The PDP recently kick-started its campaign for the 2019 elections at Auchi, what is your impression of the impression, considering the fact that it is the home base of the National Chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole?
On Monday December 3, the Edo State chapter of the PDP kicked-off the campaign for the 2019 elections at Auchi. This campaign was for the election of our Edo North senatorial candidate, Alhaji Abubakar Momoh; Mr. Johnson Abolagba for the Owan Federal Constituency; Bankole Balogun for Akoko Edo; Blessing Agbomhere for Etsako Federal Constituency and our House of Assembly candidates for the different constituencies. The interesting thing about the rally was that we took the battle to the home base of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the national chairman of the APC. The candidates were all presented to the enthusiastic crowd. People came out in their thousands not just to welcome the PDP but to assure the party that in 2019, they will vote massively for the PDP. The issues that are going to determine the election in Edo State in 2019 are very obvious. I am challenging the APC to tell Edo people what they have done for them. In the last three years that they have been in government, they have not done anything anywhere in Edo State.
What about the Azura Power Plant, which the governor was supposed to commission recently before it was cancelled?
The only project the president wanted to commission in Edo State, the Azura Power Plant is a private project. The APC leadership in Edo State felt that it was a shame that when the president came in 2016, the hospital he commissioned is yet to take off. I am challenging the APC leadership to tell Edo people why they should vote them again. The APC has not done one single thing in Edo State in the last three and a half years since it came to power. What the president wanted to commission is a private project. They were forced to cancel the visit when they discovered that there is nothing on the ground in the last three and a half years since the APC took over government.
How about the five-star Central Hospital built by Oshiomhole?
While we welcome the president for a state visit to Edo, we are calling on him to visit the Central Hospital to witness for himself the greatest financial scam ever perpetuated by any government in Nigeria. You are aware that towards the end of Oshiomhole’s administration, he brought the president to Edo State where he commissioned the Central Hospital, Benin. But two years after, we have clearly seen that it was a scam. The place has become a sanctuary for internally-displaced reptiles. There is not one single patient that has been admitted into that hospital that was hailed as a world class hospital since the president commissioned and declared it opened in November 2016. These and several other reasons led to the hasty cancellation of the visit. According to those who are very close to the government quarters, they said that there was going to be a major embarrassment
I want to use this opportunity to commend members of the Edo State House of Assembly, who in their wisdom and having listened to the yearning and feelings of Edo people, decided to look at how the job of the hospital was awarded in the first place and the events that led to the commissioning of the hospital by Mr. President and why it has been under lock and key after billions of tax-payers’ money were poured into it. Oshiomhole should be a guest of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to answer questions on the issues that have been raised about his tenure in office. The vouchers and documents are there; petitions have been written to the EFCC. For the chairman of a political party that is telling the world that they are fighting corruption, I think that the honourable thing for Oshiomhole to do is to submit himself to the EFCC for thorough investigation and trial.
Now that you have kicked off your campaign, what are your plans for Edo people?
We are asking Edo people to be vigilant and to defend their votes. They must ensure that they don’t only vote but stay behind to defend their votes. APC has lost it in Edo State. Even before now, we have two elected senators and a majority of the House of Representatives. Now that we are facing a situation where Oshiomhole, for reasons best known to him, imposed candidates across the state, I don’t see them standing any chance. Even when he was governor here in Edo; we did it. I believe we can still do it again, because this time round, he has helped us with the imposition.
You are boasting about your party’s strength, but how will you handle the problem of vote buying in the forthcoming elections?
It is certainly a crime to give money out to people to induce them to vote against their conscience. This is where the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must come in. The idea of putting the ballot papers in a box where they are exposed in order for voters to receive their financial reward is unacceptable. The security agencies too should do their work and ensure that there is a bit of decorum at the polling booths across the country. The truth is that there is no Nigerian today that is enjoying what is going on. Even the policemen and soldiers buy from the same market the civilians buy from. The economic hardship that the APC government visited on Nigerians is such that every patriotic Nigerian must use the opportunity of the next election to effect a change and vote in a government that will tackle these issues that are very much alive with the people of this country. There are hunger and poverty. Don’t forget the issues of insecurity; lives are lost daily. Nigeria has lost more lives than some nations that are engaged in a war. No nation can sit down and lose the number of lives that we have lost to these senseless killings by insurgents in the North-East and in other parts of the country. No Nigerian is happy with what is going on; a lot of lives have been lost.
The issue is that the APC is short of ideas as to how to tackle the challenges of insecurity in the country. Nigerians are certainly not happy with what is going on and there is no amount of propaganda that will sway Nigerians to continue with the present hardship they are going through.
How will you assess the government of President Buhari after three and a half years in office?
It is difficult to assess this government. A lot of people have come out to say that they made a lot of promises but failed to deliver. That is why some people are now calling the APC All Promises Cancelled. So, how do you assess a government that has cancelled all its promises to Nigerians? On a serious note, when you look at all the critical sectors of our nation, the government has failed. Take a look at the exchange rate. No government has ever watched the naira slide to where it is now without putting in place economic policies to check the slide. The naira is on a free fall. If these people are allowed to continue, I’ll not be surprised that we will be exchanging one thousand naira to a dollar. The indices are there. This government lacks the capacity to put in place economic policies that can turn the fortune of our nation around. The price of oil is far higher than what it was for the greater part of the Jonathan’s administration but what we are seeing in terms of development does not reflect the amount of money that is coming in through the sale of crude oil.
