Speaking for the first time on what transpired during the PDP primary election, Oni, in an interview with The PUNCH, on Sunday, said despite his popularity, he lost the ticket due to operation ‘see-and-buy’ coordinated by Fayose.
He said:”The night before the primary, we accredited about 650 people, who believed that I was their preference. And by the time we got to the voting point where people were instructed to show their votes to a Lord of the Manor, many of them chickened out. You can’t blame them; what is the status of these people compared to that of the former governor? Do you want them to develop the kind of inner strength they don’t have overnight? The person who created the voting system and called it a secret ballot protected the votes and the voter. So, I believe that we must have lost at least 300 votes to the fact that the secret was removed from the primary election and there was nothing we could do about it.”
Oni, who disagreed with people saying Fayose is more sophisticated and more grassroots-oriented than him, said: “If somebody could steal, is that sophistication? It that sophistication or crookedness? At times, we allow crooks to have their way because we call them smart. There is nothing smart in crookedness.”
On why himself, Senator Biodun Olujimi, and others, didn’t team up against Fayose’s preferred candidate, Oni said: “First, I don’t believe in teaming up against anybody. I believe in working my way through. So, I worked my way from day one as one who could work without collaboration and would win. If not for the crookedness of ‘see and buy,’ I would have won. If it was something that I could not win, I would not strive; I would not go into it.”
“If you are going into an election, especially a primary, I expect you to be able to say with certainty that this is the number of votes that I think I would get. And if it is below a particular level, you should ask yourself, do I want to win or do I just want to participate? If winning will be impossible, there is no harm in either seeking an alliance or seeking alternatives,” he added.
The former governor explained that there is no friendship between him and Fayose, adding that there is no animosity between them as well.
-The Punch Newspaper