For over three hours, the long procession of different clubs, age groups, associations and societies marched on major streets of Sobe in Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State, drumming, singing and dancing. Led by a team of power-bike riders, the colourful parade rounded off the week-long activities with cultural performances and award presentation to mark this year’s Sobe Day celebration. Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME was there.
Governor Oshiomhole
To a first timer, this year’s Sobe Day celebration could go for a carnival of sort. But, the yearly celebration, which attracted thousands of participants from within and in the Diaspora, meant more than that to the people of Sobe.
To them, it is a rallying point for the development of the community as well as to commemorate the merger of Sobe with her kith and kin in Edo State in 1991. This year’s celebration was to raise funds for the completion of the new community town hall.
Little wonder the community honoured Governor Adams Aliu Oshiomhole with “team leadership for unity and development of the community award” for the developmental projects executed in the town by his administration.
Receiving the award on behalf of the Governor, Chairman of Owan West Local Government Area, Hon. Reginald Okun promised to deliver the award and the community’s messages to the governor. He also pledged to support the community’s town hall project with the sum of N200, 000.
Also in recognition of the contributions of some of its illustrious sons and daughters, the community gave awards to no fewer than 14 recipients. They included the late Chief S.J Mayaki, the late Chief Andrew J. Sule, the late Pa Michael Arenrin, the late Odibiado of Sobe, Gold Omonikhe, the late Pa Eboh Addo and the late Chris Obadan.
Others were Mr Francis Iruobe, Mr. Modupe Olomu, Bishop Pandit Oburekin, Pa Anthony Ehimiaghe, Mr. Olu Sikpojie, Special Apostle Funso Osoro, Chief Cletus Owuze and Mr. Joseph Oziren Igure.
In the beauty pageant contest, Miss Bridget Egbezomo emerged Miss Sobe Day Queen and won a deep freezer while second place went to Miss Adelomo Udugbezi who won a flat screen TV, followed by Miss Blessing Desimoh who got a power generating set as third place winner.
In his address, His Royal Highness Anthony Ero Aleburu, the Odibiado of Sobe land, said the slow pace of development in the community is not a function of lack of will to pool resources but that of global economic recession.
“In terms of pooling our resources for development, not much has been achieved in this regard as a result of shortage of funds due to economic meltdown. However, our merger with our kith and kin has given us sense of belonging as we now feel at home with our people,” he said.
The Odibiado of Sobe commended the developmental projects completed by Oshiomhole’s administration; citing the renovation of Sobe High School and renovation and fencing of St. Thomas Moore’s Primary School, Sobe as some of such projects. He, however, appealed to the Comrade Governor to post teachers to Sobe High School, reconstruct and equip the Science laboratory in the school.
He assured that “on our part, we would support the present administration…We should come together and unite towards moving Sobe to greater heights.”
He also urged parents to have time for their children and wards, noting that this has become necessary because of the high rate of crime in the community. He stressed that “our youths should engage in learning skill at the Skill Acquisition Centre in Sobe because an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.”
First Deputy Governor of Edo State Rev. Dr Peter Obadan described Sobe as a distinct clan that must not be treated as an appendage in any scheme and to be left as a single political ward is also an error.
“Sobe is a great community that must not be deserted. It must be given the altitude to show forth her greatness in commerce, education, politics and agriculture. Let no other community neither marginalise your community nor let anyone despise your greatness. I am persuaded that one day, a light will shine from Sobe that will lighten the hearts of men to the greatness of our nation and to the glory of God. Your glory will soon and very soon manifest,” Obadan added.
In her address entitled “So, Love it is”, the chairperson of Sobe Day 2015 Dr. Kate Obasuyi enjoined all to embrace love as the only element that would drive patriotic zeal needed to make Sobe an enviable society.
She said Sobe has a large heart for love to germinate and grow but that ‘we must bury all those grievances and animosities that create clog in the wheel of progress of Sobe community.’ She noted that Sobe has all the tools required to be great but that love is the only oil to make the tools work.
“Politics and titles should not be used as weapon of disorganising our society. Rather, they have to be harnessed as tools for progress and development of Sobe. Let each and every one of us resolve today to be good ambassadors of Sobe through genuine love that promotes conflict resolution coupled with sincere spirit of forgiveness,” she added.
Interim President Sobe Development Association (SDA), Mr Francis Uwaifo, who commended Governor OShiomhole for his developmental projects in the community as well as the state in general, however drew government’s attention to some urgent needs of Sobe High School which include the uncompleted school hall, science laboratory block and equipment, fencing of the school compound, provision of teachers and classrooms furniture, renovation of the dilapidated primary school at the Agricultural Farm Settlement and the renovation of St. Eugene’s Primary School.
Others are the purification of water from the borehole sunk by the state government near the Skye Bank, the abandoned 19km Sobe – Sabongidda-Ora road which is A federal government project, the abandoned market project (a project handled by the past House of Assembly member Hon. Mike Ohio-Ezomo and the former Council Chairman, Hon Godwin Aigbodion ), the upgrading of the three health care centres in the community to a general hospital; effective use of the approved court in the community as well as the building of a standard police station to checkmate criminal activities in the community and its environs.
ADDRESS BY COMRADE ADAMS ALIYU OSHIOMHOLE, mni, CON, GOVERNOR OF EDO STATE AT A TOWN HALL MEETING, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2014
My dear Compatriots,
Governor Oshiomhole
It has become necessary for me to address you on the current political developments in our dear state. These unfortunate events, as everybody is aware, have led to needless tension.
As an elected and accountable government, we are duty-bound to explain to the people the issues involved, the forces at play and their ultimate objective.
THE ISSUES INVOLVED
The current political situation has its roots in the unfortunate incident and grossly unhelpful recalcitrance of some lawmakers of the Edo State House of Assembly. On Monday, June 9, 2014, the Edo State House of Assembly (EDHA) suspended four members of the House, namely:
Hon. Festus Ebea (Esan South-East),
Hon. Friday Ogieriakhi (Orhiomwon-South),
Hon. Patrick Osayimwen (Oredo-East), and
Hon. Jude Ise-Idehen (Ikpoba Okha)
for misconduct, in accordance with the extant Rules of the House of Assembly.
This should have been strictly considered as an internal affair of the House of Assembly. However, it has been orchestrated by the PDP leadership to crisis level in order to cause maximum distraction. I seek your indulgence, therefore, to recall the sequence of events so as to put the issues in clear perspective.
Three Honourable members, namely: Hon. Friday Ogieriakhi (Orhiomwon-South), Hon. Patrick Osayimwen (Oredo-East) and Hon. Jude Ise-Idehen (Ikpoba Okha) had approached the Federal High Court, sitting in Benin City, and obtained an interim order to restrain the Speaker of the EDHA from declaring their seats vacant, in line with Section 109 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, having decamped from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The three of them had also prayed that both the Speaker and the House should be restrained from suspending them, as members of the House, following alleged misconduct on disciplinary grounds.
On his own part, Hon. Razaq Momoh (Etsako-West) had approached a State High Court, sitting in Auchi, and obtained a similar injunction, which restrained the Speaker and the House from declaring his seat vacant or suspending him on the basis of alleged misconduct.
The Speaker, Rt Hon Uyi Igbe complied in full with these Court orders. The Motion on Notice was afterward argued at the Federal High Court, sitting in Benin City. The Court ordered that the Speaker, Hon Uyi Igbe should not declare vacant the seats of three of the lawmakers, pending the hearing and determination of the case filed by the three members.
The Court however vacated the Interim Exparte Order restraining the Speaker from suspending the three members on disciplinary ground and they were so suspended.
In the case of Abdurazaq Momoh, the Assembly has since declared his seat vacant following the vacation of his application by a High Court sitting in Auchi.
It is important to point out that Hon. Festus Ebea (Esan South-East), the former Deputy Speaker who was impeached by the House for misconduct and misdemeanour on July 2, 2014, was still a member of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as at the time he was suspended.
However, the four Honourable members have refused to abide by the suspension order and continue to hold illegal sittings in the House of Assembly complex which is undergoing renovation with the connivance of five other valid PDP lawmakers and the aid of the Nigeria Police.
