Retired Captain Idris Wada, the immediate past governor of Kogi State, who is seeking to return to office on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in this interview by YINKA OLADOYINBO, speaks on key issues relating to the November 16 governorship election.
You have just completed consultations with delegates from the 21 local government areas of the state. What was the experience?
My visit to all local government areas was well appreciated by the party’s stakeholders. Everywhere I went, the youths, women and men were all happy to come out to receive me. Their happiness, respect and appreciation was because of the good governance witnessed during my tenure. They all said they missed me and equally wished me well in my political endeavours. So, the impression while on the field was that my aspiration was welcomed by Kogi people. They equally pledged their support to me. They were eager with prayers that I should come back and rescue the state from the mess that is going on now, because one could see abject poverty, depression and hunger on the faces of the people. You could feel hopelessness in the eyes of the people. So, people saw my candidacy as a way to go back to their normal ways of life.
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There are many aspirants from Kogi East where you come from. How do you intend to surmount the challenge?
I have made great impact in Kogi East so far. I have structures in every local government area. I have people I worked with in the past. Most people elected as delegates had worked under my tenure; some were party officials then. I had achievements to show in every local government area I visited. These were things I was able to do when I was governor. In Kogi East Senatorial District, people were excited to receive me. So, the fact that there are many aspirants does not reduce the support for my aspiration. None of the other aspirants has anything to show in the Kogi East senatorial district. The situation we are in presently requires experience and ability. The people appreciate the fact that the things I said have been proven to be true. They appreciate the fact that I do not talk often, but when I do so, I mean it. They see maturity in my composure. That maturity, experience, exposure and the fact that they can see what I did while I was there as governor separates me from other aspirants. I have history to rely upon.
Are you not worried about the emergence of many aspirants on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)?
I am not worried. It only gives me a cause to wonder if the people of Kogi East really know what they want. Governorship aspiration is not a small thing. I am not sure people understand what it entails running for the governorship of the state. It entails a very big financial capacity, experience and quality of individuals. I don’t see some of the aspirants carrying this package; they create the impression that they are serious. When we came in, we created a well-organised setup. We came with concrete plans, in terms of campaign organisation, among others. Promptly, we made the right impact; unlike others who have no clear agenda. They were doing ‘start and stop’ campaign, leaving gaps in the mind of the people on whether these people are serious or prepared. Running for the office of governor is a major project. It is not parading with SUVs or merely appearing on the television and social media. It is more than that. It is a deeper endeavour that requires thorough preparation. So, I cannot see some of the people going far. The fact that many people want to be the governor of the state is a reflection of the strain governance has exerted on the people. That is why some people think if Yahaya Bello can be governor, I too can be governor. That is how I see it.
Contesting election in Nigeria now involves a lot of money. Are you comfortable with the development?
It is a very sad development for now that our politics has been too monetised giving room for people to think it is cash and carry. Democracy is not for sale. It is not to be sold to the highest bidder. We need to fundamentally go back and look at campaign spending. People should not spend as much money to be able to get into elected office. Many people are denied the opportunity to participate in the process. So, our leaders and politicians must go back to the drawing board and create a level-playing field, so that anyone who is qualified can come out and let the people judge on the quality, knowledge, experience capacity and management abilities, rather than the size of their pockets or bank accounts. In developed countries, it is crowd funding, where people who are sympathetic to your aspiration pool their resources together to fund campaigns. This helps people to come out to run, knowing that eventually, the financial burden will be borne collectively. In Nigeria, the person with the fattest bank account becomes a winning candidate. It is wrong because anybody, who spends so much, wants to get his money back at the expense of the people.
There have been issues around the political behaviour of Kogi East senatorial district. What is your view on the issue?
Yes, I’m worried. I have not noticed any real change in the political behaviours of people from the district. I am only hoping that with the prevailing hunger and poverty, they will be driven to vote for experience and capacity. I hope they will vote for a leader with a clear vision and integrity that will pull the state out of the current challenges we are passing through. Any mistake they make now could plunge the state into tragedy in the next four years. God forbid! Kogi may cease to exist as a state. No salary will be paid; there is no infrastructure development anywhere in the state. Only an inexperienced person can wriggle his way for the first one year before finding his feet.
