Rauf Olaniyan was Deputy Governor to Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde until he was impeached on July 18, 2022. In this no-holds-barred interview with WALE AKINSELURE, he discloses the circumstances that led to his impeachment, his relationship with the Oyo governor, his drive, and the Oke-Ogun and Oyo APC agenda for the 2027 election
In 2022 you were impeached as the Deputy Governor of Oyo State…
(Cuts in) Yes, I am glad I am no longer the Deputy Governor of Oyo State.
What were the behind-the-scenes circumstances that led to your impeachment?
Irreconcilable differences.
Can you break it down?
If I break it down, it will still come back to irreconcilable differences. In the final analysis, irreconcilable differences will be the endpoint.
In Nigeria, being a Deputy Governor demands you to be 100 per cent loyal to the governor. At what point did your loyalty begin to be in doubt as insubordination was one of the allegations levelled against you, leading to your impeachment?
Yes, during the impeachment process, one of the offences that the panel read to me was disloyalty, that I was not giving respect to the governor. But it is interesting to note that when I got to the office in the morning, back then, I would go to the governor’s office first to ask if there was any assignment for me. One day I told the governor that there is none of the exco members that gave him as much respect as I did. This is because I have been in the system for long and I know the meaning of respecting the governor. To the glory of God, before Governor Seyi Makinde, I worked with 12 governors, both military and civilian, and I know how to respect them. So, nothing is going on in the government secretariat that I don’t know, but I know my limits. I had been going to the deputy governor’s office before I became deputy governor. Even during the time of Chief Bola Ige, I had the opportunity to go to the deputy governor’s office. I wasn’t deputy governor before I started going to the governor’s office. So, that I am disloyal or fail to give respect is not in my dictionary. But you know anybody can sit down and concoct anything. But, I am not embittered about my impeachment. I am not even bitter to Seyi Makinde.
When you became running mate to Seyi Makinde before the 2019 election, would you say it was a marriage that shouldn’t have happened in the first place?
If that marriage did not happen in the beginning, that election result would not be as it was. He (Makinde) was the one who approached me, not me approaching him, to be his deputy. So many entreaties and party leaders were sent to me. Luckily, one of them even confessed on a radio station. At least Iba Oluyole confessed on a radio station that he came to my house 13 times before I could say yes. When Seyi Makinde came to meet me, I gave him some conditions. My conditions were not monetary, and I agreed to be his running mate. He publicly announced at the Premier Hotel that he was so happy to have me as deputy governor. But, the people surrounding him felt so threatened. They felt so threatened about me and started backbiting, saying all sorts of things behind me to the governor.
Don’t you think those forces in government wanted you impeached because you were perceived as being over-ambitious, that you wanted to be governor?
No. Where did he (Makinde) meet me? We met on the field. I was not looking for a commissioner position when he met me. If I had wanted to be the governor by all means, I would not agree to be his deputy governor.
But, you could have agreed to be deputy governor to be in governance in the state before giving a shot at the number one post…
I have told you I have been close to the governor’s office, governor’s seat, for so long.
You were deputy to Governor Seyi Makinde for three years. Was it year one, two or three that things got awry between the two of you?
To me, apart from when the kangaroo impeachment started, we were both normal. People can go behind me and say a lot of things. I can’t stop them. If you are so powerful people cannot talk about you in your presence, you can’t stop them from talking about you in your absence. They cannot fear you to that level that they can’t say anything behind you.
Still talking about what led to your impeachment, the second major allegation was financial recklessness, particularly mismanagement of funds in the renovation of the deputy governor’s lodge…
(Cuts in) You are in this clime. You know that when you want to stone or kill a dog, you must give the dog a bad name. You must call the dog a bad name to get it hanged. How much is the deputy governor’s lodge? To the glory of God, the cost of the deputy governor’s lodge is nothing to me, to be running after. But you have to call a dog a bad name to hang it. I was around when Chief Obafemi Awolowo was sentenced. Did he commit the offence?
If you think the offences that led to your impeachment were concocted, why did you not press hard to be exonerated by the courts?
I have no regrets about the way I left office. Since I left office, I have never shown or displayed any animosity against Seyi Makinde. I have no issue with Seyi Makinde. Anywhere I meet him, I call him with respect, I greet him; we normally greet each other.
Last September, the two of you were seen publicly exchanging greetings at Senator Rashidi Ladoja’s 80th birthday celebration ceremony. Was that the first time you would both meet after your impeachment?
Before that meeting, we had met no fewer than four times. And whenever we met, he answered me well. He knew I wasn’t a bad man to him but there were some people that were bent on getting me out of government. Some of them told me to my face; some of them after my impeachment. I met one man at the airport who said he was one of those behind the impeachment.
What must happen to reconcile the irreconcilable differences?
