Chairman of Edo State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dan Orbih, in this interview speaks on why his party is bent on removing the governor, Godwin Obaseki, from office. He also talks on how former Governor Adams Oshiomhole managed the state and why PDP should take over power from APC at the federal level. Special Correspondent TITUS OISE presents the excerpts
Supreme Court judgment validating Obaseki’s election
I must say that for us as a political party, we have moved on from the Supreme Court judgment; more so, we have two issues with Governor [Godwin] Obaseki; the one pertaining to the conduct of the actual election and the declaration by the INEC (Independent National electoral Commission) and the second issue that deals with the qualification to contest the election.
You would recall that, even before the election, we went to court challenging Obaseki as someone who is not qualified to contest the election. We knew from what he submitted to INEC that he was not qualified to contest that election.
So, that case that we took to court that ab initio he was not qualified to contest the governorship election is still very much alive at the Federal High Court. One out of the two cases had been decided. It is just to say that it is all over.
Proceeding to court again amounting to shadow chasing
We are not going to court again. The matter is already in court; it is a pre-election matter. You see, we must learn to deepen democracy. Some people are saying, ‘oh why don’t you leave him alone?’ If a man is not qualified to be in a place, is there any basis to beg to say why don’t you leave him? It is not a matter of ‘I beg’. It is a very serious matter. We must take a lot of pains to bring democracy to the level where people, men who are eminently qualified for public offices, men with requisite qualifications, men of impeccable characters are allowed to contest elective positions because these positions are positions of trust. They are not Christmas gifts that you just give to everybody in the name of celebrating Christmas. You earn the position; you must be qualified to occupy the position. These are the issues. I don’t want to go into details of the matter because it is already in the court.
Next line of action for PDP in the state
For the party, we have put quite a number of things together and you will agree with me that PDP is strong and alive in Edo State. Putting aside the issue of governorship election or no governorship election, this is one state where we defeated APC and Oshiomhole during the Presidential election. This is one state that was once won overwhelmingly by President Goodluck Jonathan during the Presidential election. In this state, we elected two PDP senators out of the three; in this state, we elected majority of members of the House of Representatives, and of course we have very able and capable members in the House of Assembly elected on the platform of the PDP. It may even interest you to know that the member representing Oshiomhole’s constituency in the House of Assembly is a PDP member. So, PDP in Edo State is very strong and nothing has affected that followership which is already in the state, coupled with the fact that just within few months in government the people have found out that nothing has changed except the name from Oshiomhole to Obaseki. Outside the change of name, nothing else has changed. We now have a government that has continued in the tradition of Oshiomhole; propaganda and nothing.
Observers applauding Governor Obaseki because of developments in the state which were not there during the eight years of Oshiomhole
You have said that some things are now happening which is in agreement with my earlier position, that Oshiomhole did nothing. By saying this man is trying to do something, it means you have agreed with me that we had eight years of propaganda as a tool of government. Have you taken pains to know how many roads we have in Benin City and how many roads you are talking about all to promote one man who owns cement somewhere; they are talking about using concrete cement to repair or do roads. If people want to say thank you to those who helped them in one way or another in the course of their political journey, they should find other ways to do it. We are not in a waterlogged environment. So, this idea of using cement concrete to say you are repairing or wanting to repair or to be seen making an attempt at doing, let him do 30 kilometres of cement road then we know that that has come to be an option to what we had all these years. I think it is all diversionary posture of the government trying to satisfy certain economic interests that are alien to Edo interest.
PDP turning down olive branch by the state government
We don’t intend to rock the boat. You see, some of the problems the present day democracy is facing is that we have too many bread-and-butter politicians, food-is-ready politicians who will just move over, forgetting that most times, when you get to a restaurant where you see a signpost ‘food is ready’ often it is left-over food; food that was cooked the previous day. The food will not be fresh, not tasty and sometimes it could be stale. It is for those who just want to put anything in their stomach. We must develop the patience of waiting for fresh meals that will be prepared with fresh ingredients. We (PDP) are not food-is-ready politicians. We have our programme which we believe that will best serve the interest of Edo people. If you canvass for support on a certain platform, you should be allowed to go ahead to execute the promises and programmes you used in canvassing for support before the election, so that the people can put the failure, as is already evident, squarely on his fragile shoulders, not to get us involved.
His offer is purely a Greek gift. We have also come back to tell the people that we are contesting his right to occupy that office because ab initio we said he is not qualified to contest. So, why should we now go and be part of his government? It will be contradictory. We as a political party have our own programmes; we have a man who was eminently qualified to be there, who contested the election. Among the qualified candidates, he had the highest votes. That is our position. So, until the court says otherwise, we believe strongly in this position and we will pursue it to a logical conclusion.
Root of PDP’s problems in Edo
Well, if you are in a political party, people are entitled to their opinion. I also want to let you know that when I indicated interest to contest the chairmanship of the party the second time, I did not get any challenge; nobody contested against me. That shows the confidence members of the party in the state have in my leadership. Whatever you see today as fall-out of PDP years in government, I was not part of it. I don’t think anybody can put anything on me.
Instead, I have given a leadership that is not just constructive, but also a leadership that has become the conscience of the people. In the Oshiomhole years of political hooliganism, I was able to put a check on some of his excesses. When he told a widow that she should go and die, I brought it to the attention of the world that because he was a governor did not give him the right to condemn an innocent widow. I forced him to go on his knees. He did not only apologise to the woman, he also gave an appointment to the woman, though she was not educationally qualified for the appointment she was given as SSA (senior special assistant). All these were done to placate the damage that incident brought on Oshiomhole. I championed the cause.
When he embarked on an economic voyage to sell Edo House, I told him that it would not happen, that I would use every available legal means to stop the sale of Edo House, more so when we got privileged information that very key member of his government was working with a Chinese company to come and turn the Edo House into a five-star hotel and they were there to sell for a peanut.
When I told him we would not allow it, he thought it was a joke. I personally led a protest match to Edo House in Lagos with over 500 Edo citizens to say that the house should not be sold. And immediately I went and instituted a legal action at the court in Lagos. That matter is still a subject of litigation between Edo State Government and us who said that the man who did not know how Edo House was built, what it took the then government to build that edifice, has no moral right to want to dispose of the house just for selfish economic reasons at little or no cost.
So, on the issue of PDP in Edo, whether anybody likes it or not, this is the most organised opposition party in any state in Nigeria. It is the best in terms of being able to keep the government on its toes.
PDP struggling to wrest power from APC in 2019
Thank you. But I want to make a slight correction. The party is not struggling to get power back from the APC. The party is on the path of recovering power from APC. We are not struggling, in the sense that the apparent failure of the APC government at the federal level and in most of the APC-controlled states has made the task easier for the PDP, and there is no better way to put it. The ordinary man in the street is feeling the pains of the hardship that the APC-led government has brought to bear on the citizens of this country.
I think we need to have a government that will take charge of the deteriorating state of affairs and put in place measures that will reverse the negative economic indices that we are seeing today.
It requires immediate attention from concerned Nigerians to save this country from the situation we find ourselves. This is where the PDP comes in.
