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This Is a Prodigal Regime

August 12, 2006

Godwin Erhahon, Publicity Secretary of All Nigeria People?s Party (ANPP), in this interview with Ernest Omoarelojie and Desmond Utomwen in Benin, x-rays Governor Lucky Igbinedion?s 84 months in office and concludes that the government is wasteful.

 

Q: How would you assess the performance of the Lucky Igbinedion-led government since 1999?

Well, for us in the ANPP, we really do not have anything to assess from this administration?s performance. First, at no time did we expect that the government would perform, considering the caliber of men the government is made of.  Right from the campaign period in 1999, we knew they would fail so we are not among those that are disappointed. If you take time to look at what one would say the PDP government has achieved in the last seven years, you will see that there is nothing concrete. The only area you would see something is the wealth they have amassed for themselves.

You can see new structures that have sprung up in the name of the family that is ruling us. All else you see here is rot, waste and neglect. So their seven years in power has only confirmed our position that this was going to be a prodigal regime. They don?t have the interest of the people at heart.  They came here as mercenaries to amass wealth.


 

Apart from opposition parties, Edo people were happy at the beginning, considering the number of projects Gov. Igbinedion lined up. What actually went wrong?

People who didn?t know those who lined up the projects were perhaps hopeful, but those who knew them actually knew that these people did not have the interest of the people at heart. He was just buying time with those projects he outlined. You can imagine somebody who, shortly after he was  sworn in, drove to the failed Siluko Road project and then  the flood-ravaged area at Ikpoba hill by NITEL, and made  promises that few months later they were going to address the  problems. But today, the roads are worse than they were before he came into office, except that the Federal Government intervened in that of Ikpoba hill road. The problem is the same at Ugbowo road.

Within the first quarter of his administration, he came up with the solar power system but it was clear that it was not properly studied and within a short time, it failed.

He came up with the idea of constructing roads with interlocking tiles. But beyond the one they did at Evbareke spare parts market road which, in any case, is already bad, no other was done. So, what really can we say this government has completed? None.

 

Can it be that these projects were not completed because resources were not available?

For example, the Ikpoba river dredging was not provided for [budget wise] when the government went ahead with it. The state government embarked on the project just to satisfy some personal interest.

But it became clear later that not even the usual basic study was carried out before they started the dredging. And of course, the dredging turned out to be an exercise in futility because, according to geographers, Ikpoba is a brook and not a river. Moreso, the Ikpoba River does not lead to anywhere and the dredging was not for the purpose of navigation. The project was aimless. Also, at the beginning, they said the project was to cost N600 million, though the governor never, at anytime, declared the exact amount of money spent. He, however, in one of his reckless outings, hinted that N300million was spent and that it meant nothing to a state government.

Another project is the Iyekogba Housing Estate. When they started it, they gave the impression that the Governor was doing something creative by going to the capital market to source for fund, whereas what belongs to the state had to be mortgaged for him to get N1 billion from the capital market.  The N1 billion was meant for the construction of 200 housing units. But what they have there now is not up to 50 housing units. And even those constructed have been abandoned because they are not habitable and they are not attractive.  Initially, they said they wanted to sell each for N10 million and, later, they said N6 million. I am sure that even for N2 million, nobody would buy. But what should interest the  public is that the large expanse of land that was meant for  the second phase of the project, that is market, health  centre and other facilities, has been shared among those in  power and their party members.

So, there is really not much one can credit this government  with except that it built a 100-room hostel in Ambrose Ali  University for N100 million - an average of a million naira  per room! Though, expensive as it was then, the project is there for one to see.

You have restricted yourself largely to the state capital.  Are you saying there are no projects outside Benin City?

Well, we?ve just tried to concentrate on the state capital and Edo South. If nothing has been achieved at the state capital, then you can easily conclude that the other obscure areas have been denied of investments or development.

 

But some projects were proposed for those areas by the government? Are you saying they were not executed?

It would have been easier for one to remember projects if, once they appear in the budget they are executed. Then you can now say they were executed to this stage. For example, there were projects that were sited. You have the fruit juice factory project in Ehor, which has now been abandoned. There is the Cassavita in Uromi, there is the marble company at Ikpeshi.

