D.G.Sanwo-Olu Independent Campaign Group ( ICG)
Tayo Ayinde is a loyal aide to All progressive congress (APC) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,he serves Asiwaju Tinubu when he was governor of Lagos state as Chief Security Detail for 8years meritoriously before joined politics in 2009 and was an aspirant in 2015 governorship election in Lagos state. Ayinde,the Cambridge trained cherishes his integrity so much that he can not negotiate with his credibility. Tayo is the Director general of Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu Campaign Organization now Independent Campaign Group (ICG).
In this interview with Adewale Ogunniran,he vouch for Sanwo-Olu’s credibility.Excerpts; How has it been so far in the campaign for Sanwo-Olu?
Q;How has it been so far in the campaign for Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu?
A; We have just started the program today as you can see. After the just concluded primary, we are meeting with all our structures as we met them before the primary. We are sensitizing them on how to canvass the electorate in the coming elections. We are aware of the challenges ahead so we are grooming every party member in the needed requirement to achieve our desired result, and today is the first day. Today we have met with all the 57 local government party secretaries, simultaneously with all the ward secretaries. We brainstormed together. We ate, we drank, and they are all happy and willing to work.
Q;How has the journey been so far as the DG of this powerful campaign?
A;Well, it is not an easy task but I thank God I have people and seasoned politicians around me. Some of them are directors heading all the 32 directorates that we have under BOSCO. BOSCO means Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu Campaign Organization. Each directorate has a director and the director is the head of the directorate, looking after the affairs of designated areas.
A; You have been tagged as a man of credibility , integrity and class. You are mostly careful of the choice of people you work with, what can you say about Sanwo-Olu, as your party flagbear?
Q;Babajide Sanwo-Olu is a man of integrity that I respect so much. He has been in government with us for 17 years he came into government when Mr. Femi Pedro became the deputy governor to Asiwaju. He was his special adviser. So, he has been with us since then. After that, he was a commissioner under Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, and also before he joined the Gubernatorial race, he was the MD of LSDPC. So he is a grounded politician in Lagos state and we believe that he has the capacity to take the state to the next level. That’s why I am happy to be his DG in this campaign because I believe in him and all the politicians in Lagos State believe in him as candidate that can deliver the expectations of the party and Lagosians at large.
People of Lagos believe in you as a person, and believed your candidate should reflect your personality in deeds and words. Are you sure about Sanwo-Olu’s delivery after elections?
For me to have chosen to be his campaign director-general, you should know that I so much believe in him. We have other aspirant outside there, and the question is why would Tayo take up the DGship of Babajide Sanwo-Olu. That means there are more to that, because I see him as an upright man, he is a man of integrity.
Q; Come 2019, what do you think Sanwo-Olu will do differently, other what we have in Lagos at the moment?
A;Jide is going to improve on our health sector in Lagos State, he will improve in the construction of roads in Lagos state. We will have good road construction of international standard and he will also improve the educational sector in Lagos State. He will work on the social benefits of the nation, then the area of youths and sports.. he will improve on a lot of things for the people of Lagos State, we have a blueprint that all the governors of Lagos state follow and he is going to follow it to the latter.
Q;One of the issues against the currently administration is based on his team playing skills, how are we confident about Sanwo-Olu in this aspect?
A;A lot of people know Sanwo-Olu very well. He’s a nice man. He’s man of the people and he has touched sp many lives; directly or indirectly in Lagos State. You can imagine I took him to visit a leader in Ikeja for consultation and the leader said, “Sanwo-Olu, you don’t need to come to me. You see the paving stone in my compound, you did it for me. But you have forgotten. I am going to support you and im going to tell all my leaders and followers to support your administration because we know that you can do it. Sanwo-Olu is going to carry everybody along.
You know, Sanwo-Olu is a party man to the core. Look at what we did today. It has not happened in the history of Lagos State that a flagbearer after winning the primary, will call the all the party function, to thank them. That shows the kind of person that we have as our candidate.
Q;Sir, how do you intend to go about your campaign this time?
A;I assure you it’s not going to be the regular kind of campaign, it will not be a jamboree type that we will be moving around, dancing and going about with vehicles in circle. We shall be working from the grassroots. Instead of paying for mobility, logistics, security and all we will use the fund mobilise the people so they will have enough logistics to canvass the people.
A;Sir, from 1999 up till now, if you notice, every successive government in Lagos comes with a slogan that seems to give us a hint of what the government intends to achieve? We have Eko onibaje, then Itesiwaju Eko Lojewa logun. Now we have Igbega ipinle Eko oti di ajumose?
Yes. You see..it is implied. When you say ajumose, it means it is a collective effort for everybody to take the state to next level. So, that is our slogan, and we have made it to be a unique one, and it symbolizes what the governor intends to do in Lagos.
Q;Who is Tayo Ayinde?
A;Tayo Ayinde is a politician. I joined Politics in 2009. But before then I was chief security detail to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. For 8 years I was his chief security detail. That was when I was in SSS. When I retired from SSS in 2009, I joined politics and since then I have been very active in politics and I am a modest person; man of dignity and inegrity. I am straightforward person. That is why you see a lot f people around me. I am not the kind of politician that will ask you to go and bring money because you are looking for a position. I will rather help you. Provided you are qualified; provided you are capable and have the capacity to hold that position. That is what I look out for. I am not the type that will say go and bring money before you get any position. And that’s why I was made the Director-General for Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Q;Considering the number of years you have worked with Asiwaju, what kind of person will you say he is?
A;Asiwaju is a very transparent man. If you noticed, some people have been giving wrong signals about his person, misinforming the public about his person, but they are not true if you meet him personally. It is because of the wrong impression of imposition that made him insist that a direct primary be done.
Direct primary is the situation where all our political party lined up behind their preferred candidate and vote for him accordingly. And it was this system that produced Babajide Sanwo-Olu as APC gubernatorial aspirant.
Asiwaju is a man who listens. He will listen to you attentively no matter how small you are. He believes no idea or suggestion is meaningless. He is a good listener.