Look at the issue of insecurity; our soldiers are at the receiving end. This government must put in place a process to check the dominant fire power of the insurgents. Don’t forget that over a year or two ago, they came out publicly to say that they have decimated Boko Haram. But you and I know that with the number of casualties that we are recording, it is obvious that the Boko Haram is today stronger than they were before the inception of this government. It is obvious now that the government is running out of ideas on how to tackle the security challenges we are facing as a country.
Former President Jonathan accused the government of vendetta while critics said that it is engaged in a blame game instead of finding solution to the problems. What do you have to say about these?
The APC had no business coming to power if it did not have a solution to the problems they said Nigerians were facing at the time PDP was in power. Now that they have come to power, they have no business blaming anyone but themselves. When they came to power, it took them over six months to put up a cabinet. Look at the young man who is the president of France. Within 48 hours after he was elected, he put a team on the ground and the government was running. So, it is not enough for them to continue as if they are still campaigning; the campaigns are over. Nigerians were expecting them to deliver but instead of delivering on their promises, they have decided to blame the past government for anything under the sun. The question is; was it Jonathan that stopped them from putting a cabinet in place? The answer is no. The gains in the agricultural sector under Jonathan, was it Jonathan that stopped them from continuing on that path? The truth is that it is only a bad workman that blames his tools for bad performance; they should not blame anybody but themselves. Like William Shakespeare wrote, “the fault Brutus is not in our Stars but in us.” APC should own up that the fault in their inability to perform lies in them. They have been in charge; even if they cannot deliver on all the promises, Nigerians should start seeing visible signs to arrive at their destination. But here we are not talking of non-delivery of all the promises but that they have not delivered on any of them. They promised free education for science students but today they’re increasing school fees. Now that elections are by the corner, in order to be seen to be doing something in the educational sector, they’re now talking of reducing examination fees. Let them own up to the fact that they have failed and ask Nigerians if they can give them another chance. I know Nigerians will say no.
What does the PDP have in stock for Edo people?
The situation in Edo State is very interesting. When the APC came to government about 10 years ago, it was fashionable at every turn for them to say that the PDP was in government for over eight years but the interesting thing today is that they have spent more time in government than the PDP but the problems are far more than when they came into office. The people are far poorer; even those who are made to earn a living are being made to pay taxes that are beyond their returns on investments. That’s the sorry situation in Edo state.
The APC government, since its inception, has thrown the state into a bottomless pit of debt. The debt profile of Edo State is very critical not just to what is going on now but very critical to the future development of our state. We cannot ignore what they have done here, including the much-talked about Benin Water Storm Project, for which they obtained N30 billion loan and which took close to one billion naira to do its feasibility study. That feasibility study was awarded to a South African company. To me, that is a good example of capital flight. When we have experts here as well as university dons, the government has to bring in a company from South Africa. As we speak today, the residents of Benin go on their knees and pray to God each time there is rain. Many homes have gone under; lives have been lost. The question is what did Oshiomhole and his APC cohorts do with the N30 billion loan they took for the erosion control? The story is endless. What they did in Edo State was to play on the intelligence of our people, using propaganda as a tool to win the votes of the people, only to turn around and betray them.
Look at our roads in the state. They in such bad conditions and it is a pity that they have not even been able to convince their government at the federal level to come and address the situation of our roads in the state. It takes an average of 12 to 14 hours for somebody to travel from Benin to Abuja nowadays instead of five hours and yet we have a government. Under the PDP administration, even when we had a few potholes, the Federal Emergency Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) was always there to make repairs as they occur so that travelers could have easy passage as they go about their daily businesses. But today, you can almost mistake the Benin-Auchi to Lokoja-Abuja road for a farm road. A greater portion of the road doesn’t even have any asphalt. People spend endless hours trying to navigate their way through Abuja and other cities. Talking about the Benin-Auchi to road, the situation is not different. Even the Benin-Asaba road is now under serious threat. In most areas, people now resort to one way to avoid very serious bad portions. These, to me, are quite challenging. We have a government that is totally insensitive to the plight of our people. We must turn around our position as far as politics is concerned. It is more worrisome that this APC government has had two national chairmen from Edo State but the state has been totally neglected in terms of creating a good business environment by way of travellers going from one place to another to do business. I think APC has no business coming to Edo State to campaign. I want Edo people to brace up and show them the way out so that we can have new hands to turn around the state.
The presidential standard-bearer of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar recently presented his plan for the country, while President Buhari has also presented what he tagged: The Next Level. Do you think your candidate’s plans are apt enough to convince voters?
There is no doubt that Atiku has shown very clearly that he has vision for the people of this country. He has come out with a clear agenda that is not borrowed from any quarter. It is an agenda that he sat down with his team to put together as regards what he intends to do, if given the mandate. He has shown clearly that he has the requisite experience to manage the country to the admiration of all. He is also prepared and ready to come out publicly side by side with the candidate of the APC to tell Nigerians what he intends to do. So, I believe that it will be in the interest of our voters for Buhari to accept the presidential debate challenge which Atiku has thrown. It will be an opportunity for the two of them to tell Nigerians what they intend to do. While Atiku will be there to articulate his policies for good governance, President Buhari should also be prepared to tell Nigerians what he has done for the period he has been given the opportunity to govern. These are very critical issues which we must look into as we prepare to choose who should be the president of this great nation.
Are you optimistic that your party will win?
Oh yes. Victory is assured; Nigerians are tired of APC.
and then