By Bilesanmi Abayomi
An All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart, Oloye Seun Salami, has denied being an opposition party spokesman, but he reiterated that he’s the voice of the voiceless on Thursday during an online interview with the Kosofe Post.
Excerpts
Kosofe Post: Recently, APC-GAC leader Otunba Bushira Alebiosu held a peace meeting with you, Moyo Ogunlewe, and others over your unrelenting attacks on Kosofe Local Government administration and political affairs coordination.
Why did you appoint yourself as the spokesman of the opposition parties?
Seun Salami: I am not a spokesperson of the opposition in Kosofe; I am a voice of the voiceless.
Let’s have the people check my records. I was one of the strong voices that criticized his father when he was a minister for works while using FERMA to unleash terror on the people of Lagos State, who knew nothing of him – So that he will amend his ways—that’s the purpose, not to be an opposition spokesperson.
I’m not a spokesperson for the opposition; rather, I am a voice for the voiceless, a good governance advocate, and a community developer of high repute.
KP: So you don’t have anything personal against the chairman?
SS: I don’t have anything personal with him; he’s a junior brother to me, and we are all in the same party.
There is some information that has leaked out to the public, and they accused me of being behind Kosofe headlines, which I don’t know anybody behind.
Off course, our senatorial leader invited us for a peace meeting, which centered on some deliberate misinformation being peddled around by some sycophancy around the chairman, fingering me for some of the frivolous misinformation.
Since he assumed office, I have not been to his office, and I have not been to the Kosofe Local Government Secretariat till date.
Our leader, Chief Bushira Alebiosu, appealed to two of us, and I told them I didn’t have anything personal and I was not behind any information coming from Kosofe.
KP: Most of your viewpoints are said to be the result of a private discussion with the party leadership. What’s your take on the notion that you are promoting the agenda of the Justice Forum at the expense of other political stakeholders?
SS: I’m not opposition spokesperson, I’m voice of the Voiceless- Seun Salami: It’s a matter of choice; I am not a member of the Justice Forum, and I don’t believe in any group. I believe in my party, which is the APC. Nobody can choose who to associate with for me; I am an adult. I am free and empowered by the law to choose whoever I want to associate with. So, I associate with everyone I am pleased with.
KP: Last weekend, you wrote a piece alleging that the chairman of mismanagement, Bola Tinubu, flagged off his campaign in Lagos with misappropriated funds. Why don’t you approach him to seek an explanation rather than dragging him on social media?
SS: Well, I believe that is not a way to talk to him; that’s the essence of social media. I tried as much as possible. In Kosofe, we have different political platforms where we relate to and circulate information on what’s happening in Kosofe’s local government within our party. When I sent a message, I was expecting the Local Government Chairman or his aide to engage me or debunk whatever I wrote.
KP: Is it true that you sustained the attacks because you did not make the list of the recently announced 40 senior special assistants appointed by the council chair?
SS: Senior Special Assistants to the council chairman! In the first place, you can go around and confirm with any of the leaders in the Kosofe Federal constituency. Right from Otunba and whomever, if I have ever come to them even to lobby for supervisor, councilor, or any other position, I am not interested in SSA, talk of lobbying for political appointments notwithstanding. I am a big player in the real estate sector of the Nigerian economy.
KP: There are about 80 days until the election in terms of campaign fund management. What do you think the party can do to ensure that election logistics are not diverted for personal use?
SS: The party leaders have to sit down and take charge of that because we need to put ourselves together. We need accountability and transparency; we need to appeal to the conscience of the party members because currently the party is not together.
Firstly, the way the council chairman is running the affairs of the council is not proper, to the best of my knowledge, in terms of discrimination and segregation of party members. It doesn’t make sense; they have to work on that.