There is a relative high rate of youth restiveness in the state. How do you think this can be tackled?
I am worried by the level of youth restiveness, but I have a solution to it. We demonstrated it by our YAD4KOGI programme. Many youths, who were demoralised and had no hope, we brought them back to life. We rehabilitated and re-orientated them to try and work for themselves. We established The KOICA, a training institute in Felele, which was meant to improve the lives of youths. The centre was meant to be a centre of excellence and to attract students from other West African countries.
The Koreans helped us make contact with Ghana, Cameroon and other neighbouring countries to be sending their students to Kogi. By now, we would have built hostels for that facility, so that the students would be staying there and when released to the society, they could begin to do well for themselves. So, if we come back, we will come up with a programme of re-orientation on how to fish, to have a future and not be used thugs during elections.When we come back; we will offer them encouragement with seed capitals to enable them get on their lives for the better.
What are your plans for some of the projects that were called Legacy Projects when you were governor and have been abandoned?
If elected, I will go back to the abandoned projects. The money is still there in the capital market. But you need integrity and financial management to access it. Bond money are tied to projects, so I will get the money, finish all the road projects, water supply and other infrastructure that will benefit our people. The bond money is of low interest; it is about half of what a commercial bank will charge you. Look at Kogi House, in Abuja, with our feasibility, projections and cash flows, we would have been earning billions of naira from the project. It was well thought out. We got a viable partner; it is an 11-storey building for N2.2 billion in Nigeria. How much was the Revenue Building constructed by Governor Bello? It was N1.3 billion, which was not up to one-third of Kogi House in Abuja. We negotiated that we would build the complex substantially. It was going to be a quality hotel. We have two floors for use by the Kogi State government.
But the others are quality hotels too be managed by the Chinese for 20 years to get their money back. Eighty percent of the project cost is borne by the Kogi State government, while remaining 20 per cent was by the Chinese company. You knowgovernments are good at building things, but how about management and maintenance? You come into a hotel, the air conditioners are not working;the lights are not working; water is not rushing. That was why we signed the contract. There was never an inflation, but we tied the project to a bond and part of Internally Generated Revenue of the state. The plan was 50 per cent IGR was going to pay outstanding leave allowances for workers; 50 per cent we directed it to that project. So I saw a way of funding it to the end before we started and it takes discipline to do such. I was not doing it to impress anybody, rather I was working for the people of Kogi State.
Many people have said violence is a factor in this election, are you prepared for the violence that could be unleashed before, during and after the election in November?
I am a man of peace. I came into government to improve on the lives of the people. I’m not desperate. If the opportunity comes for one to be governor, I will serve with all my heart and mind. But it is not a desperate project for me. Coming back to run again is in the best interest of Kogi State, and that is my motivation. It is not about self. We were cheated in 2015 and anyone who has the fear of God will not allow cheating. So this time around we will not watch them cheat us. I am proud that in 2015, no life was lost even though we lost the election. But thank God nobody died, since we now know the terrain better than before. We will make sure our supporters are not intimidated, again.
A major issue in Kogi is the payment of salary of civil servants and pensioners. How will this resolved.
You must pay people for whatever work they do for you. It is scriptural in the Bible and Koran that the workers’ sweat should not dry before you pay that person. Employees of government are on contract. Welfare and security are the major priority of government. During my tenure, I made sure that basically workers are paid as early as possible.
My plan was for us to be self-sustaining after eight years and so, we planted seeds in that direction. We improved the business environment using the ethanol factory and Alo Cement Company.
Payment of salaries will remain number one on the priority of my administration. Even pension was more important to me while I was in office. This was because these are people who had served. They had no other source of income other than their pension. So I made sure those who served and those serving were rewarded. This is to encourage those serving to be more dedicated to the service of the State.
Payment of salaries will remain a priority. I doubled gratuity payment while in office. I added additional N50 Million. If I was still there by now we would have completed the payment of all gratuities because I started from 1991. I tried to solve Kogi state problem conclusively.