2024 Governorship Race: Senator Jimoh Ibrahim Is The Best Aspirant- Sen. Tayo Alasoadura
One of the political heavyweight, former Minister of State for Niger Delta and the Chairman for Aseyori Leekansi in Ondo State, Sen. Tayo Alasoadura has pointed out unequivocally why Sen. (Barr.) Jimoh Ibrahim CFR is the best of aspirants vying for governorship position in Ondo. In this exclusive interview with the Democrat News Magazine Alasoadura spoke on many qualities of Barr. Jimoh Ibrahim that gives preference above others contestants. He also used the opportunity to call on Federal Government to declare State of Emergency over insecurity in the country. Excerpts:
Why did you choose to work with Senator (Barr.) Jimoh Ibrahim in his bid to become the next Governor of Ondo State ?
Thank you very much for that question. I don’t believe there are numerous aspirants. There are people who are saying they want to run that may eventually not run. In politics, you know, some people will come out and at the end of the day, they may not even pick up the form, you know, for primaries, but that’s their business. And for those that look serious to me. I have looked at them and I felt that for once we should go back to the Agagu era. During that era, Agagu was not a super rich person but he was a comfortable man before he became governor. And anybody who knew him and was part of that regime and for those who were not really serving knew that most of his actions were based on ensuring the development of this state. Schools were built for 200 pupils in every local government and most schools were renovated. Those that cannot be renovated were pulled down and new ones built. And we did all that with only 9 million to start with and when prices were going up, it went to 11 million. I was Commissioner for Finance, so I know the figures. When another administration came, they said they wanted to build mega schools that will take 1000 pupils. Agagu’s own was taking 200 pupils and the highest amount paged for those schools was 11 million. Another man came and said he was building their mega schools and was building it for 365 million. That means if you divide 365 million by 11, you will get 33 of Agagu’s schools in one mega school that would that five times the number of pupils the Agagu’s administration will take. So if you conceptualize it, it should be 55 million to build mega schools for 1000 pupils, but it went to 365 million. And if you look around today, what legacy can you really see that was left behind by that government? Some of the mega schools are no more working. Some of them have the converted to other things but money was used to build it. There is another one that that really ache my heart. It is the construction of the roundabout in front of Fiwasaye Girls Grammar School that was built for over half a billion naira. I leave that to you to judge. Another one was the building of markets all over the place. Most of those markets never worked because they were built in the bushes and nobody wants to go there to to use them. So the resources of this state had been frittered away by people who really want to make money out of the state. Because it is not easy as a Chattered Accountant to just dip hands into the coffers of the state. You can’t do it because it must pass through due process and you must attach it to something. So I have looked at all the people who are trying to contest now and I find out that Sen. Jimoh Ibrahim is the best among them all. He has made a lot of money and can’t be tempted by the money of the state. In a publication that I saw this week, he was among the 100 Nigerians that own private jet and his value in that particular publication was put at $1.1 billion. And I know it’s more than that. So, let’s even say is $1.1 billion. At at today’s value, he is about 1,500,000,000,000 naira. What is the budget of the state? He has more than the budget of this state for the next five years. He has his investments and it is making money every day. He owns his own private jet. He is a generous giver. A lot of people have been insinuating that Sen. Jimoh Ibrahim will mortgage the state. No, he won’t do that! I used to ask? When has any police officer we’re not talking of EFCC or ICPC ever invited this man for questioning. They said he forfeited some of his property. Yes. Union Bank first took him to court and his seized property was returned to him. He is now the one that took them to court and they want to settle out of court. I did a lot of interviewing before I made up my mind. It is the bank owing him. They asked him to pay them 65 billion naira and he has shown them and to the court that he deposited 130 million pounds to facilitate the loan. So he said if you realize 130 million pounds, you are the one owing me close to 200 billion naira. So the matter is still in court.
How would you describe him sir?
Senator Jimoh Ibrahim is a genius from the little I know about him. People don’t know that you can make money by being very clever. You can get something for less and resell for higher. I know of a friend who bought a property in Dubai for 1.2 million naira when acquisition of property was just new and now let it out to make a lot of money. He bought 140 condos and later decided he had no need for it. He gave to his children, took one for himself and gave one to his wife leaving two for visitors. It is not until you own a factory that you can make money. I know of someone who buy dying companies. Yes, a company that was built with like 5 billion naira and is now almost moribund. They may decide to sell for 20 million. Just like Igbo boys will sell scrap and make money, this man is clever and is well endowed. I believe Sen. Jimoh Ibrahim will not steal the money of our state. Secondly, his brilliance shows that he can take this state to another level. For example, he has only spent six months and have made impact. Today, he has presented bills on our bitumen seeking for a Bitumen Commission. In my own little capacity, I tried to bring Bitumen under Petroleum so the state can benefit from the 13% derivative as the chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources. So, he has introduced about eight bills in six months. Whereas some people will be in that Senate for four years and will not introduce one bill.
So after listening to Sen. Ibrahim, not once, not twice, but over a period of three months, I knew he is consistent in what he intends to do for Ondo State people.
So, how are you preparing for APC primaries whether it is direct or indirect primaries?
Well we don’t know whether we’re going to have delegates or direct primaries. But we are preparing for both. Yes, it is only Jimoh Ibrahim that has created a platform called Aseyori to target registered 600,000 voters. I don’t want to give out everything here but we are preparing very well. During the last Christmas and New Year season, we reached out to our members and we are also planning for the Easter season. We give out foodstuffs and other things.
Can you please share some of his plans for Ondo State people?
Well after the primaries, he will come out to canvass people’s votes and also tell them what he wants to do. Yes, I’m the chairman of Aseyori Group, his political arm. Even now as we’re going around, we’re not telling people all the programs we will do because if you do that, your enemies are right there at the corner to pick what you are saying and start using it.
One other thing that I know Jimoh Ibrahim for is that he is a document person. It was only during Agagu’s regime that we did what we call documentation in this state. We had policies for every aspect of governance- agriculture, education, finance, all forms. Everything Sen.Jimoh Ibrahim is doing is been documented and I’m happy that we are at another point in my life that we will have a government that will document things. The sad aspect of it is that all the things we documented, when Labour Party came on board, you know, they jettisoned it. For example during that time we had what we call Roadmap to Progress that every three months, every commissioner must come to council because we know the work you should have done in the first three months. The ones you do the next three months, the ones you do within a year – you must come and give accounts. If you are lagging behind, you must give us reason.
What is your candidate’s chance at clinching your party’s ticket?
What has happened in the last few days in Ondo State has made the race to Alagbaka Seat of power more interesting.