Otunba Friday OlumideAraoyinbo is one of the young and vibrant politicians in Ondo state who sees politics as an avenue to reach out to the poor masses. He hails from Irun Akoko in Akoko Northwest constituency II, the constituency he represents at the Ondo State House of Assembly. He is a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist, Socialite turned politician.
He is a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist, Socialite turned politician. Sokoto, as he is fondly called by his friends, owns the popular Olart Group of companies which is a multi-dimensional company with business interests in hotel and tourism, Security, property development, manufacturing and mining among others. He contested and won the 8th Ondo State House of Assembly election under the platform of PDP but he is today a leader in APC. He is currently the Majority Leader of the Ondo State House of Assembly. City People Ondo/ Ekiti Correspondent, ADEOLA SHITTU was at his Ijapo Estate residence in Akure, where he spoke on his new role as the majority leader of the House among other issues.
Let me start by congratulating you on your position as the Majority Leader of the House, how does that make you feel?
Thank you very much. First I will attribute my new role as the majority leader of the House to God and my fellow legislators who elected and entrusted me with this position though I emerged unopposed. You see, I see my new role as the Leader of the house as a call to serve not just my constituency, not just the House but the Ondo state people in general. Now I have more responsibilities at hand and I will say the position is even more tasking and more challenging than anyone will think. Despite that I appreciate my fellow lawmakers who made it easy for me and I will say I feel great.
As the Leader of the House, has anything changed about you?
Change in what way? I remain who I am and no matter what position I might occupy in this country, I remain my humble self, Otunba Olumide Araoyinbo, so therefore nothing has changed in me, I still relate with my people and I will say I am accessible to them.
You became the majority leader of the house following the crisis in the house then, were you expecting this position because it was said that you lobbied for it?
Well, I will not say Yes and I won’t say No because we all know that when a new government comes on board there will be changes in the system of government and in the case of Ondo state, we all know that since the Governor is from the North senatorial district and the deputy governor is from the south senatorial, the speaker will emerge from the central while the deputy speaker will come from South and the Leader of the house will come from the North. These are what we all know in the House and when the new governor emerged we knew that the Leader of the house will definitely emerge from the North senatorial district, so I felt there was no reason why I can’t be the Leader of the house since I am representing Akoko North west constituency II, so I will say I didn’t lobby for my current position.
But sir, you will agree that you are not the only lawmaker from the North senatorial district, how did you do it?
Sincerely speaking, I didn’t lobby anybody. As I said, I was elected unopposed as the majority leader of the house, so I didn’t lobby for it.
What motivated you into politics?
My going into politics was the hardship and my experience while growing up before attaining this position that I am. It was then I realised and concluded that poverty is a very bad thing in our society and the country at large. It was when I was passing through hardship that I became determined and said to myself that if God helps me to be someone in life, I will play my role in eradicating poverty among my people and the society I belong.
But as God will have it, after my educational career, I started business and after a while I realized I needed to give back to the society where I come from. During my visitation to my people I realized that the level of poverty in the community has not changed rather it was on a high level.
So I was trying my best for them and impacting their lives in my own little way, I take care of their children, pay some of their Health and accommodation bills but I realized my best was not good enough to solve their numerous problems and I was not able to reach out to all, so I said to myself that doing politics might help me achieve my aim of giving back to my society and rendering my Humanitarian services to my community, Local Government, state and country at large. So that was the main reason and the motivation behind my coming into politics.
What year did you start active politics?
Initially, I started partisan politics in 2002 when the current Governor elect in Ekiti state, Dr. Ayo Fayose was first elected as governor of Ekiti State. Then I was not a politician but he was a very good friend, so during his campaign I supported him because we both share the same vision of eradicating poverty among our people and also impacting good values in them.
Though I was not from Ekiti but I supported him with all I have including my time and resorces. After he won the election, I realized the passion was coming gradually and I started thinking of politics, so I said to myself that there is also need for me to go back home to start politics. But I started active politics in 2007 in Ondo state and since then I have no regret getting closer to my people.
You played a prominent role in the last crisis in the House that led to the impeachment of the ex-speaker, it was believed you did that because of the current position you are occupying and in order to prepare a soft landing for you in your new party, how true is this?
