Oshiomhole talks too much, people have abandoned him – Igbinedion
PUNCH - A former Governor of Edo State, Chief Lucky Igbinedion, in
this interview with ALEXANDER OKERE, speaks about the corruption
allegations against his eight-year administration and the forthcoming
governorship election in the state
Why have you been silent on the political developments in Edo State?
I always wonder why people would be reading meanings to my silence.
I think I am a very dignified person in the sense that I have served
the state as a local government chairman. I have served as a two-term
governor. I really have nothing to prove and our own candidate is mature
enough. He does not need to be babysitted; he does not need a feeding
bottle. So, as far as I am concerned, our party is well-grounded. Our
party chairman is very versatile, he is capable and he has been doing
very well. He has my full backing. He has my endorsement and I give them
my tacit support and cooperation at all times.
How would you react to the criticism that your administration was very corrupt?
They said that the PDP stole money. There is nowhere in any of the
charges where they said that Lucky Igbinedion embezzled money. There is
nowhere in the charges where they said that Lucky Igbinedion mismanaged
so many resources. But a lot of people just talk because of lack of
knowledge or maybe their illiteracy is worrying them.
We did not have the money to be corrupt with. We were receiving one
of the lowest incomes in the state. For the first four years, all we
were doing were just paying pensions and wages. If you look back at the
records, there was nothing to be corrupt about because there was no
money to be corrupt with. So, I can say categorically that my
administration was not corrupt.
So, why did you opt for plea bargaining instead of pursuing your corruption case at the court?
Well, it depends on what you mean by opting for a plea bargain. You
do not know whether it was the EFCC and I who initiated the plea
bargain. I just felt that I should move on with my life, first and
foremost. I have done my thing. What has happened has happened but I can
tell you that I never stole Edo State money. I never mismanaged Edo
State money. I was never charged locally or internationally for
embezzlement of fund. So, as far as I am concerned, the people are
talking rubbish.
What is your assessment of the level of preparedness of the
Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct the governorship
poll?
Well, we have been hearing all sorts of rumours and information
about their level of preparedness. We just have to take them for their
word that they are fully ready, just as they were before the initial
date of September 10. So, I do not have any reason not to believe them
that they are fully ready for the September 28 election.
How did you feel when your party’s candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu left your government and campaigned for Oshiomhole?
Like I said, he is a matured politician. Everybody has the right to
do what they have to do and you know that our polity is not really
based on ideology as of today; that is the truth. People jump from one
party to the other for different reasons. Maybe they have been
pressurised out of the system. You have to know why they did what they
did. You cannot just use a blanket judgment to say that what they did
was right.
Do you think he could be trusted with a public office having allegedly betrayed you?
Pastor Ize-Iyamu has never betrayed me. He has always kept me in the know on all his political moves.
Ize-Iyamu was said to have enriched himself while in your government. Is this true?
I am not aware he enriched himself with public money while I was in
office. There was paucity of funds during my tenure, so it was not
possible for anybody, including Ize-Iyamu or myself to enrich ourselves.
You did not respond to series of criticisms against your administration by Governor Adams Oshiomhole. Why?
Well, I do not have the same background with the incumbent
governor. We come from different backgrounds and we have our ways of
approaching various issues. I do not believe in calling people names. I
have never criticised his government; that is not my style. I believe
that I have given him enough rope to do his own thing. It is now time
for the people of Edo State to really look inward and search their souls
to see under whose administration they have lived a more comfortable
life, a more secure life, and a more people-oriented life. So, I will
leave the people to make that judgment.
He believes in ‘listening to himself’. I believe in ‘watching and
listening to other people’ rather than making unnecessary and vile, rude
statements about other people. I was not brought up in that way. I was
brought up under a very strict, disciplined family. Both my father and
mother brought me up well; they did not teach me to start abusing my
elders or even abusing people of equal status.
The seat of the governor is highly important that you must watch
what you say because people are listening. People associate your words
with that seat of authority. So, when you talk, you have to be very
diplomatic. You have to be dignified in your words and carriage. It is
not a position or seat where you talk just because you feel like
talking. Like they always say, if you have nothing better to say,
maintain the silence.
