PDP: What the exit of ‘Adu Cubana’ meansfor a struggling opposition party

Dr. Olumuyiwa Adu, a successful businessman and lawyer, jumped into the murky waters of politics less than two years ago after being thrown into the limelight of politics following the death of Hon. Adedayo ‘Expensive’ Omolafe who died while representing the people of Akure South/Akure North federal constituency in the House of Representatives.

He joined the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and with deep pocket, he quickly rose in popularity. He was spending so much money on party members that he was nicknamed ‘Adu Cubana’. Leaders of the party mobilized behind him to replace Omolafe in the House of Representatives.

Adu later clinching the ticket of the party for the House of Reps bye-election held in February 2022 but lost the election to the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Few months later, he vied for the ticket for the general election but lost to the State Woman Leader of the party, Hon. Kemisola Adesanya.

Adu had pitched his tent with the camp of the two-time governorship candidate of the party in the State, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede. However, not getting the ticket for the general election, which some had said he should have been compensated with, was a bitter pill for Adu to swallow, having spent millions of naira to reenergize the party’s base in the Akure region.

The fortunes of the PDP further dwindled from the outcome of the general elections in the State. Facing an uncertain future in the party and eager to maintain his relevance in the politics of the State with a possibility of being elected into a political office in a foreseeable future, Adu took the decision to jump ship and pitch his tent with the ruling party, throwing the PDP into further crisis.

Before his sudden exit, Muyiwa Adu was the main financier of a group within the PDP called Akure 2023/2024. The group, led by a grassroots politician in Akure, Mr. Tony Ala, is said to be mobilizing for the governorship ambition of Jegede, who is rumoured to be eyeing the ticket of the party for the third time for the next gubernatorial election in Ondo State.

In this interview with Topshotnews, however, Adu speaks on the motivation behind his decision and what he intends to achieve. Excerpts:
 
Sir, the news of your decamping from PDP to the ruling APC is coming at a time a little unexpected despite not doing so when you specifically lost PDP House of Representatives primaries last year. Why now sir?

Strategic policy should precede related project in the sense that one needs to first think about mission or the purpose for which one joined an association of people that are politically inclined. If the reason is to genuinely serve people, one hour of one’s time should not be wasted. It is important that at every point in time someone wakes up, he/she should think about the values that can be added to life by every minute spent. I have not come into politics without a purpose. It is to give a good representation for my people in a way that they can live a better life. Moreso, it is divinely directed. I didn’t just wake up overnight to say that I would like to be a political party member, but when I hearkened to the divine call, the first set of people that invited me were from the PDP and as at the time, we were to go into primary election of the House of Representatives. I vied for that position in the primary election and I won. I went into the main election and I saw something that I find unbelievable – that somebody would claim to be in a political party and as a member of that political party where he has paid his dues and at the same time worked in line with the Constitution of the party and every other statutory provisions that guides election processes, be termed a new comer who shouldn’t be allowed to contest election under a free and fair processes determined by political leaders on grounds not in collective interest of members. They eventually took decisions against interest of majority members. But I kept quiet and kept studying them. Though I may not be actively involved, but I had an idea what was going on with the political terrain.

So I began to parley with them and I saw that the root cause of our governance in this country starts out from the political processes. I felt I was likely to actually cause that change. I wasn’t angry about this method and I began to rally with them. But again, as a strategist, you should at any point in time, be able to know the steps you have to take in a political party. But the only way you can actually try to be part of it and contribute meaningfully is to see whether over time there can be changes. This will happen when there are proper committees that accommodate the stakeholders and in that case, all parties will get to speak. You may be thinking you have the whole knowledge of how things can work but when you all come together, everybody can come up with their ideas and the best idea will be picked. Whatever is agreed upon by majority of the people is adopted by the house and the party can move forward.

Unfortunately, I never saw an organized association of people in the sense that you can claim to have it in a particular local government where meetings are carried out and the major stakeholders are motivated. People that don’t even have what it takes to decide are the ones deciding for major stakeholders who don’t even have a knowledge of how an association should be managed much less about things that are related to the people, that is guided by the Constitution of the country as well as other laws. So, I’ve seen that I will end up wasting my time because one hour is important to me and my association with individuals that are not ready to change and are difficult to change will not work. I believe it is is a free world. If you feel that you are in a particular political party that is not actually ready to work or they think what they should do is for them to begin to play some dirty politics that will not bring positive impact on the people they claim to be representing by forming an association called a political party, then, what are you doing there? So it is not by going to APC because APC is not the only political party that is out there. But I carried out my own assessment of all the political parties and one year is important to me. I don’t necessarily have to be in any position to make an impact. Advisory role is all important in getting things done.

Since moving on to the APC, has the leadership of your former party, the PDP reached out?
Some leaders have been calling. That’s exactly what I’m saying. The party is not a wall, where the signpost of the political party is fixed, it is the individuals and where are the leaders? The leaders that don’t even know that Mr. A doesn’t have good minds towards Mr. B. You can clearly see in our own area here that we don’t have leaders who cooperate. It’s not like they’ve not been calling me, they’ve been calling me but I know that their calls will not make any difference. If somebody is calling me to talk to me, does he really possess the attributes that can make me see him as a leader that I can listen to? There are certain individuals that you end up wasting your time when you listen to them.

What is the motivation to leave PDP for APC at this time?
When I lost the election, I did not leave the party. I was just determined to cause a change. So there is no reason that anybody cannot do what they want. My reason for going to APC is that I am motivated by the desire to cause genuine change for my people, not for selfish interest. I want to join hands with my other brothers thay are in APC so that we can persuade and lobby the government to do what is proper for our people. That is the main aim of my move. And again, to try to reach out to my people that are there the same way I reached out to the people that were in PDP. I don’t just want to confine myself to one area where it appears as if the people don’t even know and appreciate what I’m doing.

No doubt your leaving PDP at this time is going to leave a great vacuum as a major financier of that party. What are some of the things you would want the leaders to note for future sake?
I observed that the party is well structured as a political party but not properly But in terms of how they run the party, they do not run it well like a political party.

I know politics plays out at different levels, different ways in different political parties. Now that you are in the ruling party, won’t it be another era of being treated as a newcomer in the party?
I’m going to APC because I want to associate with my people there. It is what I meet there that will determine my contributions. So if I get into APC tomorrow and I see that the party is going to waste my bloody time, I will leave the place because I am going there to work for the development of our dear state and its human capacity. I’m not over ambitious contrary to rumour by some persons but to have input in the process of governance enough to bring about development through lobby and persuasion.

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