why i chose to contest for SENATE last year

• Ex-Reps Member, SHINA PELLER Tells City People

• Reveals Why He Left ACCORD Party For PDP

Since last year when Hon. Shina Peller, the former member of the House of Reps contested for the Oyo North Senatorial Seat, and was rigged out, many people have wondered why he chose to go for Senate then, when he could have easily gone back to the House of Reps for a 2nd term, which they believe he could have won easily.

Recall that Peller represented Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Iwajowa/Kajola Federal Constituency between 2019 and 2023.

“A lot of people don’t know how I was rigged out, he told City People. “They also still don’t know why I decided to go for Senate rather than go for 2nd term in the House of Reps.

“It is an interesing story. I didn’t just wake up to say it is Senate I want and not House of Reps.” It was not as simple as that.”

“It was my people who decided that after my 1st term, I should move up to the Senate to represent them. Let me explain why”.

A lot of people have also been wondering why he decided to leave Accord Party last month to join the PDP at a well attended rally in Iseyin.

A few days back, he told City People the story. For 2 hours last Wednesday evening at his Eko Atlantic home in Lagos, Hon. Shina Peller explained what happened. “What I have found out is that many do not know the full story of why at the last election. N contested for Senate, normally there is no one who will want to do just one term in the House of Reps and not want to go back. My own case is different. After my 1st term, I decided to go to Senate because I represent 4 Local Governments of 42 wards. A typical example is that of a House of Reps memeber from Surulere which only has 8 wards and I have 42 wards. So you can see the difficulty from my area”.

“So, whether we like it or not, you must be able to put other people into consideration.

Between 1999 and 2019, there had been 5 different terms, and those 5 different terms, 4 people came out from my state constitutency, that is Iseyin/Itesiwaju. Then Kajola/Olanrewaju have been clamouring for their own opportunity saying that it is also their turn. By the time I came, they didn’t even allow my leaders from my local government to talk when we go for campaign. They always say no, it is our turn. But because of the good name my father left behind, they gave me that opportunity and I agreed with them that okay now, if I go, I will only be going for a term and we can implement the rotation arrangement that has been put in place. So this was our plan.

“So when I became the House of Reps member, I had to abide by what we agreed on. There is no way I will get there and say no, I won’t abide by our plan and contest for the House of Reps for a 2nd term. So, I said okay, no problem. We agreed, because if you want progress you must first for all understand that there must be peace. If you want Peace, there must be Unity. If there is Unity there must be Understanding and Love. You must understand Yourself and put yourself in other people’s shoes. So that is what we have done in our place in Oke Ogun 1. Then, they told me they still wanted me to represent them. And said okay I should contest for Senate because our Senatorial district consists of 13 LGs, 10 local governments from my area (Oke Ogun) and 3 LGs from Ogbomosho”.

“And the present Senator that is there now was the one representing the senatorial district then, when I was there in the House of Reps. It was his 2nd term by 2019. By 2023, he was asking for a 3rd term. I sacrificed my 2nd term ticket. So, instead of the political party that I was in, the APC, for them to understand that for Peace to reign, lets give Oke Ogun people the ticket for Senate, to go for their 1st term, since they are sacrificing the House of Reps ticket for 2nd term, they ended up doing a Kangaroo primaries”.

“On the day of our primary election it was meant to be at my senatorial headquarters in Iseyin”.

“That election did not hold. And just next day, against the Electoral Law, they shifted the venue of the primaries to another LG and they gave the Senator a 3rd term ticket, against me, that was contesting that I sacrificed my 2nd term ticket”.

“This was like a blow to us and we agreed to move out of the party and still pursue our dreams. That is how we got to Accord Party”.

“After we got to Accord Party we did our bit. As a 3rd force party we made sure we did our campaign very well and everybody was ready for the elections. And unfortunately on the day of the elections, another magic happened”.

We didn’t see the results of over 5 local governments, at the Collection Centre. To me it was like a magic. That was it. That was how we met ourselves where we are.

“I have always believed that life is divided into 3 parts. Yesterday (which is our past), Today and Tomorrow (the Future). We can’t reverse Time, for what happened yesterday. I never regretted my move going to Accord, because I went to Accord Party to show that we have what it takes to show that they can’t cheat us and we would keep quiet. We were able to do that. That  is also what contributed to the failure of the APC in Oyo State”.

“And now we have learnt from our past. Going to Accord Party has made us realise that in Nigeria, it is always 2 major parties. APC and PDP that people reckon with. For me, I have now come to realise that fine, we have to move to PDP”.

“I used to be one of those people who believe that because of Ideology, you cannot just switch from one political party to another political party”.

“But that is not the situation in Nigeria today. What we see is that if you say you are not going to move, you are going to stay because of ideology, you will be sacrificing the best interest of you and your people and you will lose out”.

“So, you have to align. We have to do what is in our best interest”.

“That is why we went to PDP. In PDP today. We can see what PDP is doing in Oyo State. We can see what Gov. Seyi Makinde is doing in the state. Gov. Seyi Makinde has been the best governor, Oyo State has ever had. Only yesterday he was given an award as The Governor Of The Year, due to his achievements.

And in my own area, Gov. Seyi Makinde has performed so well, tremendously well and he has taken some unprecendented steps that we have never seen before. Our forefathers, used to clamour for a University for the past 70 years”.

“Every governor comes and promises them and they won’t do it. Gov. Seyi Makinde came and did that, within the space 4 to 5 years”.

“Then the road infrastructure is superb. Oke Ogun area occupies the largest percentage of land in the whole of Oyo State. About 70% of the land is in Oke Ogun, and the road infrastucture was so bad. But now, we can’t say the same thing again. Now, we have Moniya to Oyo road has been done, by Gov. Seyi Makinde’s administration”.

“We have Oyo to Iseyin road which has been in a delapidated state for many years, it has een done”.

“Also, Ogbomosho to Iseyin, there was no road there before. This is a road that was newly created. So, if I see a Governor that is doing well in a different political party, and I see that he has a VISION that I agree with, and he has showed Leadership, which I believe is uncommon, Gov. Seyi Makinde is a governor with Vision. So I had to make sure I keyed into that Vision and for us to work together”.

“And even, in this our last election, the moment we lost our senatorial bid at Accord and lost all our House of Reps ticket out of 14, these were pointers that the governorship elections was going to fail. In our own area, our traditional rulers called us together 2 weeks to elections and asked us what we want to do?

“They said in Accord, your governorship candidate is from Ibadan. In PDP you have your governorship candidate from Ibadan. In APC you have your governorship candidate from Ibadan. So, what do we do? We all agreed to take a decision together that we should team up and follow one person. At this point, I was compelled by the law of the land to support Gov. Seyi Makinde. I feel the law of the land is more important to us than religion or even political party, because  the land was created before us. When we die we would be buried on the land. And I can’t be blindfolded by Religion or sentiments that we have a Christian governor and I am a Muslim, so I should not support him. The governor has been doing so well”.

“The governor extended his hand of fellowship and Leadership to us and we accepted. We are great followers. That is why you saw my defection to PDP”.

“Now that I am in PDP, I see the party as one that understands and appreciates me and my people. Where I am coming from, they don’t value me. My father used to tell me that you go to where you are valued. That is one key lesson I have learnt from my father who died over 2 decades ago: Go to where you are valued”.

“They want us. They value us. They believe we can work together. They have given us that platform. We are there. Right now, we are in PDP. We would continue to work for the betterment of the party at the state. If they find me worthy enough to contest for the Senate so be it, why not, I will contest. But it is not a do or die affair”.

“I believe I can add value to the party at any level I find myself”.

–SEYE KEHINDE