I will give all glory to God and appreciate my esteemed leader and mentor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, the former Governor of Ondo State, whose mentorship threw me to the limelight to be recognized at the top echelon of the party.
As a BOT member of your party, looking at it by virtue of your position, how do you intend to unite the party, particularly your local government and Ondo State in general?
The essence of being a member of the BOT has certain underlined responsibilities and obligations, one of which is to unite the party. I can never be comfortable for being a BOT in opposition, uniting our party is a panacea for success and victory of our great party in any election. There are four cardinal ways to go about it. We must embark on aggressive membership drive to recruit new members to our party, secondly, To preach the spirit of forgiveness, one love, so we don’t hold any grudge against one another as members of the same party, we must provide a level playing field for all concerned and work and work tirelessly for the victory of our great party at any election.
Therefore, I have the dream that one day, in our great party especially at the south west zone, peace, equity and justice will reign over personal interest.
It was alledged that mobilisation largesse sent from the national body of the PDP during the 2023 general election was allegedly diverted by some leaders of the party, what is your stands on this
Well, we have gone past this stage and my BOTship advocate for forgiveness, so that we can move forward. Hence, the focus is what we are going to do in harmony for the success of our party at the next gubernatorial election rather than gross over what happened in the past.
The crisis that erupted in your party before, during and after the party presidential primary election, what are you doing to settle the crisis?
This is quite simple because looking at it critically and holistically, there’s no faction in the party. What existed in the party is tendencies. A tendency believe that the success of an election is the amount of money that we accrue to their pocket during campaign and election proper, while the other tendency believes that the success of an election is the victory of the party and her candidates. So the crisis is being fueled by these two psychological state of mind and the solution is very simple.
We need a reorientation of the psych of our members to realize that the victory of the candidate presented by the party is the victory of the party and our collective victory rather than the little change in our pockets. The crisis if we must be sincere in the last presidential elections fuelled by the integrity group does not rear its head in Ondo State. The consequence of the crisis was limited to those states governed by the five aggrieved governors.
At the National level, a Reconciliation Committee has been inaugurated by the Chairman of the BOT Sen. Adolphus Wabara and the Acting National Chairman of the Party Umar Damagun. I’m optimistic that this committee will do justice to the crisis at the National level of the party.
The forthcoming gubernatorial election in Ondo State, what are the preparation of your party the PDP towards achieving overwhelming success during the exercise during the conduct of the exercise?
There’s no better time than now for PDP as a major opposition party to chase away APC from Alagbaka government house, because APC as a party has thrown governance to the dogs in Ondo State. We are not carried away by the superficial fake support for the incumbent. In any major election like this, there’s bound to be political alignment and realignment. We are going to witness an unprecedented political alignment and realignment in Ondo State.
What we are witnessing right now at the movement of political office seekers, contractors, marabous, and boot lickers who are even ready to change their fathers name from Lagbaja-Datiwa to Tamedo-Datiwa, just because they want government patronage. Those who want good governance are the voiceless mass of the people who hold their voters card are waiting for PDP as a major opposition party to kickstart the campaign for good governance.
What on earth will boost the morale of a rational politician to decamp to APC in Ondo State.
Is it the tertiary education that is made unaffordable to the children of a common man?.
The free shuttle busses that provide succour to the common man that is taken off the road
The safe Abiye programme
The mother and child hospital where treatment from conception to delivery and to age 5 that was made free of charge in Ondo state including cecerian operation that has been restored
The Mega School that was moribund
The common street light
- the community project scattered all over towns and villages
- the emergency accident station on our highway that were removed
- the free agric imput to our farmers
- a government that cannot boast of renovating a dilapidated public school
- a government that does not care about providing qualitative health care delivery to the mass of the people. We can go on and on.
So the mass of the people are waiting for us to kickstart our campaign. We desire good governance in Ondo State. PDP has done it before under Dr Olusegun Mimiko’s governorship and we can do it again. As a party, we are working towards a crisis free primary election and our candidate will be victorious in the November, 2024 Gubernatorial election.
The PDP was said to have factionalised at the national level, former governor Nyesome Wike and Alhaji Atiku Abubarkar factions, which of the two factions did you belong and when is the party going to settle its crisis.
Like I said earlier, to be sincere, the factionalization you mentioned at the National level does not rare up its head in Ondo State PDP. We cannot be talking of factionalization at this period when we have taken a bold step in reconciliation of aggrieved members of the party.
What is your message to the people of Ondo State, most especially your party Stewarts and members?
We deserve good governance in Ondo State and we hope our people have learned their lessons not to sell their future, the future of their children and generations yet unborn for a pot of porridge at the polling unit (e dibo e sebe). The people of Ondo State have learned their lesson in a very hard way and we are going to chase those crazy bald heads out of Alagbaka. For our party members, it is enough playing opposition politics, we are no longer comfortable in opposition so we must be ready to work, work and work to win the next Gubernatorial election through the only available means, which is our votes.
Local Government election will soon be conducted in Ondo State, what are the preparations of party towards the conduct of the exercise?
The State Working Committee of PDP in Ondo State had already agreed to participate in the local government election which has been postponed for over three times now. Whenever they are ready, our party will participate.