Contrary to what the Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu said that President Goodluck Jonathan’s failure at the polls was the price he had to pay for reneging on his alleged agreement with the North to serve for only one term, an All Progressive Congress (APC) House of Representatives- elect and a former chief of staff to the Executive Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Kayode Oladele has stated that “the defeat of the outgoing President was because of the mass rejection of the PDP by teeming majority of Nigerians after several years of broken promises, arrogance of power and purposeless leadership which made the PDP part of the problems instead of a solution. In a nutshell, there was a wide disconnect between the people and the President’s party. Hence, when the electorates were confronted with a credible alternative, they embraced change and chose wisely”.
According to Oladele, apart from other critical factors, the victory of the APC was also in part, due to the contradictions between the “rising expectations among Nigerians in 1999 on the one hand and their frustration with the PDP in 2015 after 16 years of the party being in power which has failed to translate to a positive improvement in the lives of majority of Nigerians on the other hand.” He further said that, “the idea that Nigeria is the biggest economy in Africa does not make any sense to the average Nigerian. It is and until we shift from the statist and traditional conceptualization of development which gives priorities to abstract figures such as the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) to a more useful humanist approach that prioritises infrastructure, healthcare, quality education, security, responsible and responsive government and improved per capital income that Nigerians can truly say that we are the biggest economy in Africa.”
Maintaining that the APC has the human capacity to make a huge difference in the lives of Nigerians, Oladele said, “Nigeria has what it takes to be a model in Africa. If today we can all be talking about the Chinese miracle and the Chinese model which removed over 400 million people from poverty in 30 years, why can’t we have a Nigerian miracle or Nigerian model that only needs to do less than that?”.
Oladele also stated that the President-elect and the APC would be inheriting a huge responsibility in a period when the Nigerian economy is in a very bad shape. “The people’s expectations are high and they cannot be let down again. But we will justify our electoral victory with performance and massive capital projects”, he assured.
On corruption, Oladele who last held the position of Chief of Staff to the current Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Lamorde noted that the fight against corruption is a priority for the incoming APC government. “It is no longer news that corruption denies the masses of Nigeria of the needed funds to improve education, healthcare, infrastructure and other social amenities. Thus, the impact of corruption on development is obvious. For sure, as a member of the incoming legislature, I will certainly champion the need to further empower the EFCC and other anti-graft agencies. I know their core challenges and we shall work hard to improve their performance. Happily, the President-elect has clearly and persistently identified corruption to be one of the major focuses of his administration. With this expression of political will on his part, I am most certain that Nigerians will see a new and improved fight against corruption”, Oladele has said.
An international human rights lawyer and newly elected member of the Federal House of Representatives representing Yewa (Egbado) North/Imeko-Afon Federal Constituency in Ogun State, Oladele lived in Detroit before returning to Nigeria a few years ago.