 

For now, we can?t confirm whether they are working because we don?t have access to their papers as they are shrouded in secrecy. The only way you can possibly tell whether such companies are working or not is by their products. And today we don?t see any of such products. Nobody really cares much about where a company is located, what matters is the product and in this case, you don?t have any. Similarly, we are indigenes of this state, we cannot boast of one person that has been employed by any of these companies. In the absence of any employees, it is clear that these industries are non-functional. Sadly, these industries were started in year 2000 with the hope of completing them by 2002. This is six years after; nothing has been achieved even with hundreds of millions of naira sunk into them. And it is becoming clearer by the day that they won?t, under this government. What then is the guarantee that subsequent governments will continue with them? But then, these are areas where the Governor even made an attempt. One area the people really need to ask the Governor questions about is how the 13 per cent derivation was spent. The state has been getting not less than N200 million monthly in the last two years or so, yet you cannot cite one project that has been executed with the fund. And  when the government wanted to abuse the people of the coastal  area in the state recently, following the instruction of the  President that they should go and set up a management  committee to identify the projects that are needed, the  Governor came to Benin and pretended to be setting up a  committee, which he chairs. The Governor appointed the Secretary to the State Government as the secretary of the committee and two other cronies of his as members.

At the end of the day, the coastal committee people became mere political observers. He who was supposed to take the advice of the committee but he became the chairman of the committee. This only shows that no committee has been set up.

Does it bother you that Okpella Cement Factory which would have been a major source of income for the state is rotting away?

Well, like I told you, these are all problems of a prodigal regime. It is very clear that the government has not been serious with the development of the Okpella Cement Factory. I also know that they have some problem with Prince Ado Ibrahim on some of the assets of the factory. But why it has remained dead, I really don?t have a clear answer except to believe that those who are supposed to pump life into it have refused to do so.

 

How would you describe the remark by Tony Anenih that he regrets presenting Igbinedion?

If they now claim that presenting Igbinedion was a mistake, I will say that it was a deliberate mistake. Anenih was a leader of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) in this state when Igbinedion of the dead National Republican Convention (NRC) was defeated by an SDP candidate, John Odigie Oyegun. I remember that Anenih gave several reasons why Lucky Igbinedion was not a governorship material. So, if he later came up with the same person he had condemned and urged Edo people to reject, it then means that he was not concerned about the interest of the people. He was being selfish. It shows that the Igbinedions met his selfish interest, and he didn?t bother about whether he was suitable for the people of the state. So if he made that mistake in 1999 and repeated same in 2003 when he said there was no vacancy in Dennis Osadebey House, I am assuring you that he is not saying that with all sincerity. The truth is that Anenih wants to make a worse mistake this time and satisfy only his selfish interest.

 

 

 

 

Blame PDP for Igbinedion?s Failure

Emmanuel Osaigbovo Arigbe-Osula, a member of the House of  Reps and governorship aspirant in ANPP, believes the PDP  engineered Igbinedion?s failure. He spoke with ERNEST OMOARELOJIE and DESMOND UTOMWEN

 

Many believe Governor Igbinedion has performed poorly. Do you share this view?

It is wrong to personalize the failure of this administration as a failure of Igbinedion rather than the failure of PDP in the state. The return of Igbinedion in 2003 showed that the party was satisfied with his non-performance. The leaders of PDP in the state are the direct beneficiaries of the poverty, pains, hardship and lack of functional public service in the state. They also directly participated in ensuring that the government failed. And what we need now is a total redirection, different from what PDP can give, to move our state forward.

The truth is that some of these people get as much as N10 million monthly for being just party leaders. How do you expect the state to move forward under this kind of condition? The problem of Edo State is a problem of godfatherism and self-serving politics.

 

What about the position of the President and others that the Governor is also corrupt?

The current position by the President and his party members in Edo State that Igbinedion is now a corrupt Governor does not show sincerity because there is nothing that the Governor is doing now that he was not doing before they endorsed him overwhelmingly in 2003. They didn?t say this then because they knew that they needed Igbinedion to win the seat fraudulently.

The people in PDP cannot thrive in an environment where decent politics is played, that is why they are now playing up the corruption and non-performance card against the governor to whip up sentiment. But Edo people are wiser and will not fall for their trick the second time. The PDP is the cause of our problem, so let us not blame Igbinedion alone.  They knew it all along and are only just crying wolf now for their selfish political gains. No doubt, the Igbinedion administration has performed below expectation, but we have to blame PDP for his failure.

As you can see, it is difficult for these people to do anything to the Governor because these same people who want you to believe that the man is corrupt played an active role in the destruction of the state. They can?t take him on unless they are sure that they won?t get implicated. For example, anytime they write a petition against him, they are only expecting him to ?settle? them. And once that is done, nothing is said about it anymore. If it happened in Bayelsa, Plateau and now in Ekiti, why is it not happening in Edo? It can?t happen simply because these people have been compromised. Igbinedion may only be an accomplice.

Even if you are blind, you can see that Igbinedion has performed below expectation, but you can?t blame him alone. I hope he realizes that he is now taking the blame alone. What he should do is to change, and say, if I have only one day, I am going to use it for the betterment of the Edo people.

 

 

 

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