Chris Ogiewonmyi is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a governorship aspirant in the forthcoming election in Edo State. In this interview, he spoke on the need for his party to field a sellable candidate, his chances in the election and the lingering crisis in the party, amongst others.
You will be contesting the governorship primary in Edo State, but given your experience during the 2016 primary, do you think the exercise will be free and fair?
For me, this year’s primary will be free and fair. The 2016 primary was a learning process and with the experience, I gathered during that period, the 2020 governorship primary will be better for me and I am convinced it will be different.
As an aspirant, what do you say are your chances in the primary?
I think it is God that gives power to whoever He wants but using my own judgment, I know I will do well in the primary. But whoever God has chosen will be the one that will get it. And don’t forget that power belongs to God.
There are insinuations that a certain aspirant has been anointed from Abuja; what is your take on this?
Sincerely speaking, I am just hearing it from you for the first time, but the way APC is structured now, we believe in internal democracy and if I have the believe that somebody has been anointed, with my age, do you think I will still be talking here concerning the election? That is just speculation and some people are really good at speculation, so it is purely in the realm of speculation.
What is your take on the lingering crisis in the Edo APC?
I must let you know that we went to the office of the commissioner of police not long ago for a stakeholder meeting and we were able to bring our brothers in the APC together. The situation now is that we have a strong APC led by Col. David Imose, who is now the chairman of APC in Edo state.
Don’t you that the crisis, if left unresolved, will affect the party’s chances in the election because we still have Obaseki and Oshiomhole’s faction?
Aslam Ojezua is no longer the party chairman in Edo state. He has been suspended by the party in the state and approved by the party’s National Working Committee and once the national body approves your suspension, you are out of the party. So, the only recognized party leader in Edo state now is Imose and Imose’s group is the authentic APC in Edo.
The way the crisis is going, do you think the Bisi Akande-led reconciliation committee can broker peace?
We believe in the Bisi Akande-led committee to broker peace a hundred percent.
In your own view, how do you think this crisis can be resolved?
My advice is for the National Working Committee to implement the various recommendations on recalcitrant members. Some have been suspended and others are to be expelled. The action should be taken immediately before the primary so that we know those who are loyal and committed members of our party because; some of them are irresponsible members. So, they should implement those reports that have been sent to the national body. We expect the national body from Abuja to do the needful immediately to weed them out of the party and we will now know who the authentic members of APC in Edo State are.
What plans do you have for the Edo people should you emerge governor at the end of the day?
I have a 10-point agenda and I am the only aspirants now with manifestoes. In my agenda, I am shifting emphasis to internal security because without security, you can’t have any meaningful development. I will spend much money to restore normalcy in the state. Once I do that, I will start development which will include infrastructure, agriculture, harnessing solid minerals, preventive medicine and restoration of normalcy in the rural areas to halt rural-urban migration. I will ensure that I pull back the youths to the villages with the provision of electricity and use sports as a unifying factor for them. I am coming from the oil and gas industry where with lots of experience. My coming as a governor will be the best thing that has happened to Edo state. You will see a governor who is an operation man; we need an operation and not a technocrat who sits in the office. One thing I will introduce if I become governor is evaluation and monitoring because, what I see common today is that people only delegate. But in my case. I will do project monitoring and evaluation. Late Ogbemudia did this in his days while building the Ogbe Stadium; you see him wearing jeans and T-shirt unannounced to supervise projects. We need such governors today. There is much to be done now because Edo is very low in terms of development when compare to other states. We need to wake up and do something aggressively.
We have continued to witness frictions governors and their predecessors, how do you think these can be handled?
The question you ask me is similar to whether I will probe governor Obaseki if I become governor. I came from the public service. I have the experience and I believe government is a continuum. Wherever Governor Obaseki stops in November 2020, if I takeover, I will start from there. It is inexperience that causes the friction between some governors and their predecessors.For instance, Oshiomhole has done wonderfully well for Edo State. You talk of the Okpekpe road, Benin Water Storm, red roof schools, Edo University Iyamho and others should have continued after him. Oshiomhole is a man that should have been celebrated but he is now been vilified. Why the frictions keep happening is that governors don’t have the experience to manage the interface between them and their predecessors. It takes some skills to manage that. The in-coming governor should interface with the outgoing governor. Handing over should not be one day, the process of handing over from the outgoing to the incoming is not one day event or just a process of documentation. In public service, you can’t do that handover in a month. So, you have to be with the outgoing governor for a month to understanding him. If they vote me as a governor, Obaseki and I will share almost one office for a month. All this you are doing is to let him know that you are a friend and not probing him. I will be an incoming governor from APC and he is outgoing governor from APC.
What is your assessment of governor Obaseki’s administration?
He can do better if not for the in-house -fighting. He is expending much fighting the man that brought him on board. If he would listen to me as a senior brother, I will tell him to leave a legacy that he would be remembered for in terms of solid projects. This fight is taken half of his time and if care is not taken, it could be taking almost half of the state’s resources because, since this fight started, I haven’t seen any major project going on. Time and money is being consumed in the fight that is uncalled for. You could imagine the sweet relationship between the governor and Oshiomhole in 2016, it was like a younger brother to an elder brother but less than two years, see what is happening. It is unfortunate.
How would you assess the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration?
President Buhari was a minister when I was a young engineer in the ministry. We know what he stood for in terms of strictness and toughness but in terms of dividend of democracy, I think the people wanted the APC to do more. But we must also look at the factors hindering this government. I think one of such is the weight of insurgency in the North East and cross border crimes. We must give kudos to the president for closing down the borders. I am a palm oil farmer but we hardly sell to make profit because they were bringing it from outside.We must appreciate the president for that courage and for that, I score him A-plus for his courage. In any strata of government, the first thing I look at is courage. If you don’t have courage and don’t want to step on toes, you can’t achieve anything.
Do you foresee the APC losing Edo to the opposition because of infighting?
I don’t think so because, once we resolve the differences, there is no problem. In 2010, a journalist interviewed me and I told him that the way politics is evolving in Nigeria, I see a situation where people will not be voting for parties but the the personality. Today, all the APC should do is to pick a candidate that has integrity; a man the people has access to and a man that has passion. Once they do that, they will win. The electorate should not just believe in promises but should look at the peoples’ antecedents. They should ask what the candidate did in his previous job. I pray that the APC brings a good candidate because a good candidate is easy to sell. We should not bring a candidate with baggage and negative report; he won’t be easy to sell. I recommend that APC should do proper screening of aspirants including their certificates. People are being disqualified because of certificates. David Lyon won election in Edo but he was sacked because of his deputy’s credentials.
What is your advice to the electorate?
My advice to the electorate is that they should not believe in mere promises. Politicians have failed our people through promises. The man seeking your votes should be able to tell what he did when he served you before and from there you can draw his trajectory. They should not vote the person that will tell you, “When I become the governor, I will do this and meanwhile, when he was in position, people could not access him. He never gave scholarship in his community nor helped anybody. So, what will then change him when he becomes the governor when he becomes governor again? I believe we must judge from the little beginning to get a governor that will serve the people better.
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