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PAGE 10 — SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 18, 2016 SHOWDOWN IN EDO With Ize-Iyamu, Edo is in safe hands – Ikimi BY OLALEKAN BILESANMI •Chief Sylvanus Ohaemesi •Chief Tom Ikimi Chief Tom Ikimi has seen it all in Nigeria’s politics since the short lived third republic when he was the National Chairman of the National Republic Convention. Since the current political dispensation started in 1999, he has traversed all the major parties in the country including the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Today, he is a leader of the PDP. Ikimi, in this interview, speaks on the September 28 poll in Edo State. Let us know why this election in Edo State is the fiercest and most politically heated since your very first such governorship contest in 1992 as National Chairman of the National Republican Convention, NRC. Why are the stakes for you suddenly higher? My dream of Nigerian as a nation that is politically guided by a structure founded on two balanced political parties which provide viable alternative choices for our people has been partially fulfilled by the existence today of the PDP and the APC. I am proud to have played very prominent and historical roles in both parties. It was a very exciting experience for me to be the first elected National Chairman of the National Republican Convention, NRC, in 1990 -1992, during that very successful experiment of a two-party system in our country. Although I was National Chairman and Edo , my home state, I did not pay any particular attention to the governorship election in the state, both in the party primaries as well as in the election itself. I considered the whole country to be my constituency and I was eventually very proud of our achievement when, in the overall outcome of the general elections, the NRC won 16 governorship out of the 30 states in the country at the time. Throughout my tenure, I maintained a very healthy and cordial relationship with Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, my counterpart in the rival Social Democratic Party, SDP. I travelled the length and breadth of Nigeria freely, happily and unmolested. Unfortunately that innovative system came to an abrupt end. With the return of democratic dispensation in 1999, the PDP won the governorship of Edo State. That lasted eight years, followed by another brief period of just over a year. My membership of the PDP at the time was short-lived - from 2002 to sometime in 2005. I became increasingly uncomfortable with the way an ideologically fundamental core was being insinuated into the party’s operations, as though the PDP was the sole party of Nigeria. A democracy must permit an alternative party. My political quest became an earnest search for an alternative to the PDP in our infant democracy. I was, therefore, one of the two persons fundamentally responsible for the creation of the Action Congress (AC) which in 2007 admitted Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as a member and eventually the party’s governorship candidate. Everything happened virtually at the very last minute, preceding the governorship election of that year. My colleagues and I fought a titanic battle to secure victory for the Action Congress and install Adams Oshiomhole as governor. Our team in that struggle was a formidable political family. We are still very much together today. One of the stars of the team is Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. Tell us what the critical issues are in the election. Many say you have been a leader in both parties, the APC and the PDP at the national and state levels. Is this all about the political pride and ego of Ikimi and Oshiomhole? Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has been in politics for about eight years altogether, which covers the whole period of his governorship. I have been in full-time national politics at the highest levels, non- stop, for about 28 A victory by the PDP and the installation of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu as the next governor of Edo will be the best thing to happen at this time for the state, the South-South geo-political zone and indeed the whole country The political composition and alliances between the gladiators in Edo appear quite fluid and very mobile. At one time, it was Ogbemudia/ Anenih/Igbinedion Vs Ikimi/Oshiomhole/others. Today, it is Ikimi/Igbinedion/Anenih Vs Oyegun/Oshiyears now. There is a vast difference between the two of us. It is true that I have been a leader of both the PDP and the APC. In 2012, we successfully installed Oshiomhole for a second term. A critical issue in this election is to prevent a de facto third term governorship by Adams Oshiomhole through the back door. We want a state in which all the three senatorial zones operate in harmony and have a sense of belonging. Some analysts say you want to end your active political career on a high note by ensuring victory for your party at this governorship election after which you will bow out a satisfied politician and successful architect of immeasurable repute and fame. Any truth in this? A victory by the PDP and the installation of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu as the next governor of Edo will be the best thing to happen at this time for the state, the South-South geo-political zone and indeed the whole country. Edo will breathe a fresh air and embrace a new lease of life. Edo people need to regain their position of excellence in so many spheres once again. Among the lot of governorship candidates, only Pastor Ize-Iyamu has an agenda of reasoned policies. Virtually all the notable political leaders and respected national elder statesmen of Edo State are in the PDP. They are all in full support of our candidate. The victory will be a high note success for all of them in their political careers. With the entry of Pastor Osagie Ize- Iyamu and with the support of all our leaders we look forward to the restoration of Edo in sports once again. I thank God for preserving my life with His blessings of good health and physical strength. I do not intend to end my contributions of serving the nation and particularly Edo, the birth place of my ancestors. I am in fact energized by the warmth of reception accorded me at various locations during this campaign. You have been quoted as saying the result of the September 28 election in Edo will shock Oshiomhole and his APC. What makes you so sure? Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, I believe, is quite aware of how he got into power in 2007/8 and how he got reelected in 2012. Oshiomhole has no idea of how Etsako West, his LGA, was created. His insulting of elders has not gone down well with the general public who are determined to pay him back on election day. Your senatorial zone, Edo Central, allegedly suffered very serious neglect by the present government in the distribution of infrastructural and other development projects in the state. Has this influenced your current hardline position against Oshiomhole and the APC? Let me tell you my vision of Edo land. I see it as a homogeneous family in which we all should share and share alike. In 2007, I enthusiastically supported the zoning of the governorship seat to Edo North. Our reasoning was that Edo North had not been given a chance to govern the state. Even after the election, when Professor Osariemen Osunbor from Esan land - my senatorial district of Edo Central - was declared the winner, I fought tooth and nail, shoulder to shoulder, along with other colleagues, through the court process, to have Adams Oshiomhole declared the rightful winner notwithstanding his origin in Edo North. This reasoning is in keeping with the lofty ideals of the founding fathers of Edo who wanted an ethnically homogeneous state in which the three legs of Edo North, Edo Central and Edo South enjoy equal opportunity. We were most unlucky that in backing the outgoing governor, we chose a man who did not share our passion of homogeneity. Even so in penalizing Edo Central, Oshiomhole set a new standard all of his own. The state which had always operated peacefully with the three top political positions of governor, deputy governor and Speaker rotated among the three senatorial zones ended up through a series of manipulations, with governor in the North and deputy governor and Speaker to the South. Oshiomhole soon revealed his true character of arch clannishness with an attitude that Edo Central, being the so-called least populated, could be sacrificed. Even in his senatorial district, he preferentially favours his local government at the expense of the other five. The Esan people in the five local governments of Esan land are not happy that they and their territory have suffered such neglect. What would you say are the essential political advantages of Ize Iyamu over that of APC’s Godwin Obaseki. You must have some fears about your candidate, what are these? Ize Iyamu is a consummate politician who has endeared himself to a vast majority of the politicians in the state, and that is across both political parties. He is a qualified lawyer who has acquired good working experience in government as a former chief of staff and Secretary to Government. His late father was a respected high chief of unblemished record in the Oba’s palace - the Esogban of Benin. Their family house, still standing, is an historic relic being the first storeybuilding - Egedegenokaro - in Benin City. Ize-Iyamu, who was the Director-General of Adams Oshiomhole’s second term campaign organisation, is fully groomed, knows all the ropes and has submitted faultless documentation to INEC. Osagie Iyamu has personally led his own campaign to all the nooks and crannies of Edo and has interacted with all our peoples, big or small. Continues on page 12 C M Y K
SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 18, 2016, PAGE 11 SHOWDOWN IN EDO Edo voter ers s are solidly behind Obaseki – Senator Obende *’Postponement will give us opportunity to widen election result gap’ By Simon Ebegbulem, Benin-City Senator Domingo Obende is the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Campaign Council Publicity and Media Chairman. In this interview, he says the PDP in Edo State lacks leaders that can help governorship candidate,Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, to victory. How is your party tak ing the postpone ment of the election? We have prepared so hard, we believe that the voters are behind us and we are going to win. I am also happy because Edo has not been known to be a place where violence is the order of the day. If for security reasons as stated by the police and the DSS, this shift in election date was made, I think I am happy for it presupposes, come September 28, the election will be peaceful. We have heard the talk about APC forcing the postponement, but, first and foremost, APC never imported any thug. Secondly, we are not harbouring anybody. Thirdly, we did not bring any body to register that is not from Edo. Our strength are the voters and we have them behind us, they are not going to die or shift. So, any time, any day, we are ready for the election and I can bet that the gap is going to be wider now than we had imagined; we are going to win. Will you say that the current economic hardship is affecting your party in this election? Things are tough but it is not peculiar to Edo. Here in Edo, there is no governor that you can compare with Oshiomhole. You can talk about Gen.Ogbemudia, yes, but Oshiomhole is fantastic. If you compare Oshiomhole’s work and that of other governors, if they had one at all, you will find out they are not at par. And that is a big plus for us in this election. The two weeks they gave us is a two weeks of grace, which will showcase all the things we have done. It has given us the opportunity to reintroduce our candidate across the state. Concerning the economic situation, everybody knows that the whole world is in recession and PDP brought us into this problem. We cannot leave the past to blame the current person in government not finding solution to the problem. APC promised three things, security, economy, fighting corruption. We all know who collected our money without doing anything. We all know why the economy is hanging this way. What APC •Senator Domingo Obende is doing is trying to rebuild Nigeria and put it on a solid foundation for growth. PDP leaders in Edo are boasting they will win. How do you see this? There is this adage that says a house divided by itself cannot stand. PDP as we speak today has no clear cut leadership and for that I don’t think anybody would want to take PDP seriously in Edo. They have two factional governorship candidates, Ize-Iyamu and Iduoriyekemwen; so how will they win? PDP has had a pattern of leadership in