Even when you are in a marriage, or even if you have a boyfriend, girlfriend, man, or woman relationship, you can, at some point, say you want to go your separate ways. Then you can review your activities and your relationship. It doesn’t follow that because you parted ways, you cannot come together. It doesn’t mean that when you come together, you will not part ways. There’s always a reason why some things happen. My leaving the government is for my good, as far as I am concerned. Those that say we must get Olaniyan out, what have they been able to do with getting him out?
Why was APC your choice party not long after you were impeached?
Where do you think I would have gone?
You could have decided to lay low, politically…
No. I can’t lay low because, when you lay low, you kill yourself politically.
Did APC promise you something, hence your swift decision to join the party?
No. Remember, I was the Oyo State Coordinator for the Asiwaju/Shettima campaign council, a grassroots campaign council. If I’m Mr Nobody, I will not be given that assignment.
Is it true that you spent days in Abuja lobbying hard to become minister, but when that did not happen you were compensated with the chairmanship of a university governing council?
No, sir. Since the beginning of this administration, I’ve never been to the Villa for once. I’ve never sent a note to Mr President for once. So, if I want to lobby, I’ll be lobbying within the corridors of Aso Villa. That’s one thing some people don’t know about me. Some will say that he’s proud. No. I’ve not been to Abuja or send notes to Mr President. If I send notes requesting to see the President, he will welcome me.
On the Oke-Ogun agenda for 2027, we hear that your party men are seriously rooting for someone from Oke-Ogun to be the next governor. Is this a serious agenda, this time?
Absolutely. What do you expect? That agitation is very normal. We have 33 local governments in Oyo State. We have 10 local governments from Oke-Ogun. We will have 28 years of democracy by 2027. Ibadan would have taken 24 years and Ogbomoso four years by 2027. What is wrong in Oke Ogun comprising 10 local governments to demand to have a bite? Is it because we don’t have enough people? Is it because we don’t have qualified people? Is it because we don’t have somebody that can fit into the post? So, what we are asking as Oke-Ogun is normal. We have not asked for anything extraordinary.
Does Oke-Ogun even boast of the numbers to produce a governor? Ibadan zone always boast of having the numbers…
Do you want to take me to a lecture room? We have the numbers. The mistake many of you have been making about Ibadan having the numbers is that among the numbers Ibadan has, it’s you and me. Ibadan is a cosmopolitan town; people come from all over to make up the numbers. Ijebus are among the numbers, Egbas are among, other parts of the western states are among too. There are people of the Western region era, they are also among. Hausa people in Sabo are among, the whole length of Iwo Road, comprising 90 per cent of the Igbos, is among the numbers. People from other parts of Oyo State: Oke-Ogun, Ogbomoso, Oyo, Ibarapa, are among the number. So, you can see how the number came out.
What’s there to show that Oke Ogun wants to forge a united front to achieve this agenda this time?
Look, when you are deprived, when you are deprived, it will get to a point that you will want to say, ‘I’ve examined myself. I can equally do this.’ And I’m sure if an Oke-Ogun man insists on getting the governorship, a lot of Ibadan people will consider it. They will give them the chance to prove their mettle. Ibadan doesn’t hate Oke-Ogun.
You belong to the Oyo APC, which is still trying to forge a united front. There appears to be the Teslim Folarin and the Adebayo Adelabu factions. Which faction do you belong to?
I belong to the APC faction.
Are you aware of the Oyo APC gladiators meeting to shelve their various selfish interests?
There’s a Yoruba proverb that says when you are ready to defecate, the anus will open.
What do you think of Governor Makinde running for the presidency in 2027?
If he feels like running, he’s a bonafide citizen of Nigeria, from the South-West. Why not, if he wants to run?
Do you think he can ruffle shoulders with President Bola Tinubu, who may gun for a second term?
I am not in a position to know his strengths. He has his method and his luck.
Are you running for the governorship of Oyo in 2027?
Time will tell. This is the year 2025. My political future depends on what Almighty Allah holds for me.
Makinde talked about having a young person succeed him as governor. Some would argue that should you want to contest, you do not fall into that age bracket…
I’m a Muslim. According to the Holy Quran, chapter 3, verses 26 to 27, God is the only person who determines who will be what and what. Almighty God is the only person who will determine who will be what and what, at what and what time. If God says yes, who will say no?
Nigerians are going through tough times. What’s your rating of the Tinubu government thus far?
You cannot say you want to eat omelette and you don’t want the eggs to be broken. You have to break an egg to have an omelette; that is what’s going on now. In the last three weeks now or one month, our refineries are coming up. They are coming up gradually. So, we have to be patient and endure. For me, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
What’s your take on the tax reform bill controversies?
The tax bill is fantastic. It’s part of the endurance trek. We have to think outside the box. We cannot be doing things as usual.
