Contesting Senate with my brother no big deal – Tejuoso

Prince (Dr.) Lanre Tejuoso is the immediate past Commissioner for Youth and Sports in Ogun State. He was also Commis­sioner for the Environment as well as Special Duties.

He recently resigned his appointment to contest the Ogun Central senatorial seat on the platform of the All Progressives Congress in the forthcoming general elections. In this interview, he speaks on his foray into politics, his senatorial ambition and the assassination attempt on his life, among other sundry issues. Excerpts:


You are a successful businessman and a Prince from the Tejuoso royal family of Oke-Ona Egba, Abeokuta. Why are you now seeking an elective position?
God bless you for that question. Do you realise that Nigerian democracy would have grown and be more matured than what we have now, if people from the private sector as well as sons and daughters of traditional rulers, like you put it, had been occupying elective positions in this country? The reason is that such elected persons would not want to bring disgrace to the royal family or whichever establish­ment such people come from. They would be conscious of the fact that if they failed to perform or embezzled funds meant for developmental projects in their constituen­cy, the electorate would cry out and before you know it, such traditional ruler would have called him or her to accountability and order. But look at what we have today. We have situations where some politicians would misappropriate funds meant for their constituency projects and they get away with the impunity. My vying for the Ogun Central senatorial seat is to bring about a remarkable difference in my constitu­ency and therefore will not be ‘business as usual,’ I can assure you about that. Many of you, my friends in the pen profession, were quick to refer to Abeokuta as a glorified village, in your past write ups, but look at what Amosun has turned everywhere to now. We are now very proud indigenes of Ogun State, happy to show off the various developmental projects to our friends and prospective investors, when they come calling.
Back to your question, in my own case, let me quickly tell you that the main is­sue is that this is the first time the Egba Traditional Council will be represented in politics at least in Ogun State. This is the first time the Egba Traditional Council will be having a candidate from a royal house, coming out to say that he wants to rep­resent them. And that is why I have been consulting and seeking our royal fathers’ blessings on this journey to the hallowed chamber. If there is no success in this jour­ney, it will be a failure for the council in its entirety. God forbid.
How do you react to the notion that you are far removed from the people of your constituency?
The people know that I am close to them and that I am very accessible. Ogun Central senatorial district has a very large population and it all depends on whom you’re talking to. Presently, we are on a “meet-the-people” drive. Everyday, we keep on consulting with the people because we want to hit the ground running. We must bring smiles to their faces. What is important is for one to nurture and maintain the good relationship, which has already been established with the people. Recently, in partnership with a Lagos based microfinance bank, I facilitated loans for the funding of small and medium scale businesses in my constituency.
There are, however, some people who have made up their minds even before you meet them and their perception about you is negative. Many would say, “oh, he is a prince; all princes put their shoulders high”! They therefore expect you to be very proud. Even before they meet you that is the impression they had already formed. But by the time you move close and talk with them, they now calm down and express surprise. I have gone through all that many times. Take for instance, some people whom I have never met before would tell me that they’re afraid of shaking hands with me because they see me as Kabiyesi. But I often tell them that my father is the Kabiyesi and not me. I am just like you too. If I hold their hands, they would then exclaim, “Ah, see him, holding my hand.” In the summary, those who hold that perception are the ones who feel that as a prince with all the royalty, one should be arrogant whereas it is not so and I am not.
Is it true that your younger brother from the same Tejuoso royal house will be contesting against you for the Ogun Central senatorial seat in the 2015 elec­tion?
That is the beauty of democracy. It is not a problem but first of all, I want you to know that what every contestant needs to do is to perfect his or her homework very well. All I have to say about that for now is that when we get to the bridge, we will look at how to cross it, but I don’t see that as a problem for now.
Other aspirants for the ticket on the APC platform are aggrieved over the conduct of the senatorial primary elec­tion that produced you as the standard bearer. How do you intend to placate those that contested and lost the ticket to you?
Of course, I am going to reach out to them so that all of us would have to work together as a team and win this election for our party. At the appropriate time, we will definitely do the needful after the Indepen­dent National Electoral Commission may have released the final list of contestants. All of us have to work together because it is such that only one person would emerge as the winner. And if indeed all of us have the spirit of fair play and the overall inter­est of our party at heart, then I believe we’ll all resolve our differences and work for the success of our great party just like the way you saw General Buhari being supported by other contestants who lost the ticket after the presidential primaries. If it were to be a do-or-die matter, by now, I would not have remained steadfast, even after the attempt on my life. I forgave the assail­ants and their sponsors and I have decided to run again. And this time, by His grace because He spared my life then, I shall be victorious.