Edo for more than ten years and that did not lead us to any developmental stride as far as the state is concerned. Then Comrade started in the past seven and a half years; infact I should say six and a half years because, for a year, he remained within the cap and caprices of the PDP House of Assembly then. And for that one year, Comrade did nothing in the state. But immediate he left the hook, in his second year, he started performing. I do not think any Edo man, having known these experiences on the part of the leadership of the PDP, will believe that PDP leaders will allow any elected person in PDP to perform. When you look at it clearly, you will ask, who are the people that actually destroyed PDP in Edo? Lucky Igbinedion could not do much because some leaders were sharing the money. And I don’t think any Edo man wants to do that right now. I know we have done a study about this issue and that is why a lot of us have resolved that it must be APC all the way. Why Everybody knows Comrade as a fighter, he has been a labour man, he likes challenges. But there are people who navigate around challenges, Comrade does not navigate around challenges; he confronts them is it APC all the way? Comrade in seven years has given us development we never anticipated. He may have his private issues with people, but has he performed? The answer is yes. Has he done what exactly he was voted for? The answer is yes. Did he as a politician deliver on his promises? The answer is yes. Go and check; after Ogbemudia’s days, who else can compare with Comrade? Nobody. Why? He does not have a clear cut leadership controlling him. And that is the same way we feel that bringing in Obaseki, he is going to follow the path of Comrade’s development strategy. Their characters are not the same, their training is not the same; so you don’t expect the social indices of Comrade to be the social indices of Obaseki. Everybody knows Comrade as a fighter, he has been a labour man, he likes challenges. But there are people who navigates around challenges, Comrade does not navigate around challenges; he confronts them. And that is what makes him different from Obaseki that is coming in. Even from the debate, you could see the differences when you put questions across to Obaseki. So, to me, PDP has no leadership that can guarantee them victory in this election. Former Governor Lucky Igbinedion recently boasted that the next governor of Edo will be produced by the Igbinedion family in the person of Pastor Ize-Iyamu and Chief Ikimi also boasted in the same manner. What is your take on that? First and foremost, my brother Lucky Igbinedion knows who Oshiomhole is, he was one of those who brought Oshiomhole. So you can say Oshiomhole is equally part of that family. So we have already produced two governors from that family, Igbinedion himself and Oshiomhole. Now, we cannot allow three brothers to rule us in Edo from the same family. Oshiomhole came from Lucky’s angle and, as of that time, Chief Anenih was angry until they met and had a meeting point of revolution. Meeting point? But.... But as you know Oshiomhole needed to be his own man so as to fulfil his campaign promises and that was where he had issues with these people which is good for the people of the state. Lucky is our brother, so he brought another of our brother Oshiomhole who is completing his eight years, so we don’t want him to go and bring another person from the same family. We are satisfied with Oshiomhole that he gave to us and we are going to get another governor from another family, in the person of Obaseki. What about Ikimi Ikimi is a man that likes talking big. But I will advise him to win his polling unit first for his party before talking about winning this governorship election. He knows what I mean, so I don’t need to expatiate. And talking about our current situation, what we are facing today as a nation is a product of the PDP because we don’t want to lament about it, we are still working in Edo and Edo will keep working. So in this light, we do not think we need a change of government in the state. The strategy we have been using even in the state of nothing, particular three years to Oshiomhole’s exit that is working for us, we want to maintain that and the people behind this success is the Chairman of the Economic and Strategy Team, which is Godwin Obaseki. And of course I must tell you clearly that Ize-Iyamu will equally agree that this government has worked. But when things have become personalized, you cannot say the fact as it is any more. Everybody wants to have it his own way. But on this, Edo people cannot be short changed, Edo people are wiser, Edo people will stand to claim what belongs to them by speaking our minds on September 28 with our votes and we will make sure that we put the PDP where they are right now. They can never resurface anymore because as far as we are concerned we have the people who will use their votes to surpress them. The problem with for Ize-Iyamu too is that while Obaseki has been able to point at what his party APC has done, Ize-Iyamu has nothing to point to because his boss, while he was SSG to government, that is, Lucky Igbinedion, performed woefully. But you can see what Comrade Oshiomhole has done today. Fantastic governor that all of us will miss. Allegation of rigging from PDP and can you justify the postponement of the election? The threats that led to the postponement of the election have been justified. First and foremost we saw militants being charged to court in Edo. Some are still facing interrogation. Secondly, the tension in Edo has come down very drastically, you don’t find people walking as if tomorrow we are going to die. That has calmed down. And security agencies have strategized, they have now known the positions to place their men. The postponement of this election is going to give us another wide margin we need in our elections. For PDP, it think they will keep crying wolf because they know why, it is like I have made an arrangement that tomorrow I will do something, and it is like that thing is dispensable. PDP is lost now because they are finding it difficult to re-strategize and energize, that is the problem they are having. To us in APC, we are going to win the election because we have embarked on more strategy, we are doing more work to ensure that we win and we are going to win. C M Y K
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