Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant, Ken Imansuangbon, speaks on the election scheduled for September 10, 2016 and other issues affecting the party. Special Correspondent, TITUS OISE, presents the excerpts.
Your party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), would soon be holding its gubernatorial primary. Amid rumour of an aspirant being endorsed, how confident are you that you will eventually pick the ticket?
Who has endorsed who? Nobody has endorsed anything. There is nothing like endorsement. That is mere rumour coming from wrong quarters. It is the Edo people that will endorse a candidate in a free primary that is going to be held, by the grace of God, in June. It is the Edo APC delegates that will endorse their choice as the party’s flag-bearer. So, nobody will force a choice on the people.
The people will endorse who they want. Power belongs to God and the people, not to an individual. Edo State of today is not Edo State of yesterday. Nigeria of today is not the Nigeria of yesterday. President Muhammadu Buhari has set the ball rolling.
He said it is your PVC (Permanent Voters Card) that would henceforth determine who wins election; meaning that there will be a free and fair primary and general elections. So, where comes the endorsement? If you endorse a candidate in the primary, would you do the same thing during the general elections?
I keep saying that the traders, the artisans, the students are the ones that will determine the next governor of Edo, not one person. I am not bothered by the reckless statement of anybody that there is an endorsed candidate. What endorsement? It is even insulting to the will of the people. It is an affront; a confrontation for one man to sit somewhere and say he has endorsed someone.
One of the reasons reportedly adduced by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole for endorsing Godwin Obaseki is that he has what it takes to govern the state, his expertise in economy.
Obaseki is the weakest of all the aspirants. He’ll come last in the primaries. Mark my words: unless they will kill all of us in the stadium that day. I know that Obaseki will come last. The people are ready. We are ready. Let’s pray that all of us see that day. I have been in the business of creating jobs for the past 25 years since I left the university. Let Obaseki show me the job he has created. I have been paying different kinds of taxes to the state and federal governments. Let Obaseki show us proof of any tax he has paid to either the state or federal government. Let him go to Samorika in Akoko Edo Local Government Area and see whether he’ll be recognised. Let him take a walk around Ring Road (the commercial hub of Benin) and see whether the artisans and traders will know him. But I have ties with the people for the past 13 years in Edo – ties of scholarship being given to their children, stomach infrastructure by sharing bags of rice to the people every year, yearly widow empowerment programme, etc.
Oshiomhole is right to say that his successor should have the ability to create jobs and not to always run to Abuja for money from the federal purse. But it is wrong for Oshiomhole to say that it is only Obaseki that has that quality. I have more of that quality than Obaseki.
My antecedent makes me the most qualified of the pack. All the other aspirants have benefitted one way or another from the government, either through contracts or appointments. I have never done contract for any of the three tiers of government, namely the local, state and federal. Rather, I have given to the government and to my people in Edo. On this basis, the people of the state are eagerly waiting to compensate me.
Gang-up against Obaseki by other aspirants
Obaseki is not an issue. It’s you guys (the media) that are making him an issue. Is he an issue? What makes him an issue? He was an aide to the governor. If the governor muscles his way through the party primaries, can he do the same during the main election? The Buhari government knows that Edo is vital in the present dispensation; that winning the election in the state this September will play a big factor in the party’s victory in 2019 presidential elections. So, everything will be done to ensure that the APC primary is credible.
Tackling youth restiveness and unemployment
The major problem of Edo is the issue of unemployment. That is why there are crises and insecurity everywhere. This is caused by lack of jobs. A responsible governor must make job creation a priority. I already have a masterplan on how to create jobs. Fifty per cent of my masterplan is hinged on how to improve on agriculture. Immediately I am sworn in, I will present a bill to the House of Assembly on ways of improving our agricultural yields. If you are a young boy or girl of Edo extraction, you must go to the farm, instead of loitering around the streets to cause mischief. I will create what will be called Edo Farms in each of the three senatorial districts of the state. In the first six months of my administration, I will create at least 30,000 jobs through the Edo Farms. Each farm will have some industries attached to it. This will be done in less than 30 days of my assumption of office. I have started discussing with Corporate America and Corporate Europe on the need to come and invest in our agriculture. My friends in the corporate world are interested in coming to assist me. The passion must be there to succeed.