In line with its commitment to follow the path of the rule of law, the Speaker, Hon Uyi Igbe and the House approached the State High Court to restrain the four suspended Honourable members from forcing themselves into the Chambers of the House pending the determination of the case the House had instituted against the four suspended members.
The State High Court subsequently, after hearing the arguments, granted an Interim Order:
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“restraining the defendants by themselves or agents, assigns, privies, or other persons acting for, through or by them from forcibly gaining entrance into the Premises and Legislative Quarters of the 3rd Claimant or howsoever interfering with the Sitting Activities and other functions of the 3rd Claimant pending the determination of the motion on notice.
“An Order directing the 1st and 2nd Defendants (Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 5, Benin City, Edo State and Commissioner of Police, Edo State) to provide adequate security for all sitting of the 3rd Claimant and for all its properties pending the motion on notice.”
For the avoidance of doubt, disciplinary issues as they pertain to the conduct of affairs in the House of Assembly is not new to Nigeria or to even the Edo State House of Assembly. There is virtually no House of Assembly in Nigeria that, at one time or the other, had not found cause to suspend one or more of its members for one reason or the other, based on their rules. In the case of Edo State, the suspended PDP members and their colleagues showed a total disregard to the court Order and forced their way into the Asembly with the protection of the Police. The blatantly disregarded the Order of the State High Court.
It is no wonder that when the four suspended lawmakers approached the Court of Appeal, they were ordered to first obey the order of the High Court before seeking further reliefs at the Appeal Court. This appears to be a very clear matter to any reasonable person.
For record purposes, let me recall that in the case of Hon. Zakawanu Garuba, the Speaker of the Edo House of Assembly (Sixth Assembly), a member of the House Hon. Etinosa Ogbeiwi was suspended for three months for taking the House to Court. The current Majority Leader, Hon. Phillip Shaibu was also at one time suspended for several weeks by the House.
By refusing to obey court orders the PDP legislators wanted to precipitate “Legislative Stalemate”, confusion and erosion of quality governance. They also desired to provoke the APC legislators with the hope of drawing them and their teeming supporters into a conflict and thus create political tension and uncertainty. It is now clear to all that they have failed woefully in their dubious agenda.
The Case of Hon Razaq Momoh
You will recall that during the Local Government Election held on April 20, 2012, Hon. Razak Momoh was arrested by the police for being in possession of two guns; a pistol and a double barrel, in clear contravention of the Electoral Act. As of that time during that Local Government election, Hon Razak was still a member of the then ruling, now defunct Action Congress of Nigeria.
When he was arrested and the facts were brought to my attention, I asked the police to ensure that he was prosecuted according to the law. In the course of the legal action by the Police, Hon Razaq Momoh was remanded by the court in prison for four months before he was granted bail. Till now, the case is still pending at the High Court.
It is on record that about six months before the Local Government Election of April 20, 2012, Hon Razak Momoh was shot by those suspected to be his friends and allies and he was taken to the hospital for treatment. Following the shooting, I encouraged Hon Abrulrazaq Momoh to disclose to the Police the identities of those that shot him so that they could be brought to book, but for reasons best known to him, Hon Momoh continues to shield his attackers, claiming he doesn’t know who shot him.
The police told me then that when Hon Momoh was arrested he asked if the Policemen knew who he was, that he was a member of the State House of Assembly. The Police had to remind him that he doesn’t have immunity from arrest and prosecution.
Hon Momoh’s grouse is that as Governor, I did not shield him from prosecution when he was arrested with two guns on election day. I’ve always insisted that anyone who commits a crime must be prosecuted according to the law of the land, and refused to bend the rules in favour of Razaq Momoh.
On the day he was attacked, Hon Razaq Momoh had stormed the Legislators’ Quarters at about 11:00pm in company of some thugs. It is a known fact that the House of Assembly, having declared his seat vacant, Hon Momoh had lost his right to reside in the Legislative Quarters in accordance with the rules guiding the Assembly.
What is however curious is that Razaq Momoh, a supposed “honourable” member had to scale the fence to gain access to the quarters, in company of some of his thugs, and he was consumed by the attack he started after gaining entrance to the quarters. In their attempt to cast aspersion on the government of Edo State, this same Momoh has become the poster boy of recent decampees to the PDP in their search for undeserved sympathy and recognition to serve personal interests.
Chronology of Attacks:
When President Goodluck Jonathan visited Edo State on Friday October 10, 2014 to flag-off the Azura-Edo Independent Power Plant, thugs were hired by the opposition to boo and ostensibly attack officials of the Edo State Government and executives of the All Progressives Congress who had set politics aside to welcome the President for the flag-off of the $1 billion project.
Youths of the All Progressives Congress were restrained from retaliating even in the face of the offensive attacks and harassments.
On Saturday, October 11, 2014, the Legislative Quarters of the State House of Assembly was attacked by PDP hoodlums who invaded the Quarters and smashed 27 cars belonging to members of the All Progressives Congress in the Quarters.
The thugs also shot at doors and windows of seven chalets inhabited by APC lawmakers and by the time they ended their operation, property worth several millions of naira had been destroyed.
It is instructive to note that we made the intelligence of the attack available to the Commissioner of Police at bout 10:00pm on Friday night yet nothing was done to forestall it.
On Thursday, October 16, one Mr Frank Erewele who recently decamped to the PDP alleged that his life was in danger and a day after, he alleged that gunmen visited his home and fired gunshots at his cars and that the gunmen who were after his life ran away when he opened his door when he heard gunshots.
On the night of Saturday, October 18, 2014, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu who had also recently decamped to the PDP alleged that a bomb was detonated at his wife’s Dental Clinic.
Edo State has always been peaceful. Working with all security agencies, we have, in a very significant way, contained kidnapping and robbery. It is therefore very sad that the orgy of violence in Edo reared its head when these elements decamped to the PDP. The APC and PDP had co-existed peacefully in Edo State without such ugly incidents as witnessed in the past few weeks, and it is clear that these decampees are the ones who have now introduced these spires of violence to the state since they have no new values to add. I am convinced that the leadership of the PDP at all levels are not deceived by these opportunistic, infantile and self-serving antics of the recent decampees.
We have it on good authority that Pastor Ize-Iyamu had boasted to the Powers-that-be in Abuja that he would get more than half the members of the state House of Assembly to decamp to the PDP. However, since he has been unable to do that, he has resorted to self-inflicted attacks to give the impression that he is a factor and force in the PDP and in Edo politics.
The resort to the use of Improvised Explosive Device is clearly a desperate attempt to attract attention to themselves having lost out in the political equation in the PDP in Edo State to where they are now seeking refuge and where they are being treated as refugees.
The first question is: why would anyone attack Mr Frank Erewele? Of what importance is Erewele to the Political equation in Edo State. Who knows Erewele outside his village in Edo Central? Erewele rushed to the media to accuse the government of the attack. Later he pointed his finger at a Commissioner. Who will be the next person to be accused?
Secondly. Why would anyone attack an obscure dental Clinic if the target were Pastor Ize-Iyamu? If Ize-Iyamu were truly a target, would he say the supposed assailants do not know his house? Why would any attacker focus on an unoccupied gate house in a clinic if Pastor was the target? It was so convenient that on the very day of the attack, the security man was not in his gatehouse!
Thirdly. Why would anyone want to attack Erewele or Ize-Iyamu when they are not relevant in the PDP? Why would anyone attack Ize-Iyamu or Erewele when the bigger PDP men, including Chief Tony Anenih, Dan Orbih and Lucky Imasuen have never been attacked in any form or manner in the state. Ize-Iyamu and Erewele are not even close to the center of power and decision making in the PDP!
Clearly, any discerning observer would see that the same elements who left the APC, led by Osagie Ize-Iyamu are the brains behind the recent wave of crises in the state with a view to making themselves relevant having lost out in the APC and having been relegated to the background in the PDP to which they ran to as refugees.
By Ize-Iyamu’s ludicrous account and his haste to accuse Comrade Oshiomhole of culpability, we are persuaded to believe he is merely acting out a worn-out script. It is laughable indeed that Ize-Iyamu would seek to accuse the Governor, who is the Chief Security Officer, of creating tension and chaos in his own state.
