The Chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party in Ogun State, Olaposi Oginni, in this interview with DAUD OLATUNJI, discusses the party’s plans to change the state’s narrative, the controversy around the party’s governorship candidates, and other topical issues

What is the status and leadership of the NNPP in Ogun State currently? Does the party have a godfather or a financially buoyant personality bankrolling it?

We are one of the top three parties because the incumbent governor is from the All Progressives Congress, and then the Peoples Democratic Party has been around for so many years. Another party we can talk about that is making waves is the NNPP, and I can assure you that we are the party that is ready to take over from Governor Dapo Abiodun come May 29, 2023.

We have Father God in the NNPP; we don’t have a godfather because godfatherism is what has been killing other political parties. The NNPP is a party for you, me, and everyone; it is a party where you can be whoever you want to be, a party where no one will ask where you are from, who your mother and father are, or who you know in power. NNPP is giving leverage and equal opportunity, especially to our younger ones, to take leadership. That’s what the party is all about. When we talk about godfatherism, it is not in the lexicon of the NNPP, especially in Ogun State

As the party’s state chairman, I can say that financially, it has been God and the contributions of the members. It is about the collective responsibility of the people.

Reports have it that the NNPP has three governorship candidates in the state. What is the story behind that?

We don’t have three candidates; we can only have three aspirants. There are lots of aspirants, and people have aspirations. It is the work of the political party to look at it critically and then conduct primaries, so, in the first instance, a primary was conducted and Fayoyin Olujobi got the ticket, and after that, there was some kind of technicalities and maladministration issues that led to his withdrawal from the race. The other woman, Dr Jackie Kassim, did not participate in any primaries, and it is clearly stated in the electoral acts that anyone who does not participate in any primaries can never become a candidate. So, for her name to have surfaced on the INEC list was a criminal offence. If we look at the electoral acts, it is a two-year jail term offence, but for the interest of peace, we were able to sit down as a party, and she also voluntarily withdrew from the race, so we had to conduct another fresh primary for substitution, and it was at that primary that our candidate for the coming 2023 governorship election, Olufemi Oguntoyinbo emerged.

The primary exercise was witnessed by national officers and supervised by an INEC officer for governorship primaries. It was signed by the National Secretary, Oladipupo Olayokun, who was present. The Secretary-General for the whole South West, Tunde Oke, was also at the event to make sure that the primary was fair and free, and to also ensure that the process was duly followed.

The primary that produced Olufemi Oguntoyinbo went through due process, he emerged, and we have his deputy, Alhaja Shakirat Arowolo. We are presenting them to the Ogun State electorate as a better alternative and choice for the new Ogun State in 2023.

Has INEC rectified the error on the governorship candidate name of your party?

The correction has a process, and we have done another primary, which the INEC came to witness. That is the correction. The substitute primary for governorship has been completed, and Oguntoyinbo has emerged as the party’s Ogun gubernatorial candidate.

What are his (Oguntoyinbo) strengths and selling points?

I must tell you sincerely that his emergence is an act of God, as a young man who can take Ogun State out of the dungeon and rescue Ogun from the hands of political vampires terrorising our people right now.

The New Nigeria People’s Party believes in the New Ogun State, but we still need a person with capacity, somebody who has, not necessarily, all the money in the world, but the resources to ensure that the structures are well built and that the machinery of the campaign is moving accordingly, all these things need a person with capacity.

I can tell you that the acceptance that we have been enjoying going here and there with him, even though the campaign has not started, but going from one meeting to another, means that his emergence is an act of God, and with his emergence, Ogun State will be blessed. He has been able to empower a lot of people; handicapped and less privileged people have benefitted from his philanthropic gestures. I believe he is going to be the president of Nigeria, according to his vision.