Murder allegation against me politicallymotivated –Teslim, ex-Senate Leader

Senator Teslim Folarin, the immediate
past Senate Leader, is the governorship
candidate of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) in Oyo State. The 51-year old
alumnus of the premier University of
Ibadan, hosted journalists in Ibadan at
the weekend where he spoke on why he
wants to govern the Pace Setter State.
He spoke on other issues, including a
murder allegation against him, which he
said was politically motivated. Excerpts:
Don’t you think the crisis in your party
can affect your chances of winning the
election?
I totally disagree. Can you tell me which
party in this state that is not in crisis? The
All Progressives Congress (APC), which is
the ruling party has lost all its senators,
literally lost most of the House of
Representatives members and everyone is
leaving the party but no one is talking
about that. Politics is a game of interest
and so, that is why the battle for the
control of the soul of the party has been
very fierce.
Yes, some people have left our party, but
some people have also come into the
party. This season is like the transfer
window among football clubs. There is a
merry-go-round; people are going out,
people are coming in.
We are very sad to see people go but they
exercised their fundamental human rights,
which we respect. Yes, we are also
making moves towards reconciliation and
I can tell you that it is going very, very
well. We plan to call a stakeholders’
meeting next week, to carry people along,
to let them know that it is a project for
everyone and that it is not a Folarin thing,
but a PDP thing.
There is a perception that with the crisis
that you now have to compete with
Rasheed Ladoja, Seyi Makinde and
Governor Ajimobi for Ibadan votes while
Alao-Akala would be left to harvest the
Ogbomoso votes. Are you not worried?
Your assumption is wrong. Sometimes, in
politics, two plus two doesn’t give you
four. Sometimes, it gives you ten,
sometimes it gives you zero. With all due
respect, in Ogbomoso zone, who left with
Governor Akala? It is not just about
names, you must have followers. There
are two members of the House of
Representatives in Ogbomoso Zone, the
House leader and Odebunmi, they didn’t
go with him. The House of Assembly
members didn’t go with him. The
structure of the party did not go with him.
I was with the leader of the party in
Ogbomoso, Dr. Saka Balogun, he didn’t
go with him. I don’t want to talk about his
move, but I think it is a miscalculation.
But you will be shocked with what
happens in Ogbomoso. Let me also note
that my deputy is from Ogbomoso, a two
time local government chairman and a
very popular man. No one really went
with him.
Why do you want to be governor of Oyo
State?
It is something I have always wanted to
do to change things. I lived in England for
fourteen years and there you see how
orderly things are done and you begin to
wonder why are things not like that in my
country? That was what drove me. I was
doing well in England and I have seen
successive governments in Oyo State and
for me, they have done nothing, because
they didn’t come with plans. They don’t
put people in the heart of their policies.
We have the recipe for change. As
senator, I could only attract projects to
my constituency. I didn’t have a red pen.
But as governor, you could make things
happen and make a difference.
One of the things I feel strongly about is
education. The other day somebody
invited me to a party in a high school and
you would think you were in a piggery. I
couldn’t believe I was in a school.
We feel very strongly also on the issue of
youth unemployment because that was
one theme that resonated very strongly
during my travels across the state. We
have been thinking what would we do? We
wont waste our time travelling the whole
world looking for investors like previous
governments have done. We would create
the enabling environment, we would
create a small and medium enterprises
unit in one of our ministries that would
focus on how to help small businesses,
help the youths. We would also generate a
lot of jobs in the agricultural sector.
In Oyo State today, infant mortality rate is
one of the highest in the country and it is
quite unacceptable. For a population of
seven million we have about 135 doctors.
So, I think if you ask me, it is down to the
government.
Though you were discharged and not
found guilty in the killing of Eleweomo,
don’t you think the issue could hurt your
aspiration?
The issue of Eleweomo was something
that used to make me very angry before,
but not anymore. I just feel disappointed
that we would stoop to this level where we
would play politics like this. The former
governor (Akala) wasn’t inclusive; he
excluded me and good people like Senator
Balogun, Chief Adeojo, Senator Ladoja
and he drove Ladoja out of the party. And
because of my position as the arrowhead
of the opposition to him and we were not
asking too much from him, just include
us and they came up with this plan to
frame me. I thought it was very, very
unfortunate because I was nowhere near
the scene of the incident. Then I ask, as
Senate Leader, what was my business
with National Union of Transport Workers
(NURTW) thug? It just didn’t make sense.
If you want to frame somebody, do it in a
tidier way. In these days of telephone
camera, not a single person has any
evidence to say that I did it. Secondly,
they rushed to the press and said that I
shot the guy and immediately the autopsy
report came, they said he was stabbed.
Do policemen stab people?
This government, you have to give it to
them, when Ajimobi came to power, he
called the DPP (Director of Public
Prosecutions) and asked for the file and
he, the DPP said they were asked to
frame me up and he asked him to go and
write the correct report and after he wrote
the report, he sacked him and told him
we don’t want to play this kind of politics
in this state again.
I am not a violent person and even for my
orderlies, I don’t tolerate it when they
harass motorists and they know it. I have
never killed a chicken in my life. It was all
a set up and they locked me up in Agodi
Prisons all because they wanted to do
their primaries.
Now you have cited the good side of
Governor Ajimobi could you please tell us
some of his other good achievements and
then point out his failures?
I just said what he did about that
unfortunate case, but I think that since
then he has since completely missed the
boat. If you ask me, I will score him 1½
out of 10 because he came into
government without any plan, without any
clue of what he wants to do. You can see
that all he does is travel to Lagos and
when he comes back, he will now say
Fashola has built one bridge, let me go
and build one too. He goes to Lagos
again and comes back and says, they are
planting some flowers there, that is all he
does. Look at critical areas of people’s
lives, he hasn’t done anything. Go to our
hospitals, they are not fenced, our
schools are not fenced. Oyo State, the
pacesetter state came 23rd in WAEC! Even
this infrastructure they are talking about,
they got it wrong. I was the first person to
raise the alarm and when I did it, it was
with all sense of responsibility thinking
that they will change. But this government
is so insensitive, lacks human face and
basically they are clueless. He hasn’t paid
compensation, he hasn’t provided
alternatives and that is the truth of the
matter. What we are saying is that they
got their balance wrong. He forgets all the
time that being in government is about
serving the people. If you are going to
plant flowers, yes, it makes everywhere
look nice, but if it means that it is going to
make some people unemployed, then
don’t plant the flower. Once you dislodge
them, not only do you cause economic
dislocation, you also cause social
dislocation and that is the story right
across the state and that is why
everybody wants him out. The point I am
making is that you can do the right thing
the wrong way. I have given you the
analogy of the poultry. You don’t have to
use very strong chemicals to kill the
chicken. There is nothing wrong with
urban regeneration, in fact it is something
we will continue, but we will do it with a
human face.
Do you see the incumbency factor as a
challenge to your aspiration?
Incumbency in Oyo State has always
been a minus! It means nothing in our
state if you look at our history. In other
states it is a big factor but in our state if
you say you are the incumbent it makes it
much easier.
Are you worried that you would be
confronting two former governors and an
incumbent governor?
Let me tell you that PDP has the strongest
platform whether we are in government or
not. This thing you mentioned about the
former governors, that is the advantage
for me. I am going to tell the people that
these people have done it before and they
failed you, give me a chance.