Mr Ize-Iyamu’s wild allegation fits into PDP’s jaded style of stage-managing assaults on its agents to be used as pretext by its thugs to attack officials of Edo State Government and agents of the APC.
We reject in its totality, any attempt to suggest or drag the APC and its government in Edo State into any made-up problems by persons who are in no way threatening to the people of the State. We shall not be distracted from our goals of quality, accountable, responsible and democratic governance to improve the lives and communities of our people.
We urge the likes of Ize-Iyamu and Erewele to desist from trying to make the country ungovernable by precipitating flash-points of crisis and confusion and call on our security forces and national leaders to put them under special watch. The unity of Edo State and Nigeria must not be compromised or contaminated by self-seeking and selfish persons.
BENIN—THE All Progressives Congress, APC, in Edo State, yesterday, reacted to the boast by President Goodluck Jonathan that his Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, will recapture Edo State come 2015 and 2016, saying that it was a tall dream to think that “Chief Tom Ikimi, who recently joined the PDP will win Edo State for him.”
President Jonathan and OshiomholePolitics
The President had at weekend’s unity rally of the PDP in Benin City, said that the party would win Rivers and Edo states back in 2015 and 2016, adding that in Rivers State, “We know that the party in charge is PDP, the APC only exists on bill boards.”
Reacting, the APC, through the Special Adviser to Governor Adams Oshiomhole on Political Matters and a member of the state APC caucus, Mr. Charles Idahosa, reminded the President that the Binis who constitute over 50 per cent of the population of Edo State have been marginalised in his government, adding that it will, therefore, be a “tall dream” to think that the Esan god- fathers will win Edo for him.
“It is unfortunate that the President is being deceived by the PDP leaders here and people like Ikimi who recently defected to the PDP because he lost out in the chairmanship contest of the APC. It is just a dream they can never achieve. As for Tom Ikimi who spoke during the rally, how many people decamped to PDP with him? None of the defectors can match Oshiomhole’s foot soldiers and they know it.
“Ikimi said he left APC because after cooking the food people came and stole both the pot and the food. But in this case, he forgot that it was Ize-Iyamu who cooked those that left the APC for PDP but he went to the stadium to hijack the show by introducing Ize-Iyamu instead of Ize-Iyamu introducing Ikimi to the President.
“Ize-Iyamu who did all the cooking is now a spectator. The only people who spoke at that rally, in Benin soil were two Esan people, Anenin and Ikimi and that is the continuation of the subjugation of the Binis by the minorities. Dr Samuel Ogbemudia was never mentioned there, former Governor Lucky Igbinedion was seated there, his father Esama was seated and none of them spoke, yet President Jonathan is boasting that PDP will win Edo. That is laughable.”
The name Charles Idahosa, the son of Akakasiaka, rings bell in the politics of Edo State. The journalist— turned-politician is the only man who challenged Governor Adams Oshiomhole in the governorship primaries of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN, now APC) in 2007.
Tom Ikimi
After the emergence of Oshiomhole as the party’s flag bearer, he became the Political Adviser to the Comrade Governor, a position he occupies since that time. As he clocks 61 today, he bared his mind on some political issues in the country and Edo in particular.
Excerpts:
How do you feel at 61?
At 61 I don’t feel any different, I feel the same way I felt when I was very much younger in my 20s; it is just that some things you used to do have slowed down. I used to stay out late but now I don’t enjoy night outings anymore, I just stay till ten or eleven and I am home.
But it is still the same. I feel healthy, we thank God, but that energy of being on for 24 hours, you can’t afford that now. You need more rest now and the grand children are coming in, so I just enjoy hanging out with them and having fun. I still have the same fun and the same good friends.
Edo APC experienced some troubles recently when some leaders defected to the PDP. Do you think the coming primaries will not further split the party?
There will be no problem in the APC primaries. You just saw what happened in Adamawa, that was a test run of what to expect. The guidelines for choosing National Assembly members, governors and others are out.
We are going to follow the guidelines, but the Constitution of APC also recommends consensus. What consensus means is that if we all agree on a particular candidate, it is okay. In a situation where we don’t agree, we go for congress.
The best candidate is going to win. There will be no imposition. You saw what the Comrade Governor did during the congresses. What people must put at the back of their minds is that there are people who are just losers and they cannot accept losing. You saw what happened that led to the deluge of people decamping from the APC to the PDP.
Congress took place, some people lost; they cried foul and the governor cancelled it. They did a second one, it was a repeat performance and the person who lost said he was leaving, even when his village people rejected him. However, I can assure you that in the APC, we will not impose anybody; if there is a consensus candidate in any place; we will agree on that. If there is no consensus and they say no, we go for full blown primaries.
Those who defected to the PDP are boasting of defeating the APC in the coming elections. Are you not worried?
They have the right to boast, but, honestly, I am not worried because we know these people. Most of them cannot even win election in their families, it was when Oshiomhole came that some of them who are today deceiving Jonathan that they will win Edo started winning election.
Some of them who are boasting today like super stars are always at the golf course playing golf during elections; after that, they will be crying and complaining that a godfather sent thugs to defeat them in their wards.
The PDP can never win Edo. A situation where people left due to their personal interest shows they are not for the welfare of Edo people. One of them said he left because he wanted to control his area, the other said they didn’t make him National Chairman of APC, I don’t know how that one affects the work on ground. I sympathize with a lot of our people who don’t have an idea of what is going on. The PDP is even worse off now.
There are three different blocs. I was watching Tom Ikimi’s arrival the other day to Benin on television, I could see APC bloc inside PDP. The people that spoke are all APC decampees from APC. So, PDP has a problem already. Osagie Ize-Iyamu made a powerful speech in Ikimi’s house and one Mrs. Omokhodion. I could not see any strong leader in the PDP that they joined that was there. So, they have moved into PDP as a bloc and they are going to remain there as a bloc.
Those people they met in the house there who have been suffering now and these just came after enjoying this side and went there. The original PDP members are waiting, they are not fools . So there is going to be an implosion. Look at the people at the House of Assembly at Ring Road, nine of them, fooling themselves from morning till night.
You are sitting down there, what they are saying have no meaning to anybody. You sit down there talking rubbish from morning till night to summon a Commissioner, the Commissioner said who are you summoning? Yet you keep fooling yourself. It is unfortunate because they are betraying the people that sent them there.
But judgment day is February. I cannot predict accurately, if we go less than we did in the last elections, then I am no longer a politician. We are going to beat them black and blue.
The people that will vote are not card carrying members of any political party. If Charles Idahosa as a leader of Uhunmwonde decamps tomorrow, I can assure you that my people will not go with me if I am not decamping because of their problem.
How can you tell people because they didn’t make you National Chairman you are leaving? That is rubbish. Meanwhile Ikimi is the godfather of imposition. All the problems Oshiomhole is encountering today were caused by Ikimi. The last congress we did in Edo, it was war.
Ikimi wanted to impose people everywhere. I personally clashed with him on two or three occasions in some of our meetings. He put Adams Oshiomhole in such a tight corner; the problem we are having around Esan is tagged around him because he believed that anything that has to do with that area must be zoned to him.
He insisted in this last congress that Modino Emovon must not be state Woman Leader. We resisted; at the end of the day, Ikimi prevailed on Oshiomhole to pick somebody else. We even appealed to the old woman to go and beg Ikimi.
That is the daughter of one of the highest and most respectable chiefs in this town; the Arala of Benin kingdom. We convinced her and she went. Do you know she was standing by the gate of Ikimi and Ikimi drove past her? The state Woman Leader of the party? That congress would have been a disaster if not for the wisdom of Governor Oshiomhole.
He was caged by Ikimi and because Oshiomhole wanted to respect him, the governor was helpless. Modino walked out of the congress because of what Ikimi did. That is why some of us were laughing when he was lamenting that Tinubu manipulated the congress that brought Oyegun. He drove Imsansuagbo out of APC, now he is going to meet Imasuagbo there with all the people he drove out.
Oshiomhole did not sleep after the congress due to the problems created by Ikimi; meanwhile Ikimi was sleeping peacefully in his house. The governor was over protective of him and that made him feel like a super star. Now he is crying that because he did not get the national chairmanship of APC, he left, but they don’t know the implication.
