Former Edo State governorship aspirant and chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Solomon Edebiri, speaks on the 2016 governorship election in the state, Boko Haram insurgency and National Assembly leadership crisis. Special correspondent, TITUS OISE, presents the excerpts.
Former governor of Edo State, Lucky Igbinedion, playing major role in who emerges governor in 2016.
Chief Lucky Nosa Igbinedion is one of the leaders of the party (PDP). He has a right to his opinion. He has a right to his decision. If you ask him, he would tell you that was not exactly what he said. People have a way of manipulating statements. However, whatever he said was his opinion and he has a right to it. So, that has no effect on my ambition. I believe that even Lucky respects my position; respects my intellect as well and believes equally and sincerely that I too have the capability to govern the state.
Former Governor Samuel Ogbemudia going about looking for Adams Oshiomhole’s successor
The people of the state should be the deciders. It is when the people decide who governs them that the person they have chosen will be accountable to them. When only one or two persons decide who rules the state, then the person is not accountable to the people. I respect and value the leaders; I respect their position, their age and their experience. But the people must be allowed to take a decision; they must be allowed to play the major role, the pivotal role in who rules them, in who leads them, in who governs them. The people must be allowed to be in charge; to be the ones that decide that this is the party or the person that should govern them. It is only when the people are allowed to take a decision that whoever is in that position would respect the people; would value the people; would serve the people and would be accountable to the people.
I believe in the people. The larger spectrum of the people, of course we know, are the downtrodden; middle class people; lower class people. They are the people looking for a better tomorrow; etc. Those are the people that should actually decide who rules us. Don’t forget that all parties put together in this country do not represent up to 10 per cent of the voters’ population. The real voters are out there and those real voters are the people that we should be looking up to. While we respect the authority and position of the party, we should also realise that the party is a subset of the people; of the masses; of the voting population and therefore we must listen to the pulse of the voting population; we must listen to the pulse of the people. Those are the people that own governance; those are the people that own the state and those are the people that would decide who rules them.
Crisis in Edo PDP and call for the resignation of the chairman, Dan Orbih
Well, I don’t know what you mean by crisis in the PDP. There is no crisis in the PDP. PDP is in harmony. If there are disagreements in opinion, it doesn’t mean crisis. People have a right to disagree. As far as I am concerned, there can be one disagreement or the other at different points in time. People must disagree to agree. I am not aware of any crisis in PDP; I am not aware of any division in PDP, and I don’t see any in the offing. PDP’s house is in harmony and if there is any disagreement, of course, the party knows how to settle the disagreements in-house. There is no problem in PDP that amounts to crisis.
Leaving APC for PDP
I joined APC because I was a member of ANPP. I didn’t cross to APC. When I joined APC, I knew it was not going to be long. I was a member of the merger committee that formed APC, and my chairman would agree with me that I wasn’t very comfortable with the formation of the APC; the strategy that gave birth to the APC; the formula that gave birth to APC; the character that made up APC. And I knew I wasn’t going to live long with the party. I couldn’t have stayed in APC because I don’t belong there.
President Buhari winning the war against insurgency
I think we should allow him time to settle. Two months is not enough to judge a man who just won an election from a position many thought was not possible. First, he needs to get over the euphoria of the victory. He needs to settle down to government’s nitty-gritty and begin to look at principles, policies and the provision of his plans for the country. I think we should be patient with him. I believe that along the line he will find his bearing. But whatever is happening has gone to prove that Boko Haram wasn’t a PDP creation. Whatever is going on has vindicated PDP that it was not because they didn’t want to fight the insurgency, but it was just a difficult exercise. Whatever is going on has gone to prove Buhari wrong when he said that common militants (ex-President Goodluck) Jonathan could not fight. And when he went to visit Chad and Niger, he also went to prove the simple fact that Jonathan was not wrong when he said he needed the cooperation of the neighbours to fight insurgency. As we move along, we begin to see so many things that would vindicate PDP against APC. Whatever APC had said about PDP, this present administration of APC has begun to prove them wrong.
National Assembly crisis and the way out
They will find a meeting point. I believe the party (APC) hierarchy and the NASS leadership will find a truce. But of course, you know reality is something you must come to terms with. What is happening in NASS is just reality. It is the reality of the true political state of the country. You cannot give what you don’t have; you cannot pretend to be what you are not. APC is not prepared for national leadership and cannot provide national leadership. And that is why you find out that the PDP is still at the helm of affairs at the National Assembly. We are still trying to steer the ship, otherwise the ship will sink. The ship will sink because they (APC) do not have what it takes and the wherewithal to manage the nation. We are hoping that PDP members in NASS will teach them the way to go. We are praying that they learn very fast, so that this ship of Nigeria nation does not sink.
Agenda for Edo in 2016
That is very simple. I can simply summarise it that I would build a foundation that the future generations can build upon. Edo State has no foundation. The one Samuel Ogbemudia built has been eroded by a wide range of successive governments that didn’t want a future for the state. All I know is that with me as team leader, Edo will be planted on a foundation that cannot be eroded. It would meet successive governments, future generations to have a foundation to build on.