PDP will never smell Osadebey Avenue in the nearest future - Kazeem Afegbua

• EDO 2016 Oshiomhole’s sack of Commissioners has no link with Odubu’s ambition

By Simon Ebegbulem,

Benin-City

Prince Kazeem Afegbua, the new Commissioner for Information and Orientation in Edo State, on Friday, reacted to the seeming tension in the  All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2016 governorship election in the state. He also debunked the insinuation of a rift between  his principal,Governor Adams Oshiomhole, and his deputy, Dr Pius Odubu, over the latter’s ambition to succeed his boss. He carpeted the state PDP over its tantrums against  Oshiomhole, declaring that the PDP, after allegedly pauperising the people of Edo for ten years, will never smell the Osadebey Avenue Government House in the nearest future. He spoke on other national issues. Excerpts:

Governor Oshiomhole

There seems to be crisis in the state APC over the choice of a governorship candidate and that has pitted the governor against some leaders of the party including his deputy, Dr Pius Odubu

I want to tell you, first and foremost, that there are no burning issues. People are just trying to express their democratic rights and also pursue their own individual and collective interests. The governor is very much at home with the politics of the state. He is a very democratic governor and I did say this when I was being sworn in on Monday, February 1, 2016, that it is only in Comrade Oshiomhole’s government that you find Commissioners supporting different aspirants without the governor complaining about them because, according to him, every one of us has the right to show  preference in this matter. But this  reality does not exist elsewhere. It is either you support what the governor wants or you leave his cabinet. At any rate, the governor has a gift of the garb, so to speak. The governor has the power to consult people widely, to also try to win people over by raising superior arguments. He likes contestation, he likes constructive engagement, he likes collective bargaining. He does not impose his whims and caprices on any one. I am saying this because I am involved. Once he heard  I was showing support for one of the aspirants, he did not because of that punish me, rather he promoted me from Special Adviser to Commissioner. So people should not give Oshiomhole the name he does not deserve, people should appreciate that, as a governor who has invested heavily in his intellect, his capacity, his courage and his ability for the collective governance of Edo in the last seven years plus, they should appreciate the fact that he should also have a say in who becomes the governor of the state when he leaves office. It is a democratic right, non-negotiable. That is where the friction is coming from. But the governor is not ramming his choice down the throat of any aspirant, he is negotiating, persuading, discussing with people  to say he has preference for aspirant A as against B. And I think he should be appreciated. And Oshiomhole has the power of conviction, he has the power to sell an aspirant in a manner that anyone who is buying into the aspirant will see reason why he is buying into it.

 

But it is alleged that Odubu’s loyalists are being sacked, including Commissioners.

We have one State Executive Council populated by Commissioners appointed by the governor. I am not aware of any Commissioner who is for the deputy governor or the SSG. We have one Exco and we all go there every Tuesday to discuss issues that affect the state.  Now, issues of party politics is in the hands of the APC. Issues of governance is in the hands of the state Exco led by the governor. So the so-called rift between the governor and his deputy may be the imagination of those who want to promote internal crisis within the government just to create the impression that things are not going well, but they have failed. Odubu has been deputy before now, and there have not been issues of disagreement in a manner that will warrant  intervention from any quarters. The governor and his deputy have enjoyed a robust relationship.  But the politics of power is a revolving game. People will want to promote differences in order to make an impression. But the Comrade Governor is very enlightened,  bold and courageous. He has the powers of conviction and persuasion and must be commended for tolerating people that have different views, different political hues and affiliations. So I have not seen any rift and I don’t pray for one because I am a believer in constructive engagement. We can engage on issues, it does not necessarily mean we are fighting; that will also help the system to function. So I am not aware of any Commissioner belonging to the deputy governor or those belonging to the governor. Commissioners are members of the state Executive Council which is the highest organ of government that takes decisions that have  positive impact on the people. The Constitution empowers the governor to hire and fire any Commissioner if  he is  found to be falling short on the performance of his  office.  Any Commissioner that has been fired by the governor must have had one issue or the other, investigated and ascertained. If they are being honest enough, let them own up. I am not aware of the governor sacking Commissioners based on their political beliefs. They should stop giving Oshiomhole  bad names, it is not fair because Mr Governor  is not that kind of person.

 

PDP’s allegations against Oshiomhole

The  PDP is a shameless party. Edo people will stone them if they dare ask them for votes in this coming election. Let me also say that PDP is  populated by  persons  who have plundered the resources of  Edo  and went further to plunder the resources of the Federal Government. Just take a sample, the 2.1billion dollars arms deal, look at the number of persons that have allegedly profited  from the funds  meant for the procurement of arms.  Back home in Edo, we have challenged the PDP to name projects that they built in Ambrose Alli University, juxtapose them with our own  and see the difference. They presided over the state for ten years, what did they achieve? In Comrade Oshiomhole’s less than eight years, we have invested over a N1billion in that institution outside the monthly subvention which was increased by over  100 per cent. We are not owing salaries. We have built three different lecture theatres, one at Emaudo, two at the main campus. We have constructed brand new departments in that university which the PDP left as a mere secondary school.

We are not shying away from the fact that our quality of education is such that enhances quality of knowledge of an average Edo person. And our intervention in Ambrose Alli is a function of our broader policy on education. Namely that we must recover our primary school from decay which we did, we recovered the secondary schools from decay, you go round, you see our Red Roof Revolution and that is what PDP does not like, they don’t want to see development. PDP is peopled by  enemies of Edo development. Any time they see the Comrade Governor doing one particular project, they will run to town to criticise  it. Look at the Central Hospital, such a beautiful edifice, by the time we finish stocking it, it is about 98 per cent complete, by the time we stock it with sophisticated equipment, it will compare with any hospital in Europe.  We are convinced that what we are doing in the state promotes  infrastructure  that will enhance the standard of living of the  average Edo person. Our road infrastructures are super, they come with side drains, street lights; our storm water project is gargantuan. And we are doing all  these  when revenue from the Federation Account has  dwindled. We are not only paying salaries, we are  also doing capital projects. We are not going to lose sleep over the PDP allegations, they are these busy bodies, good for nothing party which feels  that the only way to add value to development is about sharing money as it did in Abuja.

 

But do you not think that PDP’S victory in Rivers, Balyelsa and Akwa Ibom at the Supreme Court will give them some boost?

One of the newspapers captured the rulings very well when it said, “Supreme Court delivers Delta, Rivers and Akwa Ibom for PDP”. So it is very obvious that they just delivered those states for the PDP.   But whether we like it or not, those judgments  raise curious questions but for the fact that that is the court of finality. Now coming to Edo, tell me what the PDP will use to campaign. We have legion of projects that we have done and we are doing, and we will continue to do. As we speak, road projects are on-going while many have been completed. Today, we have recovered many houses from flooding. Go and look at the quality of work that we are doing across the state. So, it is very easy for the PDP to make noise, but on ground we have touched the lives of people both in Edo and Nigeria as a whole.

PDP will never smell Osadebey Avenue in the nearest future - Kazeem Afegbua