But we are very happy that it happened this way. If Ikimi had defeated Oyegun, Oyegun would not have left. Oyegun rose through the system to become a federal Permanent Secretary and the first elected civilian governor of Edo; who is Ikimi to compare himself with Oyegun? Ikimi has never run for any election in his life.
I saw it in one of his interviews, abusing Tinubu, talking about Otedola, but he forgot that Lucky Igbinedion, his candidate, lost to Oyegun. He did not make that example. How he feels that he is superior to Oyegun I don’t understand because he became a mouthpiece for one of the most useless military governments in this country.
When you become a minister under a military regime, I don’t recognize you as a minister, I don’t see you as important because anybody can be anything under a military regime. So it means nothing.
‘Ikimi’s outburst has political implication in Edo’
But the implication is for the politics of Edo and we have recorded it; at the appropriate time, we will unleash it. When there were two political parties in this country; Anenih and Tom Ikimi were national chairmen.
The Binis who constitute over 60 percent of the population we didn’t quarrel. He is angry now that for the first time a Bini man is the National Chairman.
I saw him on television; he said he has come to join his brother Anenih’. We will see. Because a Bini man became a National Chairman, you have gone to meet your Esan brother, we are here, we have the population. We know the script they are trying to do to reduce our population. Prince Edun Akenzua already raised the alarm.
So we are waiting, he doesn’t know the war he has started. I don’t know the pedestal he can compare himself with Oyegun. Because you served under a military administration, you think other people are not human beings.
So Bini people have become something people can toy with. APC is even happy he left because we know how much it usually costs us to win his unit for him in Igueben. As long as we are concerned, Ikimi is a political light weight in Edo and he will lose his unit on the day of election. I can bet that.
Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole says the crisis rocking the state House of Assembly has persisted this long because the four suspended lawmakers in the State House of Assembly have refused to obey a subsisting court order, saying those who make laws must be seen to obey the laws they make.
Governor Oshiomhole
Speaking on the protracted crisis in the state House of Assembly when he granted audience to the leadership of the Edo Civil Society Organization (EDCSO) in Government House, on Friday, Oshiomhole said he spoke to both parties on the matter on the need to settle the matter amicably to avoid distraction in their legislative duties.
He said: “My attention was drawn to the issue and I spoke to the two sides on telephone. I said, you have to find a way to resolve this because I don’t want any distraction, whether we like it or not, the time I spend explaining this and the time you have spent discussing among yourselves to agree, is time we could have used for other things.”
Governor Oshiomhole maintained, “What is at stake is fundamental to the maintenance of peace and security. I can’t be a governor presiding over anarchy. People who lead in making laws must be seen to obey the laws they make.
“I think therefore that on this occasion, the Civil Society which include people who are committed to good governance, people who are committed to building a civilized society have no choice but to tell those disobeying judicial order to go back and obey the order”.
He said, “They struck a deal; namely that the House Members will obey the suspension order by staying away and then the House would set up a committee. The committee over the weekend would have deliberated on the matter and by Monday, they would make a decision to vacate their suspension and the four persons would go back to the House.
Oshiomhole further said, “The two sides told me this is fine, but you see, don’t forget there are rules, if you subscribe to this, it is binding on you. If your members now refuse to abide by it but to subvert it, you have no basis for co-existence.
He added, “What is at stake is fundamental to the maintenance of peace and security because if you cannot appeal to lawmakers to obey the law, is it thugs you are going to appeal to in order to stop thuggery?
Oshiomhole added, “Unless we stand by the truth, we can’t survive as very ordinary people. So I appeal to you to find the courage and pronounce on the side of the rule of law and on the role of protecting the judiciary.
The Governor also accused the Police of emboldening the suspended lawmakers by not enforcing the Court Order on their suspension.
Earlier in his address, Coordinator General, Edo Civil Society Organization, (EDSCO), Comrade Kaduna Eboigbodin said they were in Government House to bring to the attention of the Governor some fundamental matters that are centered on promoting good governance and participating democracy in the state.
The organization commended the Governor on the positive wellbeing of the people and the physical infrastructure development in the state.
Eboigbodin begged the Governor to intervene in resolving the crisis rocking the State House of Assembly, saying the matter is bringing shame and unnecessary attention to the state.
Some of other issues highlighted included the arbitrary fraudulent charges and estimated billing by Benin Electricity Distributing Company (BEDC), reconstitution of the Neighborhood Watch and alleged multiple arbitrary levies by agents of government, among others.
GOVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has threatened to go to court and challenge any authority which seeks to infringe on his fundamental human rights if his right to movement from one place to another within the country is violated again.
Speaking on Thursday when the management of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Benin Airport branch, paid him a visit to apologise over the recent incident at the Benin Airport, where his chartered helicopter was stopped from flying, the governor, who said he had direct contact with President Goodluck Jonathan following the incident, said: “I’m convinced that he (President) didn’t give those orders that I should be stopped.”
He added: “The next time I’m so interrupted, I will not fail to go to court and challenge the infringement on my fundamental right to movement. We need to strengthen our democracy. We need to breathe air to our multi-party democracy.”
He advised the airport authorities to shun partisan politics and insist on professionalism, saying, “it will be a sad day if the management of a sensitive institution that has to do with air safety joins the club of politicians and political actors.”
BENIN—AS members of Edo State House of Assembly sit today amidst unresolved crisis, Governor Adams Oshiomhole has admonished the four suspended Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, lawmakers in the House to obey the court order which restrained them from attending the House sittings.
Oshiomhole
Similarly, Coalition of Registered Political Parties, CRPP, in the state has urged the four suspended lawmakers to obey the court order.
CRPP, in a statement by its state Chairman, Dr. Samson Isibor, said: “We are calling on the suspended lawmaker to respect their status and obey court orders in order to avoid anarchy.”
Bailiff’s action condemnable —Ebea But the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Festus Ebea, has described as condemnable, the action of a court bailiff who wanted to serve him and the three other Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, lawmakers the court processes outside their residence and offices, from which they were being denied access, as ludicrous.
The suspended Deputy Speaker’s condemnation is coming on the heels of the decision of the suspended lawmakers and those of the PDP to attend today’s session.
The Chief Minority Whip of the House, Mr. Kingsley Ehigiamusoe, who spoke to Vanguard in a telephone chat, when asked if they would attend the House session which was adjourned to today, said: “We will attend today’s session.
We are only appealing to our colleagues on the other side to give peace a chance in the interest of Edo people. As for us, the session will be peaceful and there will be no problem.”
Ebea, who spoke with journalists in Benin, weekend, said: “The suspension was quite laughable because the rule which they relied on, i.e. Rule 38 (3, 4 and 6), is quite explicit to the effect that for you to be suspended, you must be at the sitting and it is one person at a time.
You cannot suspend a group. “In my case, they said ‘misconduct’ that the Deputy Speaker is always in nocturnal meetings with other people. What is funny about this is that the people that met me, did so in my capacity as Deputy Speaker, in my official residence, not elsewhere.
“When the suspension came, the Speaker and others decided to deal with the former APC lawmakers that defected alleging that Patrick Osayimwen, Oredo East; Friday Ogieriakhi, Orhionmwon South and Jude Idehen, Ikpoba-Okha, got money to defect to the PDP and that they (Deputy Speaker and others) were induced.
“They offered me money because I had not crossed, but I refused. Mine was even tripled, but I still refused because the issues I had with them are clearly stated and till tomorrow, I will not back down on those issues; it is not about me. So God, the judge of all knows if I had collected money, whether from PDP or the Federal Government or from any other human being to do what I am doing.
Nobody induced me. In as much as I know that I cannot speak for any of my colleague, if you verify from them, you will find that they were not induced.”
However, Governor Oshiomhole on a live television programme, monitored in Benin City, called on the lawmakers to obey the court order so as to avoid unnecessary tension in the state.
“The institutions of state are still weak. The House of Assembly got a court injunction from a Federal High Court restraining them from suspending or declaring the seats of four members vacant. The court also upheld the power of the House to suspend their members based on the rules of the House. The court would not freeze those powers therefore, it vacated that aspect of the order.
