Dr. Frederick Fasehun, leader of the newly-
registered Unity Party of Nigeria and founder
of the O’dua People’s Congress, OPC, is not a
new face in the Nigerian socio-political arena.
He has seen the good and bad times in
Nigeria in his bid to push through his own
idea of a better society and is still plodding on
with the registration of his party, which he
says is to be used to galvanise the Yoruba
race and bring about good governance in
Nigeria.
In this interview, Fasehun talks about his
relationship with President Goodluck Jonathan
and why the birth of his party became
imperative barely ten months to the 2015
general elections in the country.
By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor
You are being described by some people as a
mole of the Presidency by setting up the UPN
to divide the South-west vote and pave the
way for the PDP to make an inroad into
Yorubaland. Have you heard such allegation
directly before?
Yes, I have heard it. Some are even saying
that Dr. Fasheun set up UPN to cause
mayhem in the South-west. But I think those
who are saying that have warped mentality. If
anybody was going to cause mayhem in the
South-west, the last person to do so would be
Dr. Fasheun. What I have been doing all my
life is to make sure that the South-West is
absolutely secure.
So, for people to now wake up and say that
Dr. Fasheun is setting up UPN to cause
mayhem is irresponsible. If I may ask, when
people set up ACN to push out PDP of the
South-west, did they cause mayhem? If I was
a disciple of Jonathan, who would have
stopped me from joining PDP? Should I have
gone through all the problems of forming
another political party? I would take the
easiest way by finding my way to PDP rather
than going to found a political organisation
that would become an auxiliary to the main
party. I would never do a thing like that.
So what is your relationship with President
Jonathan and what is your view on how he
has so far administered the country?
I have no special or unusual relationship with
President Jonathan. He is the President and I
will give him his constitutional respect as the
leader of this country, but that is the end of it.
I am happy that my people are here and can
testify that I was invited about a year ago to
come and take up a board chairmanship and I
turned it down. It is not even a year now. I am
going to be 79; I don’t need any public office
anymore.
READ THE FULL INTERVIEW IN SUNDAY
VANGUARD
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