He replies to everything. As a governor, you do not reply to every
comment that is made. Otherwise, you will just over-talk, which is what
everybody now knows him (Oshiomhole) for. He overreacts, exaggerates the
truth and blows his trumpet. He should let the people decide. Let the
people create that opinion; he is trying to force it down their throat
and the people say, enough is enough.
I once asked him to look back at his inaugural photographs and find
out how many people are still with him. If he found out that most of
them are still there, then he is doing well. If he could not find those
people that were there on the first day of his inauguration in 2008,
then there is a problem.
So, do you think that he has failed?
Definitely. His loyalists left when they started discovering his
characteristics and his mannerism. What comes out of your mouth goes a
long way. It is like an egg; once it comes out of your mouth, you cannot
put it back together. You can think that you can go back and apologise
behind, just like him telling a woman to go and die. How can you tell a
widow that is struggling and wanting to make ends meet to go and die?
The worst part is that the people he is now abusing are the people he
knelt down for before his election and started praising them. But today,
he is abusing all of them. So, where is his judgmental capacity? When
you talk too much, you talk nonsense.
But the governor accused your administration of massively laying off workers and grounding the state civil service.
When you get to the retirement age, you retire. When we came on
board, we discovered that our wage bill was high and, for one reason or
the other, we had to do some restructuring. We employed many teachers.
It is like in the private sector when companies retire people and employ
new hands. The Federal Government retires and employs, so it is a
continuous exercise. But we did not owe anybody. The backlog of salaries
that were up to 18 months was paid up to date.
Today, the state owes over $200m and I do not know how many
billions of naira inclusive. But when I left in 2007, I was not owing
any bank, not even overdrafts, not salary arrears, not pension arrears,
even though they are lying left and right now. It is a well-known fact
and well-documented. I believe in the development of human capital and I
believe that I did that very satisfactorily.
What is your reaction to the ranking of Edo as the state with the third highest debt?
It is not normal. It is very unusual. It is very bad for our
people. I feel sorry for the next PDP government coming in on September
28 because it is going to meet an empty treasury, a big hole in our
finances. So, I just pray that by God’s grace, he (incoming governor)
has the wisdom and the wherewithal to create some ingenuity. The state
of indebtedness they have put us is frightening.
What are your regrets after leaving office?
I have no regrets whatsoever. I did my best. I believe my best benefited the people of Edo State. So, I have no regrets at all.
There has been a speculation that you are gradually withdrawing from the PDP. Are you still an active member of the party?
I have never left the PDP; that is one thing for sure. I have
remained a staunch member of the PDP since inception. We are the
founders and I have never denied being a PDP member and I remain so. It
is true that I have not been active the way some people expect me to be.
I believe that after serving the state at the highest level, it is
better to take the back seat. I am not a political jobber. I have other
jobs to do. I have businesses to run. I have my family life to live.
I believe (that) once you have served the public, there must be a
time when you should now take the back seat and let the new hands come
on board, rather than trying to pamper them as if they are not mature.
These people (candidates) at the stage now are mature. When I was the
governor, I was not even 50. I was just 42.
So, the person running on the platform of the PDP is over 50 years
already. He is not a small guy. He is not a baby, so he does not need me
to carry him on my back. He does not need me to start talking. He is
matured. He knows the state very well, so you do not need to entertain
any fear.
What role are you playing in the current bid by the Edo people to elect a new governor?
I am playing my role as a PDP helmsman and as a two-term governor
of the state. They say experience counts. So from time to time, I do
meet and discuss with the party chairman and other members of the party
that come to seek my advice. So, just because I am not in the public
glare does not mean that I am not in full support of our party or that I
am not making the statutory contributions or obligations that are
expected of me.
I just decided not to be in active politics because, like I said
earlier on, I am not a political jobber. I believe there should be a
time to move on in some of these aspects of life.
Source: www.dailyglobewatch.com
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