“Based on the court ruling, the House as a lawmaking institution and therefore a law abiding institution decided to suspend these four members. But they decided that they will not accept the court order and they got the Police to force them into the House.”
Those who believe one man is God, may one man continue to be their God-Governor
*Impeachment plotters are anti-development; we will resist them-Shaibu
By SIMON EBEGBULEM
The defection of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, a former Secretary to Edo State Government, and his supporters to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was a political earthquake in the state.
The mass defection did not come as a surprise to many following their complaints that the congresses of the All Progressive Congress (APC) were skewed to frustrate them out of the party. Though Ize-Iyamu can be said to be a political tactician, that cannot be said about other leaders who left with him.
Since the defection, Ize-Iyamu, a very close ally of Governor Adams Oshiomhole when the going was good, has not failed to use any opportunity at his disposal to unleash verbal missiles at Oshiomhole.
In a TV programme in Benin-City, which the former SSG during the Lucky Igbinedion administration tactically granted last Monday, the same day the APC held its state congress, he alleged that the governor had, on several occasions, promised him governorship in 2016, just as he debunked the insinuation that he received several contracts from the state government.
He accused the governor of destroying the APC in Edo and warned that the APC will not win any seat in the 2015 general elections. However, when it became clear that Ize-Iyamu was leaving the party, Oshiomhole invaded his camp and some of his foot soldiers such as Lawrence Orka, regarded as his field marshal in Edo South, rejigged.
Elder Patrick Igbinaken also denied resigning from the APC, saying he was deceived to attend a meeting where he and some others purportedly resigned from the party. Igbinaken, Chairman of the defunct ACN in Ovia North East Local Government Area, said as a founding member of the APC, nothing could make him desert a house he helped to build.
While this was happening, royal fathers in Edo South paid a visit to Oshiomhole and expressed their support for his administration. They described the defection of the members as selfish and urged the governor to disregard them.
The Enigies, numbering over 60, said they were happy with the developmental strides of Oshiomhole, especially in Edo South and have absolute confidence in his government.
The Chairman of the Enigies, Edomwonyi Iduozee Ogiegbaen, the Enogie of Egbaen-Siluko, and five other royal fathers spoke on behalf of the Enigies. According to Osazuwa Idurase, the Enogie of Eyaen, the reasons given by Ize-Iyamu for defection are selfish and not in the interest of the people of the state.
In an address by the Public Relations Officer of the Enigie, Professor Aduwa Ogiegban (the Enogie of Ogbeson), the royal fathers said, “Everybody that is here today is representing a community. Everyone of us is authentic and nobody is fake. We have watched over the years as you provide development across the nooks and crannies of the state; from Edo South to Edo North.
But we are from Edo South and we will be concerned with that in this visit. You are about six years in office now and we have seen the changes that have taken place in Edo South. We appreciate you because you are God-sent.
Prior to your coming as governor, we know what our senatorial district looked like; it was shoddy, dirty, no good roads, no potable water, health facilities were in shambles. We are here to appreciate you for the development you brought to Edo State and Edo South in particular.
Some people said you have not been carrying them along but all the Enigies here and those at home have come to say that we have been carried along by you. Some people said that your government is a one-man show, we know better than that and if by one man’s show, they mean the government of Oshiomhole for the generality of all, and not for the few, so be it. If that is what modern democracy looks like, we will take it”.
The royal father cited some areas where the governor has performed wonderfully to include Sapele Road, Mission Road, Airport Road, Siluko Road, New Lagos Road, 5 Junction, Uselu Road, Ogan/Igbanke Road and Urhonigbe/Urohmili Road. “The educational sector has been transformed and health centers have been built and facilities provided where there have been none.
You provided succor for our children. Many schools have been renovated and wearing the red- roof. We know you are going to do more. The problem is that you started from the scratch. There was not much for you to build on. In some parts of the state, you went down the deep sea to provide clean water for the people and that is where some people feared they would get drowned in the deep blue sea.
Those who are going home, the so-called home that is in ruins, allow them go because we do not want to return to the dark ages which they took us to some years back. The era of the Stone Age is over. We want to tell you that gone are the days when the Enigies were referred to as uneducated people is gone. We are on the path of development”.
But the state chairman of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih, condemned the visit of the Enigies, to the governor, accusing Oshiomhole of alleged attempt to drag Edo royal fathers into politics. The Enogie of Obazuwa and younger brother of the Oba of Benin, Prince Edun Akenzua, described Orbih’s comment as insulting and urged the PDP chairman to apologise to the royal fathers.
However, the political tension in Edo heightened last week after Sunday Vanguard learnt about an alleged plot to impeach Oshiomhole; his deputy, Dr Pius Odubu; and the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mr Uyi Igbe. I
t was reliably gathered that the plot was masterminded by members of the APC who recently defected to the PDP including their lawmakers and some leaders of the PDP in the state. It was alleged that the lawmakers who were expected to execute the plot received N30million each while N20million will be added to it later.
The plot was said to be geared at causing crisis in the state so as to give the PDP the opportunity to win the majority in the state House of Assembly and National Assembly elections come 2015. If the alleged plot to impeach the three succeeds, one of the lawmakers, who recently defected to the PDP is expected to transform from Speaker to governor.
With the recent defection of four APC lawmakers to the PDP, the PDP remains in the minority. But with eight PDP lawmakers against APC’s 16, Sunday Vanguard learnt that there were strong moves to induce more lawmakers to back the plot.
The Majority Leader of the state House of Assembly, Mr Philip Shaibu, who reacted to the situation, said: “We are aware of their plot but they will fail. My joy is that we have lawmakers here who believe strongly in the developmental strides of the Comrade Governor so they cannot never be part of such plot to impeach the governor.
We are very much aware of all the moves they are making to destabilize the state, to ensure that the Comrade Governor does not continue his developmental efforts but they are wasting their time. The problem with some people is that they now think like God, they act like God but what they fail to understand is that when the majority of the masses are with the Comrade Governor, God will always protect him and his administration.
Oshiomhole, who reacted to the defection of the APC members and some of the allegations levelled against him by Ize-Iyamu during the Monday state congress of the APC, said: “A rolling political stone cannot make a difference. Those who rolled on those that left the party were people who insisted that I should unilaterally decree them as the governor of Edo; there is no way they can fit into the logic of APC.
Those who insist that I should appoint them as Chairmen of APC because they were chairmen before, there is no way they can fit into this democratic setting. Those who insist that I should make them woman leader whether or not the women want them, they cannot fit into the logic of change. Those who insist that because they cannot get what they want then they can move on, it is important that we assist them to move.
Those who insist that no man is God who now affirmed that man is God, may man continue to be their God. Let me remind all of you that I am a thorough democrat, I understand the principle of multi-party democracy, APC is not at war with PDP. APC recognized the legitimacy of PDP, and we are here to contest on the basis of ideas but we are all united in a commitment to build a great nation. We might not agree on everything, which is why we have built an alternative political platform.
Let me remind all of you that my fight to liberate Edo people is not a personal fight. Indeed those who have moved on, they started fighting not on the basis of Edo people but over their own ambition.”
Anslem Ojezua emerged as the Edo Chairman of the APC at the state after other chairmanship aspirants stepped down. Others elected include Gentleman Amegor (Vice Chairman), Osakpanwa Eriyo (Youth Leader), Chief Osaro Idah (Secretary) and Comrade Godwin Erhahon (Publicity Secretary).
The battle line has been drawn and the political tension in Edo is expected to remain as charged as ever till the end of the 2015 general elections.
….Says he won’t be intimidated to surrender state’s resources to individuals
Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State says he will not be intimidated to surrender the resources of the state to service private individuals who do not have the interest of the people at heart, saying his Government will work for the masses and not for godfathers.
Oshiomhole
Speaking at the inspection of the on- going Storm Water Masterplan Project in Benin city today, Oshiomhole said he wished those who have defected from the party “safe journey” to their new destination.
He said, “I am aware that some people have left our party. We wish them safe journey. When I came, I was clear and I said we will work on the people of the state. I did not say I was going to work for individuals. So if individuals feel angry that I have not helped them in what they call ‘individual personal empowerment’, I have the choice to make, work for individuals or work for the people; I choose to work for the people.”