Well, I will say such imagination is very wrong and they are not being sincere enough. You see what happened in the House then is on record that something went wrong with the leadership system of the house. And as at then what we needed was a polite response from the leadership of the House then and not insults. Let me also correct this that we had no plans to join APC, as at then none of us had plan to join APC but even the leadership of the party didn’t help matters. What happened then was that some selected lawmakers were mismanaging the fund that is meant for all of us in the House and the fund was being shared by this individuals, so some of us approached the then speaker for explanation but she insulted us, we were not happy with the outcome and this led to us taking that action because she was not sincere with us and we impeached her. We followed the due process to carry out our action and this has nothing to do with any political party or reason why we left PDP for APC. And in my own case, I was elected the majority leader of the House as a PDP member because I became the house leader few weeks after
And in my own case, I was elected the majority leader of the House as a PDP member because I became the house leader few weeks after Arakunrin Akeredolu was sworn in as the governor of the state. So in a nutshell I was elected to my current position as the leader of the House when I was in PDP before I joined APC. What happened then was due to the non challant attitude of the then Speaker.
During the crisis, you had two factions in the house, how were you able to resolve your differences?
One thing we should all know is that we are all adults and after much deliberation from both sides, the resolution was a gradual process and I believe that the wound that has been there for a very long time, will heal during our interacting with each other. We will be able to put what happened behind us. So I will say now we are getting back and I believe in a matter of time, we will get over what happened in the house.
Few days after you were elected the leader of the House, it was said that you dumped your party PDP for APC, what prompted this decision?
Let me correct that, I had been elected the majority Leader of the House when the leadership of the house was changed and new speaker emerged. As at then, two factions in the house had come together, so I emerged as a PDP member from the beginning of Rt. Hon Bamidele Oleyelogun leadership in the House. And back to your question, before I decamped to APC, I spoke with some leaders of the party but I realised that none of them was giving direction to the party and I stand to be corrected that PDP in Ondo state as we speak is directionless and one cannot be in a party without direction.
On this note, I will say I’ve not been too happy with that because it was this party that gave me the platform to represent my people at the State House of Assembly and that is why I will never call PDP names, but what is happening to the party is very unfortunate. You see, after we lost the Nov 26th governorship election, none of the so called leaders in the party called a meeting to address us.
When I say us, I mean the PDP members in the state, nor did they come out to review what went wrong during the election and the next step in order to strategize for the forthcoming election. So, I felt I couldn’t continue like this because I needed to deliver dividends of democracy to my people. You will agree with me that in politics it is beyond empowering the people, rather we must be able to influence project in our constituency.
Left to me I won’t have left PDP, I want you to know that if I remained in PDP I have nothing to lose but my decision was in the interest of my people who sent me to the House. You will agree with me that if I remain in an opposition party I might not be able to influence any project for my people. Don’t forget that APC controls both the state and Federal level in the state, so this among other reasons was why I left PDP for APC. I will use this medium to speak on behalf of the other lawmakers in the house that we are ready to give quality representation, making good laws that will better the lives of the electorate and oversee those laws so that the executive arms of government use it to better the life of the people.
There is this general belief that your joining APC was because of your 2019 ambition, how true is this?
You see, we all have different reasons why we make some decisions and for whatever reasons I believe as politicians the interest of our constituents who entrusted us with their vote should be our priority as legislators. So before I defected to APC last month, I had consultations and I felt that in the interest of my people the need to join the ruling party that is APC is now. My joining APC has nothing to do with the 2019 elections which I believe is too early to discuss or talk about. But don’t forget that every politician aspires but if my people still want me then I have no choice than to heed to their call.
How true is the story that you are eyeing the House of Reps ticket come 2019 under APC?
Well, I am hearing this for the first time but like I said, every politician aspires and I am one of them and I don’t see any reason if am given that opportunity, why I won’t grab it. Assuming that you are right, if I’m being given the opportunity by my people, I will surely represent them as I am always ready to serve my people.
With your years and experiences in politics, will you describe yourself as a grass- root person?
This question will be better answered by my people but to the best of my knowledge I will say yes. What makes one a grass-root person? If you are committed to your community and people, they have access to you and you give them a listening ear, then you are a grass root person. And in my own case, even before I joined politics, I interacted with my people and they all know me, so I have been a grass-root person even before I became a politician years back.
Have you contested for any elective post before now?
No, this is my first attempt in politics but I have held different political posts both at the state and federal level. I was once a delegate member, chairman Appeal Screening Committee for Borno state 2011 National Assembly, commerce, industry, mining and agriculture. And in February2015, I won the Ondo State House of Assembly to represent my constituency Akoko North West II under the platform of PDP then but now I am with APC.
How have you been able to manage your businesses and political career together?
They are two different things, I do my business and at the same time I do my politics on the other hand. So none is affecting each other.
How do you relax, sir?
Do I really relax? Well, I will say I relax only when I travel out of the country. In Lagos, I have a chain of businesses to look after, same with Ekiti while here in Ondo State I’m with my people, that’s why I said I hardly relax here.
