What makes you think the Senate is the right place for you despite other political positions available?
I am eminently qualified. My training and experience at the bar and in practice has positioned me very well at the upper chamber of the National Assembly where laws are made, argued and articulated. Also, I am very passionate about my country Nigeria, particularly my contribution towards development of law, social justice
and developments within Nigeria. I believe that I possess the necessary experience notwithstanding the fact that I have held no public office but my experience in the private sector and in politics have put me in an advantageous position to contribute to developments in this country. I was the National Secretary of the Nigerian Advance Party NAP and I haven’t had any public office, I have not been a commissioner or a minister before, but I do have experience in the private sector. I also believe because I’m tagged a youth despite the fact that in less than four years I will be 50 years old. I believe the youths of this nation comprise more than 65 per cent of the population. That’s not to say that I will not be representing other interests for example women and men too. I believe that this is the time. Yakubu Gowon took over the leadership of this country at the age of 32. Our present governor, Fashola, was 42; David Cameron is my contemporary. In fact, his school used to play my school in football in the UK. He is my age and my generation, not to talk of Barack Obama. My own father contested the presidential election of this country when he was 43 against the likes of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Waziri Ibrahim and Aminu Kano in the 1983 election; so, I’m more than eminently qualified.
How will you assess the performance of the incumbent senator representing the senatorial district in the National Assembly, in the person of Oluremi Tinubu?
I will say that the performance of the incumbent senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial District, Oluremi Tinubu, is less than satisfactory. Her only qualification is that she is the wife of the former governor of Lagos State and I don’t think that alone is any justification for her being in the Senate. I am an indigene of Lagos State and I don’t believe she is one. Also, there have been incidences where some of her utterances and pronouncements in the Senate have been called to question. Most recently, I heard she said that they don’t know what they are doing in the Senate. It is then left for the electorate to decide if I get the ticket of the PDP to weigh it up and to see which personality that will better serve the interest five local governments that we serve and represent in the Lagos Central Constituency”.
Why did you choose the PDP as the platform where you intend to realize your ambition?
In terms of ideology, I think the PDP has something close to the ideology of the NAP, which, of course, I so much believe. The NAP, for example, as far back as 20 to 30 years ago, had prescribed the solution for the political idiosyncrasy of Nigeria by devolution. There is a booklet called ‘The Nine Signs of Change in Nigeria’. In it, there were six political zones that the NAP prescribed. So, what we did at the recently concluded National Conference had already been proposed by the NAP over 25 years ago. Between the APC and the PDP, there is really no too much difference. They are of the same mother but the PDP is the majority party and we looked at its composition, I made the decision and I felt that to achieve my ambition, I sought to bridge the gap between the NAP and the PDP. For example, I believe that under the present leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan there has been more unity. These are some of the facts that I considered before pitching my tent.
APC has been producing the senator since 1999, what plans have you put in place to make sure you emerge victorious this time around?
Primaries are coming up on December 7th and I am not the only aspirant. So, we will go to the primaries and I believe that I will emerge the flagbearer of the party for the senatorial district. Thereafter, I believe that this upcoming election will be different from the previous elections where the APC has always had a free hand. I believe this election is for the PDP to lose rather for the APC to win. We see what is happening in Lagos, where the APC started very well, but after 16 years in charge, they have become too much complacent, there is too much corruption and too much mismanagement. And the people are complaining on a daily basis. The masses are not feeling that their interests are better served. I believe the time of the APC is up. The PDP I believe are going to put out their best foot forward this time around. That is of course subject to their coming up with the right candidate and with their political will to take Lagos. Lagos is 5.8 million
voters and so, it cannot be ignored in the present dispensation. Lagos state deserves a very special disposition more than what is currently being conceded to it by the federal government and I intend to push that to the core when I am elected into the Senate. The PDP has to match the APC at every level. If they do not, it will be the same result. But like I said, this election will not be like the any of the previous election. The APC knows this and that is why they are very jittery.
What is your understanding of the senatorial district you intend to represent and how close are you to the grassroots?
It is true that people from the elite class are really far from the masses but that is not the same thing with me. My father is a grassroots man even though he is from the elite class. He has always associated with the masses and their climes and, in the same vein, I am caught in that web. I have lived and worked in Nigeria since I came back from abroad over 22 years and I have lived and worked in Lagos. The idiosyncratic problems and nature of the state are well known to me. I have been active at the grassroots level and I have reached out several times. I can assure you that Olumide Braithwaite is not someone that sits in an air-conditioned room aspiring for the Senate.
What should people from your senatorial district expect from you if you become their senator?
They will see a young, vibrant, energetic, sympathetic, understanding, aggressive, articulate bold young man that is easily accessible and acceptable to them. They will have access to their senator rather than one that is distant to them. I am also very radical, cut from my father’s cloth. However, I am my own person and I intend to make a mark if elected. For Lagos State, there are some issues that must be addressed and redressed. We have issues of tollgate that people are not happy about the way, which the APC-led government overnight imposed on us through the House of Assembly. We have residents, who are forced to pay. Some of these things must be looked into and addressed. Despite the fact that the Jonathan administration is trying its best on youth unemployment, I believe there is the need to do a lot more. I will ensure, through the composition of laws, to play a key role in looking critically into this area. Getting Lagos State a special concession and disposition would be one of my priorities. Lagos, without any controversy, is the economic hub of this nation and it is qualified to be a mega city and in so doing cannot be equated with other states in this country. It, therefore, deserves a special provision governing it and a special concession conceded to it. The enormous pressure placed on governance in the state can never be over-stated. Therefore, the Federal Government has to do more to support it and that is going to be one of my immediate priorities when I get to the Senate.(Daily Independent)
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