Oshiomhole declared, “Day or night, come sun or come rain, I know that the voice of the people is the voice of God and when God stands by us, who can we be afraid of? I know that with time, water will find its level. Those who cannot cope will leave and many have left. Those who are happy with progress will stay and the overwhelming majority of the people have stayed.
“I know that many people were deceived and they are already returning because they were told come for a meeting only to see people carry microphone saying they are resigning from the party. We will not decamp. We will continue to do what God asked us to do and I know that the people of Egor will continue to support me. In the last election, I got 96% in this Local Government.
“I know that the more we work, the more benefits people will see, because we are still going to build more schools, the construction work will continue, we will deliver more transformers.
“Let me assure you, for us, it is ‘let the people lead’ not let the godfathers enjoy and allow the people suffer. If the godfathers like, let them move away, we will continue the development of Edo State and our people will continue to enjoy good governance.”
The Governor reaffirmed his commitment to aggressive urban renewal in the state, saying “when we came out to ask for your votes in 2007, I did make the point that the problem of Benin City is not beyond solution and that the problem of flooding, making people to be afraid whenever the rain is threatening is not an act of God but a result of many years of neglect by various governments.
“I said I am not coming to Edo to lament but that I am coming to Edo to fix it, and to lay foundation for the future. As you can see, we are right now standing on a huge underground drainage which is part of the Benin City Water Storm Master Plan that every water that drains from this area gets into the underground drainage and it will take it to the river; so that the problem of this community is solved forever.
“The most difficult part has now been completed. You have seen the side drains that they are doing, when we finish it, this place we are standing will be asphalted. So you will be driving on it and will not know that you are driving on top an underground measuring about 40feet deep and 20 -30 feet wide.”
Residents of the community who trooped out in their large numbers expressed joy at Igbinaduwa road and other roads in the area, the flood and erosion control measures put in place by the Governor.
A resident of the area, Mr. Edo Aguebor said, “We are making history today, the comrade governor, the performer is in our midst.
“Since we entered this community for the past 30years, we have experienced serious problems of erosion to the extent that many were driven from their homes but as you can see today, our roads are now accessible, we can easily get to our various homes and the problem of erosion is now a thing of the past.”
On his part, the Ailefoba of Benin Kingdom, Chief Jonathan Idada Erinwioghae commended the Governor for his good works promising that the people will continue to support all his laudable projects.
Others who spoke are Mr. Emma Iyase and the Mrs. Esther Obanor both of whom eulogised the governor promising to support the APC in future elections in the state.
Former Governor of Edo State, Chief Lucky Igbinedion, has maintained a low profile since leaving workplace seven years in the past. Ahead of his 57th birthday at present, he broke his lengthy silence in the government house throughout an interview session with journalists in Abuja last weekend.
Igbinendion affirmed that he had been wrongly perceived by most people, asserted that he exceeded the efficiency of all governors earlier than him and likewise claimed that he left office a poorer man than when he entered. Excerpts:
“>WHY have you maintained a low profile since your exit from power?
Out of my own free will. It is not because I was forced to keep quiet. I just felt that having served for eight years, it was good to give the new hands time to be their own boss. You do not want to start bringing down somebody. I did not even attend state functions, I decided to lie low.
I believe when the music is over, you should go home and wait for the next time when the concert is up again. If you see some states, you see strife between the former and the current (governors). The former still wants to have a hold or a say. I guess everybody has his own style.
So, how has life been after power?
Just like it was before power. You are back to the basics. You are back to yourself. Some people will abandon you for sure. You do not really know people until you give them a position of authority or you entrust them with wealth or power. That is when the real man comes out. We have had a lot of betrayal. But then, your friends are still your friends, especially those who grew up with you.
Like I always tell people, that first day of your inauguration, you have all these brilliant photographs and albums. You should always keep them so that towards the end of your first term, go back to the album and see how many of them are still around you.
When you win the second term, take more photographs during inauguration. At the end of that tenure, go back and see who was with you throughout the eight years and ask yourself why or why not. There is no way you can satisfy everybody or meet their expectations of all.
What are the things you miss most outside power?
Nothing. You know I am not a siren person. The only times I ever used the siren were when I was traveling or going for official functions. Outside of that, when I closed from office, I drove home myself and other cars drove behind me. I used to play football.
Sometimes, I used to stop by the road side and buy roasted plantain. That is why I said I do not really miss anything. The only thing is that the stress and tension are not there anymore. That office makes one age quickly.
What have you been doing since you left office?
I come from a family with a business-oriented philosophy. We have a lot of businesses my father started before I became a governor. Before I went into politics, I also started my own businesses. Some of them were mismanaged while I was in office because I could not pay enough attention. Some of them were sold out.
So, I am trying to build back myself. I also happen to be the eldest child of the family. One has to keep an eye on things in the family. We have businesses spanning from education, aviation, sea, real estate and oil and gas. There is no shortage of what to do.
There was a quote attributed to your father that “if a child fails an examination for the first time, you give him another chance to rewrite it…” and that it referred to your performance in Edo State?
That was just a joke. There are jokes about leaders all around the world. My father never said anything like that. In terms of performance, I am glad history is beginning to reveal itself. I performed credibly well. The perception and expectations are two different things.
In terms of performance, I stand to be challenged that my performance surpasses that of every other governor before me. But a lot of people tend to forget things.
Where was the state before I came on board? This was a state that was run by the military for over 15 years. This was a state that was unable to pay its civil servants and pensioners. Parastals were condemned to self-sustenance policy. The College of Education was nowhere. The university was producing criminals.
Everything was completely dead. People do not look back and say this was a man that paid over 24 months of arrears. Institutions that were dead were revived.
They tend to forget easily because people are looking for the new day gratification. In my first hundred days in office, there were projects sited in every ward in Edo State. Civil servants were becoming civil again rather than being evil.
Ogbemudia stadium
They were not looking like skeletons anymore. I revived the civil service. The Ogbemudia stadium, I revived it. Some people were even coming to me and asking me why did I not just build a new one and put my name? I told them that is not a legacy. As far as performance is concerned, nobody can underrate me because I touched each and every life in Edo state positively.
At what point did you lose touch with the masses?
I did not lose touch. That perception was from those gunning for office. That perception was from those vying for positions. We had an understanding that there must be power rotation in our state just as we believe there must be power rotation in the country. Like the power was in the South-West for eight years. It is supposed to go back to a region in the north for the same period.
And by the time it comes back to the south, it should have gone to the South-South or the East. That was the PDP arrangement though. It was not in the Nigerian constitution. It was our own way of ensuring everybody had a fair share of power in the state.
So, what now happened was that we had the same arrangement in Edo State. We said after eight years of a Bini man, an Esan man should be the governor. I stood firmly on that ground. But some people in government, unknown to me, had different ideas. They started causing fractionalization within the party. People started calling some unholy names- politics is a very dirty game.
Did godfatherism tie your hands?.
My hands were never tired. If there is anything, godfatherism taught me and this is the first time I am saying this. But for the first time, two people that I owe a lot of gratitude to in Edo State that made my tenure successful were my father and Chief Tony Anenih.
Successful tenure
In the darkest of days when the state was broke and could not pay salaries, I would run to these two people and they would borrow me money. They borrowed the state money. It is documented and you have it there. When the banks could not trust us, I went to them. My father just felt you have got to do what you have got to do.
There were days the pensioners would cry to him or block the road to Government House. We had to run to them just to keep the government running.
Was it that the allocations from the Federation Account and your IGR were too small?
I was more like an accountant and the allocations were definitely too small.
Were there moments when you had regrets of becoming a governor?
Yes, if not for family pressure, I contemplated resigning, especially during my second tenure. I just asked myself why was I going through all these troubles? First and foremost, you do not have the money to do some of the projects you wanted to do.
Money to pay salaries
In situations where your Accountant-General goes to Abuja to collect money and two days later, he is running away from you because there is no money to pay salaries, what do you do?
President Obasanjo accused you of spending the state’s money on ‘owanbe’
How do you spend on owanbe? He was having owanbes himself too.
Looking back, are there things you would have done differently?
