Takit Abiodun Asanloko, a civil engineer and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), was the secretary of Ekiti local government area in Kwara state. In this interview, he tells KEHINDE OSASONA why he defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the ADC’s chances in 2027.
You are a politician; how did your political journey start and where are you now?
Well, if I have to go to the archive, I can say it was in 1980, to be precise. I was a vibrant young man following the late Olooye, Senator Abubakar Olusola Saraki, and learning the political rope. But I took a break along the line and I became active again in 1999. However, in the year 2003, when Senator Bukola Saraki became the governor of Kwara state, I was the secretary to the Ekiti local government council.
In 2011, I defected to the ACPN party as a demonstration of my loyalty to Baba Saraki. Remember that his daughter, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, was the governorship candidate then but eventually lost to the former governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed.
After the political misunderstandings died down, I became the senior special assistant on urban plan and development to Governor Ahmed.
Presently, I’m in the ADC after defecting from the PDP a few months ago. Earlier, I had informed the party at a stakeholders’ meeting that I was going to leave; that I no longer belonged in the party. Meanwhile, beforehand, I had written a letter announcing my resignation.
Your resignation from the PDP was shocking and a lot of party faithful are yet to recover from it; why did you make that decision?
You see, when you are at a party and discover you can’t fulfill your interest there, you need to shift a little bit and move on to the next platform.
As an ADC stalwart now, others and I believe that that party is going to make a change. And, if possible, by God’s grace form the government in Kwara state in 2027, as well as clinching the presidency at the national level. That’s our objective.
What makes you so sure about forming the governments in Kwara and Nigeria? What is the party’s strength?
You see, our strength lies majorly on the people at the grassroots. Yes, that’s where we hang our hope, and this is because we are conscious of the massive support they have given to us so far and the surprise that we are going to be making.
Again, with the manifesto that we are coming up with, we should be able to proffer solutions to the various economic and social challenges of the people of Nigeria.
Do you have any aspirations as we speak?
Yes. Every politician aspires. Presently, what we are doing now is a coalition to harmonise our members from ward to local and from local to state levels. So, that has not really given us an opportunity to do much in terms of aspiring.
As I speak with you, I am one of the people that are coordinating the local governments, making the party known to the people by marketing it well enough to win an election.
Are you satisfied with the level of development in Kwara state in general, and Kwara South in particular?
I am not satisfied. If I was satisfied, I would have gone for ADC. That was why I went for the ADC. The truth is that our senatorial district in the South is still lagging in terms of physical and infrastructure developments.
And because of that, if you go to some villages in the South, you will think they are ghost towns. As we speak, insecurity coupled with rural-urban migration has become a great concern.
You are a journalist; I think you should ask Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq how he is fairing and compare that with your findings.
So, if we form the government in Kwara, the ADC will do things differently. There will be local government autonomy, which our party will mandate; there will be even developments of infrastructure and others in the sixteen local councils.
So, how do you think the dividends of democracy could trickle down to the grassroots?
We have a strategy that I cannot lay out here because of its sensitive nature. Yes, we have started it, but I’m not going to let it out. I don’t want it to be stolen. So, we have it. When we reach there, we would know how to go about it and our people would be better for it.
As a politician, and considering the fact that you have come a long way, has your projection for self and state been met?
It has not been met and I must be sincere with you here. And that is what is important to us for now even as we ported to our new party, the ADC.
Had it been my former party that had been able to do this for the people, if our people’s interest was being executed by a certain party, I wouldn’t leave them. And as we speak, the ADC is already giving the ruling party, including the PDP, sleepless nights.
Now, some people think your new party, the ADC, is populated with aggrieved politicians who fell out of favour from the ruling party; what is your take on that?
So, they are angry and they are aggrieved. That was why they came up with the idea of the ADC. I don’t agree with that and would never do it. When I hear things like this, I laugh, but then it is part of politics.
If you go back memory lane, you would discover that this present APC has a new PDP that joined them. We have ACN that joined them. Will you say that they are aggrieved? Now that an alternative party is warming up to take over they are saying they are aggrieved.
What led the APC to form its coalition back then? Or is it not synonymous with what we are doing now? What has changed between then and now?
That time, the new PDP joined them, ACN was there. ANPP too, a handful of CPC and nobody labelled them as being aggrieved. So, why are we being tagged now?
With the ruling party, the APC, declaring that it’s delivering and would form the next government and the PDP is a strong opposition party by the side, how strong is the ADC in Kwara to wrest power in Kwara?
You know better because you are a journalist. For now, I don’t consider PDP as a strong contender because it is dead in Kwara and everybody knows that.
A few weeks ago, the former chairman of the ADC in Ekiti called me, talking about preparations ahead of 2027, and how we intend to mobilise our members and Kwarans to register and identify with our party.
The SDP also called me saying that they want to emigrate to our party, the ADC. Similar things have been happening across Nigeria. So, we are being patient. We don’t want to overshoot because we want to plan our things and everything that is supposed to be done will be done very well.
As an experienced politician who has weathered the storms and has worked with the high and the mighty, are we likely going to have a repeat of the keenly contested 2023 presidential election in 2027?
ADC will win now. Yes, I can assure you that it is our turn to rule Nigeria…you understand? The chances of any of our aspirants, including Atiku Abubakar, are also bright.
What specifically gives you that confidence?
I just told you now that people are rooting for us and will vote for all our candidates when the time comes.
There is this clamour for power to go to Kwara North. That over the years, the Central had had, the Southern part of the state had had and that it is high time they ceded it to the North. Is your party also looking in that direction?
You see, every party wants to win an election. Now, as long as every party wants to win an election, they’ll strategise and prioritise at the same time. In 2023, for instance, when the APC picked two Muslims as presidential and vice-presidential candidates, people revolted over the lack of balance, but they went ahead because they knew if they picked a Christian, they would not have the bulk votes from the North and they wanted to win at all costs, so, they insisted and they won eventually.
Now, let me come back to your question, I believe that everything must go round. And the North like every part must have a taste of the governorship seat again, like the Central and the South did. But, we are just coming up as ADC, and we want to win elections. So, when we get to the bridge, we will cross it in the best possible way.