Hon. Philip Shuaibu is the member representing Etsako
Federal constituency of Edo state in the House of Representatives. He
was former Majority Leader in the Edo state House of Assembly and one of
the political sons of governor Adams Oshiomhole. In this interview with
Saturday Vanguard, he explains why governor Oshiomhole embarked on a
wide consultation on who possibly succeeds him in Edo State and clears
the air on Godwin Obaseki.
Excerpts: Governor Adams Oshiomhole met with political leaders across
the three senatorial districts last weekend to consult with them on the
issue of his successor. How would you describe the meeting? •Hon. Philip Shuaibu
It was a very successful meeting. And this was the first time the
governor of a state will be consulting with the people for the purpose
of a successor and at the same time, it is in the interest of the party
so that all of us will speak with one voice. What he is doing is to
help stop this unnecessary expenditure that is incurred by aspirants,
where people will sell their houses in the name of elections and by the
end of the day, it becomes a do or die affair. So this consultation will
help to curb the do or die politics. For the first time in this
country, a governor is coming out to organize a talk where the agenda of
his administration is discussed and the future of the next
administration was the focus.
Other governors will not embark on this kind of discussions when they
know they will soon be leaving. They don’t like talking about their
exit, it is like a taboo. So those characters likening the actions of
the Comrade governor to god- fatherism are talking rubbish. God fathers
do not consult, a god father will impose a candidate but in this case,
the governor is labouring, seeking every body’s position, giving
everybody freedom. Nobody has been sacked on the account of his views on
who becomes the next governor of the state. Everybody is expressing
himself. That is the kind of platform that he has created and thank God
he is leading by that example. But there is this belief that some of you who are very close
to him do not agree with him over the choice of Godwin Obaseki as the
APC candidate?
That is not really the truth. But let me tell you, some people have
dissenting voices, some have some fears about certain candidates. But
the general view at the end of the day is that we will not rubbish the
Comrade Governor. All of us that know what the Comrade governor has done
to liberate all of us from the political slavery of Edo god fathers,
will not want to go back to Egypt. The Comrade Governor has liberalized
the political space that the son of a farmer can now contest for the
governorship of this state without any form of intimidation.
So we will definitely come to an agreement and obviously I can tell
you that with what the Comrade Governor has done in this state it will
be difficult for anybody to defeat his candidate or APC candidate. And
the process of choosing the APC candidate is what the Comrade Governor
has started by consulting with stakeholders and more meetings will come
up. And he has told us categorically clear that the wish of his party
will be his wish. But don’t forget that as an incumbent governor, nobody
can take that right from him. He has the right to choose his successor
and that does not necessarily mean imposition or god fatherism.
It is a right you cannot take from him. The same way people are
expressing their mind on who is their preferred candidate is the same
way he is expressing himself. Oshiomhole passionately loves the state
and would not want all he has done to be destroyed and go back to the
era of locust. This man with all the hardship that the entire country is
facing, road construction is on, he is building hospitals, salaries are
paid as at when due. He crated the atmosphere for people to air their
views and I know that at the end of the day we will choose one
candidate. He does not want people to waste so much money and at the end
of the day the party will tell them to withdraw or respect the party’s
choice. It then becomes difficult. Recently, a PDP governorship aspirant Pastor Ize-Iyamu was
criticising the administration of the Comrade Governor on television,
claiming that Oshiomhole has collected more money than Lucky
Igbinedion’s administration yet he allegedly performed below
expectation?
But of course you should know who is talking. If Ize-Iyamu will open
his mouth to say Comrade Governor has not done anything it shows how
backward he is as a politician in Edo state because a blind man can feel
the works of the Comrade Governor in Edo state. Lucky Igbinedion was
governor during the era of the oil boom. When the Comrade governor took
over in 2008, what was a barrel of oil to compare to when Igbinedion was
governor? What was the dollar to the naira as at that time? You cannot
compare Igbinedion’s government with that of the Comrade governor.
The worst part of this government is better than the best part of
that regime. And those that led to the failure of that Igbinedion
administration should be ashamed to talk. Pastor Ize-Iyamu. He colonized
Lucky and there was so much impunity. He may even be richer than
Igbinedion today. He tried to do the same thing in APC with the Comrade
Governor but of course Ize-Iyamu is too small where the Comrade is and
the governor kept him where he belongs and that was what frustrated him
out of APC to PDP, where he is still pursing his governorship ambition
which he started even during Igbinedion administration.
Igbinedion as a local government chairman did very well and Edo
people hailed him for that and that was why he won the governorship
election. And when he was Local Government chairman, Ize-Iyamu was
nowhere around him. But the moment he became governor Ize-Iyamu came and
hijacked him and that was why that government failed. He became SSG in
that administration and Lucky handed over the government to him. So
these are people who are known in the state.
The Comrade Governor gave him oxygen mask that resuscitated him from
the damage he caused in this state after he joined the ACN then. Edo
people detested and frowned at him because of the role he played in that
administration. If people like that will say they want to be governor
of Edo state under the PDP, it means whoever the Comrade governor brings
will beat Ize-Iyamu silly. Even Oshiomhole’s driver will defeat
Ize-Iyamu in Orhionmwon, his village. Edo people are wiser now and will
not want to be ruled by desperate politicians. Any person who wants to
be governor by all means and can do anything to get power will not be
good for the state.
These are not the kind of people we need today. We need people who
can manage the meagre resources of the state the way the Comrade
Governor has managed it. People who have vision for development.
Comrade governor has laid the foundation for further development in Edo
state but Ize-Iyamu cannot build on that foundation. When he was in
charge of the state with Igbinedion, they killed Edo Line, Bendel
Brewery, sold all the industries they claimed they built. They deceived
Edo people that they were building industries such as the Ehor fruit
juice company, the Cassavita plant at Uromi, Fertilizer Company at
Okpilla but none of these companies survived even under their watch. All
they did was to sell them and you think Edo people will forget?
Those industries became conduit pipes and that was why the EFCC
convicted the former governor, his brother and one of his aides. And
these were supervised by Ize-Iyamu who claimed he had no hand in it. We
are aware that he has been attending all ceremonies including marriages,
burials, birthday parties just because he wants to be governor. But we
are praying the PDP will give him the ticket so that we will teach him a
lesson. We will remind Edo people who the real Ize-Iyamu is and they
will now compare and contrast and I am sure they will react with their
votes. You cannot take people for granted for over ten years and you
think they have forgotten.
You see Edo state today almost from zero revenue to billions. Edo is
viable today. Salaries are being paid, projects are being executed
despite the economic crisis and that is why we need a governor that will
sustain the progress. And we are happy that the governor is following
that slogan of let the people lead and he is consulting with everybody.
Those of us who are following Oshiomhole will always tell him the truth
and at the end of the day whoever he is convinced about, the entire
party will follow him. But do you not foresee crisis in your APC as a result of this governorship ticket?
The Comrade Governor is a very tactful politician, he is very
intelligent and he is liked by all of us. He believes in the people and
always aligns with the wishes of the majority. And I can tell you that
the Comrade Governor will lead us to a candidate all of us will support
and the person will eventually win the general election. He has the
leadership skill that will hold the party together so we have no fear of
any crisis. Whoever emerges after the primary will be the flag bearer
and all members are expected to queue in and work. If you now feel like
doing something contrary then you will be enemy of the party.
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