I am so confident of what I did as governor of Edo State that if I have to do it all over again, I will do it. I believe whatever I did then was done with the best of intentions for the betterment of my people and to the best of my abilities. I have no regrets at all.
Do you think Edo people are enjoying a better deal than they did during your time?
That is up to them to decide and not for me.
What would you recall as the high and low points of life for you in the last 15 years?
I am a man of stable emotions and I try to keep it that way. My wife has been married to me for close to 30 years.
A man that betrays his emotions either through excitement or anger is not a real man. You must learn at all times to control your tongue and maintain a calm disposition in order to be able to take the right decisions. A leader is that person that is not so conscious of praise or afraid of blame.
With the EFCC prosecutions, are you still emotionally stable?
Very stable. EFCC do not have sharks there. They are just doing their job. If they challenge you, you answer their question. I have nothing to fear.
I was outside the country when they said I was declared wanted. I came back. If I had any fear, I would have been running, but I had the confidence that there was nothing to fear. If there is anything, it is the state that is owing me money and not me owing.
…The perception is that you looted the state.
For you to loot, there must be something for you to loot. Edo State had no money to loot. I have just told you that I borrowed money from my father and from Chief Anenih. Chief Anenih is around the corner here, you can go and ask him whether I borrowed money from him or not.
Then what was this deal between you and EFCC on returning money to Edo State?
I did not return any money. They found N3.2 million in my account. After my tenure, I went to Ribadu and told him I was going outside the country. I gave him my number. I asked him if it was ok for me to go and he said yes. So, I went with my wife. I needed to rest after leaving office. That day I left office, it was as if ten trailers were removed from my head.
I was in America when I heard I had been declared wanted and I asked what I had been declared wanted for? You will not invite somebody and all of a sudden, you declare him wanted? Why will you declare somebody wanted without any justification? After looking at the whole thing, I told my lawyers to write them that I was not running from anything.
I even put a date for me to return. I just said let me finish the programme I am doing here so that by end if next week I will return. On that day, I arrived here in Nigeria and the next day, I went to EFCC by myself.
Not that I was arrested. They said I was to appear in Lagos.
So, I said let us to go to Lagos. I got there and they started asking me all sorts of questions. In all of these, there was no place where they said I took money from a particular place or inflated contracts. Or that they found a certain money in my account. Some of the officers came and told me everything was political and that they did not have anything on me. They said they were just doing their job because the orders were from above.
I said so PDP is doing this to a fellow PDP member. I said maybe it is because of the fight we had in Edo State. That was what caused the whole problem. Later, they brought over 150 charges and I said I was not guilty. After all the arguments, I told them they were wasting my time. I asked them what they needed me to do so I could be free and they said we should find a win-win situation for all sides.
They said our both lawyers should sit down, craft something and save our faces. Considering that I knew where I was going, I needed to put all these behind me and face my business.
Forfeiture of money
They searched all my accounts and found nothing. I told them if there is any money in my account, go and seize it. After a while, they went to Code of Conduct Tribunal and said I refused to disclose the amount in my account which was N3.2 million.
That was what I was charged for and asked to forfeit the money. You can go to the courts and find out. They dropped all the charges and brought that. All these ones that you are talking about billions, I do not know where they got these billions from.
Are you saying you became poorer than the way you were before you became a governor?
I would have become richer if I had stayed outside of government. Being in government made me poorer.
What is your relationship with Presidentt Goodluck Jonathan?
It is very cordial. I have tremendous respect for him. He is piloting the affairs of the state to the best of his abilities under the circumstances. It is tough being the leader of a country like Nigeria.
You spoke very fondly about Anenih, but many people believe he is the problem of Edo politics and that of Nigeria.
If you listened to me carefully, I told the truth about every situation and how Oshiomhole came on board. The quarrel was not between Anenih and myself. It was those that were playing the intrigues of 2007 elections. We were both used as puns. We never quarrelled.
Do you still relate with your friend, James Ibori? Do you see his prosecution as political?
Definitely, I do. I explained my own aspect to you that Edo state does not have the resources to play with. I cannot speak for Delta State. Ibori is in a better position to answer that.
Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State says the question of his party, All Progressive Congress (APC), zoning the presidency in the 2015 general elections does not arise as the party has no provision for it. The governor also, in this interview, speaks on his running battle with teachers over qualification, his efforts to address infrastructural deficit in Edo and the National Conference, among other issues. Excerpts:
Oshiomhole
The burning issue right now in Edo State is your effort to reform the educators. You have rebuilt schools but the people who make good education possible – the teachers – you have been having running battles with them over the need to identify the qualified ones among them through competency tests. Even though the problem is there all over the country, can you describe the peculiar situation in Edo State?
We have abandoned the idea of competency test for what we now call assessment test. The basic difference is that we want to assess the teachers in our employment to find out what is the level of their competence. That way we will be able to establish the level of assistance they require. For instance, a man who has a National Certificate of Education (NCE) but can’t teach will be put in the hands of experts to determine the kind of training he requires to make up for his deficiency.
If he has the knowledge but does not know how to impart the skill, an appropriate training can be designed. On the other hand, if we find that someone was not supposed to be a teacher at all; he is not even educated but somehow, due to corrupt practices, either through monetary inducement or political manipulations by successive governments and they were dumped on the system, such that their weaknesses cannot be cured through training and retraining, we will decide what to do with them.
If they cannot be redeployed to other areas where they can be useful, then they have to give way to others who have what it takes. We want to understand the nature of the problem besetting education in Edo State, that is why we call it assessment. We can help teachers to be upgraded through in-service training and refresher courses.
We need a lot of investment in education because that is the most important infrastructure. Infrastructure like roads, hospitals, electricity, water – those are conventional infrastructure that people can see. The most important infrastructure is human capital. And the foundation is primary and secondary education.
I think that is the logic behind compulsory basic education; that every child, irrespective of his economic circumstances, should have quality basic education. If you get the buildings, the furniture and other things right but the teacher is not competent, then all that investment will be wasted.
As I walk round the state, I often come across young pupils going or coming from school, most times in company of their parents. I look at the uniform and realise that it does not belong to one of the government schools. Some of the m are attending these mushroom private schools. Some of the schools operate from uncompleted buildings, no playgrounds, no sporting, recreational facilities.
Then I ask the kid, why do you like to go to that school?’ Or sometimes I ask, ‘have you seen the government schools, the red roof schools?’ They say ‘yes’. ‘So why are you not attending there?’ ‘My mummy or my daddy said no I should attend this one’. A couple of times I have had to interview their parents. They tell me they are happy with the way we have rebuilt the public schools but they are not sure of the teachers.
Across the country, everybody recognizes the crisis in the education sector. It is easy to see the dilapidated school buildings. What is not easy to see is the quality of the teaching staff. The result is that every year West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and other examination bodies announce 70 per cent failure. And we just move on.
We are producing children who do not have what it takes to be employable, or go into the university or polytechnic or even acquire technical education. You now have educated people who cannot read and write.
To underscore the problem, I came across a woman who, in the course verifying her credentials, could not read an affidavit. Instead of “I solemnly declare”, she said “1 Solomon”. Instead of “Judicial Province”, she said: “Onitsha Prophet”.
“Judicial” starts with “J”, yet she was confusing “Judicial” with “Onitsha”. “Province” is “Prophet”. We asked yet another teacher: ‘how many local governments are there in Edo State, list some of them?’ She said: “UNIBEN”. UNIBEN is a local government! I mean, I don’t want to talk about it. We saw things like these in the process of checking credentials, and we realised that the problem goes beyond ghost teachers, or teachers refusing rural postings, but that there are people parading as teachers who are not.
We have too many quacks masquerading as teachers. And the moment I realised this, it was only natural that I had to find courage to deal with this human element which makes all the difference. I started meeting with the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), civil society organizations, we had town hall meetings. In all these meetings, civil society, human rights organizations, royal fathers, community leaders, market women all said yes, teachers must do this test.
Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has charged the men of the State Traffic Management Agency (ESTMA) to stop and arrest him or the State Deputy Governor if their vehicles beat the red light rule, saying no one is too big to contravene laws in the state.
Oshiomhole
Speaking during a meeting with officers and men of the Agency at the Government House, weekend, Oshiomhole charged men of the agency to be firm but civil in carrying out their duties, saying they must not treat ‘big men’ with levity because of their status in the society.
He said: “you must not extort, you must not criminalise innocent people, you must not let offenders go after extortion, if anybody beats the red light, you must arrest the person no matter his status. If it’s the Governor or Deputy Governor, you must block him and interrogate him. The only person exempted from the red light rule is the President or Vice President when they visit, in which case the road will be blocked for their easy passage.
“So if you can stop and interrogate the Governor for beating the red light rule, no other person is bigger in the state whom you can’t stop. Anybody that contravenes the red light rule, stop him and detain him for at least two hours. Very many innocent people have been crushed because someone wanted to contravene the red light rule. This must stop”, the Governor said.
“I speak the minds of Edo people when I say very many people have been victims of your very crude and harsh traffic management methods.
“When you misbehave as some of you do, people in anger dismiss you as Oshiomhole police. I have no police. In fact, I am one of the very few who have spoken out against state police. I am commended for so many things but not so many people have commended me for this particular intervention, even as you have come into existence to help control traffic”, he said.
“I have to remind you that you are agents of a civil authority so your language must be civil. You are agents of a civilian government. You are not agents of a military government. Your language should not be “with immediate effect”. Your language must be consistent with the language that is acceptable in a democracy.
“You can be firm and yet be smiling. You need to be reminded that we are to provide services. In dealing with our masters, we must mind our language; you must be civil but firm. Laws must be obeyed; not laws in the hearts of rulers, but laws in the statute books.
“You must not under any circumstances arrest someone who has committed no offense. Let me remind you that you are not primarily a revenue generating agency. That is not the primary purpose for setting up the agency. When people breach the law, there are prescribed penalties”, he added.
The Governor however frowned that some men of the agency are often absent at their beats to maintain free traffic flow, saying “as I drive round the city, I still find out many of you are not working but get paid. We are devising a new method to ensure everybody earns his pay. We are going to put in place plain-clothed people to monitor you and as soon as you are caught extorting the public or contravening the laws, we prosecute you and you spend at least one month in prison, we are tired of your work giving our government a bad name”, he said.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Transport, Mr Orobosa Omo-Ojo had told the Governor that men of the traffic agency have come under attacks from some people who feel they are bigger than the laws of the state. He thanked the Governor for always standing by the agency in the discharge of its duties.
As a labour leader, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole led popular actions against different governments. Now, the teachers’ union in Edo State are up in arms against a plan by the state administration to verify their competence for the job they do.
BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE
Oshiomhole
Governor Adams Oshiomhole had at different fora expressed his determination to lift the level of education in the state. It even became more pressing on him after he visited a primary school and met a teacher who could not read well. So the need of verifying the competence of the teachers in the school system became a pressing matter for the state administration.
Governor Oshiomhole was backed by some strategic stakeholders in his pursuit. Speakers at a stakeholders’ meeting which took place at Imaguero College Hall gave the governor the go ahead to organize the test for the teachers, and this was what gave birth to the Prof. Dennis Agbonlahor Committee that was saddled with the task of organizing the Competency test.
The test was, however, strongly opposed by some other stakeholders, mostly the teachers who were involved.A meeting between some civil society groups and the leadership of the state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers [NUT] to find a common ground over the objection of the teachers to the competency test ended in deadlock on Wednesday.
Concerned members of the civil society in the state also met privately with Governor Oshiomhole towards reaching a common ground between the administration and the warring teachers.
But after all the negotiations last week, the teachers stuck to their guns. Speaking with newsmen soon after one of the meetings held at the famous Teachers House, State Chairman of the NUT, Comrade Mike Ununmwangho said the teachers would not write the competency test as he described the exercise as vindictive adding that the teachers do not trust the State Government.
The state administration, however, rejected the claims.
“The test is not to sack or witch-hunt any teacher but to ascertain those who might need assistance and level of training or retraining required as part of the determination of the Adams Oshiomhole administration to deliver an all-round quality education for the Edo child”, the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Loius Odion said while denying the receipt of a court order restraining the government from going ahead with the test.
However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State on its part while opposing the competency test berated the state government for “using every means possible, including the proposed conduct of competency test for teachers in the state to generate revenue.”
The party stated that the state government was using “the competency test, along with some other policies including repressive tax policies to shore up the state’s depleted vault.”
State chairman of the party, Chief Dan Orbih, who in a statement before the exercise said, “using competency test as a yardstick for retrenchment means using teachers as scapegoat for the dire financial crisis the state governments has plunged the state into.”
”We condemn in very strong term the decision to conduct the competency test. It is discriminatory and unacceptable. For it to be justified, the state government should first of all subject everyone to competency test, starting from the Government House. We sympathize with teachers at this time because we know they are being made the sacrificial lamb.
“As we have repeatedly stated, the proper thing is to organize in-house training for teachers as done by the administration of the late Ambrose Alli. Teachers who were found lacking then were not discarded as being planned but trained to become useful for themselves and their families. We say Governor Oshiomhole should not turn people who are bread winners in their families to bread seekers.
The PDP’s assertion was tackled by the All Progressives Congress, APC which threw its weight behind the test.
The APC state organizing secretary, Mr. Thomas Okosun in his own reaction said:
“I want to state clearly that I am in total support of the competency test organised for teachers. You cannot be a teacher when you don’t know what to teach neither do you entrust the future of your children into such people’s hands. You have ASCON in Lagos where civil servants undergo training and test in order to get promotion, so also in states and federal ministries.”
“The party is in support, I am in total support because this is the best that can happen to our educational system.”
On the eve of the competency test last Saturday, another dimension emerged following the call on teachers by the National Coordinator of the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS), Mr. Charles Faluyi to shun the test on the ground that the National Industrial Court of Nigeria sitting in Abuja had restrained the government and the Committee it set up to conduct the test from doing so pending the hearing and determination of suit brought before it by the teachers.
He therefore directed all secondary schools teachers in the state to disregard whatever threat by government aimed at coercing them to writing the test, just as he expressed disappointment over alleged recruitment of touts, paid agents to pose as teachers, technical school teachers and principals in the examination centres in order to deceive the teachers and the public that the competency test was taking place.
Earlier, the National Industrial Court, presided over by Justice B. A. Adejumo, had granted an interim injunction restraining the government from going ahead with the test.
The state PDP chairman, Chief Orbih was quick to welcome the judgment even as he called on Comrade Oshiomhole to heed the injunction.
“This public-spirited courage is in tune with democratic principles and has the propensity of ensuring that members of the teachers’ union are not mistreated, oppressed and persecuted under any guise.”
Mr. Odion, the commissioner for information, however, denied knowledge of any such injunction.
“We have received media enquiries over rumour of an injunction purportedly granted by a court restraining Edo State Government from going ahead with the teachers’ assessment exercise scheduled to hold today, Saturday, March 22″
“Therefore, this is to reassure teachers of primary and secondary schools and the general public that the assessment exercise scheduled for today, Saturday, March 22 will still hold.”
“Anyone who fails to write the test will be deemed as constituting a clog in the wheel of our progress and, consequently, will have his or her name deleted from the payroll”.
The state commissioner for Basic Education, Washington Osifo who accompanied the chairman of the assessment test committee, Prof. Agbonlahor to the accreditation hall, said the state government was not aware of any court injunction stopping the state government from conducting the test.
“Government is set to conduct the assessment test. Nobody will force anybody to do what is right. The test is in the interest of the teachers and Edo children. We are not aware of any restraining order stopping the test. An attempt to get an order does not in itself translates to an order stopping the conduct of the test,” Osifo said.
Remarkably, turnout at the three centres earmarked for the test was paltry as only about 73 teachers out of the thousands of teachers in the public school system turned out.
Meanwhile, counsel to the teachers, Afolabi Olayiwola has indicated that the state government will sued for contempt of court for going ahead to conduct the test.
The state government on its part has declared the exercise as very successful saying that it was waiting for the Report of the Prof. Agbonlahor Committee before knowing want to do next.
For a comrade who ascended to office on the wings of populism, the options ahead of the comrade governor are indeed no easy choices.
