Edo APC gov aspirants banking on FG support – Information commissioner

The Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, who is also a former spokesman for the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, in this interview with ADEYINKA ADEDIPE, enumerates the state government's giant strides despite the huge challenges it is facing

What is your take on the bad roads in the state that have become major items in the campaign?

Some of the things that happen during elections are always interesting. The opposition especially the lazy ones we have in Edo right now, mostly the All Progressives Congress, have run out of ideas. I am sure they are aware of the amount of work this government is doing. When you came into the secretariat for this interview, can you compare it to what it was before this government came in? This building was built about 40 years ago and abandoned by all successive governments until Governor Godwin Obaseki came in. He has made it look like an office in Virginia in the United States of America. So, when you talk about infrastructure, the present government has done really well. When you talk about attracting businesses, we have done well too. When you talk about roads constructed, this government has constructed over 737 kilometres of road with 537 roads being touched in over seven years. No other government in the history of Bendel or Edo State has done that number of roads. Fortunately, Edo, due to its location (in the middle of Nigeria) has been attracting business. We have a lot of human and vehicular traffic through the federal roads in the state but unfortunately, the Federal Government has abandoned those roads for many years and they are in a state of disrepair which is affecting the lives of our people.

Don't you think it's good for the Edo State Government to repair the federal roads to alleviate the suffering of its people, who are the major users of the roads?

Initially, we were trying to do palliative on these roads and awarded contracts to fix the road, but the Federal Government wrote a letter that we could not touch them because they had already awarded those contracts and drove away the workmen who were supposed to work on the roads. Then Edo people put pressure on the Federal Government to start fixing the roads. However, we have ignored the Federal Government's threat and embarked on palliatives on the roads to make life easier for our people. If the Federal Government had taken up the repair before the road was damaged to this level, we would not be facing this problem today.

And when we tried to touch them, they said no. The damage became so big and worrisome. It became difficult not just for Edo State people but for Nigerians too who use those roads. Initially, people thought it was our problem but now they know that it is the Federal Government that has abandoned its responsibility that is why you don't hear much about people saying Edo roads are bad.

Is it that the state government and the executive council are the only ones seeing these things you are saying?

The opposition is seeing the good job the governor is doing. But whenever election season comes, we have a lot of rabble-rousers saying negative things to win supporters.

As you know, in Edo the APC is almost non-existent. The party exists in Edo because there is an APC government at the centre. However, the APC-led Federal Government has made the cost of living too high. Nigerians will today or in the next 12 months not vote for a party that is responsible for the serious devaluation of the naira, for the insecurity that exists in the country, for the high prices of goods and services with parents finding it so hard to take care of their children. No citizen of Edo State will vote for a party where its ministers are enmeshed in fraud within six months of coming into power.

It seems the APC aspirants are getting support as against what you are saying.

They are not. They are only banking on the fraudulent support of the Federal Government. They plan to create an atmosphere to make themselves popular and write election results. Whenever they go around for their campaigns, all you see are card-carrying party members. Edo people are asking, do they expect us to vote for a party bereaved of moral sense? The Edo PDP is blessed with the best aspirants, intellectuals, business people, and compassionate people. I challenge the APC to bring one aspirant who can match ours. We want to see an APC aspirant who can become a governor based on merit and good character.

How will your party also address the division in its fold with the governor's camp, legacy group led by Chief Dan Orbih, and the deputy governor, Philip Shaibu not on the same page?

First, the primary brings in a lot of vested interest. So, we are not surprised by the way things are today. But, we are one party. We all believe in the ideals of the PDP. We all believe that the PDP must retain Osadebe Avenue. We all want that to happen and working together to achieve that. Where we differ is in the choice of who flies the party's flag. On February 22, once that person is elected, all party members will queue up behind that person to make sure he wins the state election. So, do not be fooled by the division. I don't think any PDP member will vote for an APC candidate in the state election. Even in 2016, we had this challenge when some people were not happy with the choice of Ize-Iyamu or seemingly support from the establishment. Ize-Iyamu became the candidate and we all supported him. In 2012, the same thing happened under the leadership of today's Vice Chairman, South-South, Chief Dan Orbih when General Charles Airhavbere was the candidate of the PDP. I am sure he was not a member of the party for up to a year before he got the ticket. So, what has that changed? We all have an interest. But, we had to drive our interest until a point. On February 22, we will nominate one man for whom we will all work.

Will it not be difficult for people to queue behind your governorship candidate with the current situation in your party?

There is no time in the history of the human race where everyone has spoken with one voice. Adolf Hitler also had his supporters. Goodluck Jonathan one of the most successful Presidents we have had in Nigeria lost an election. So nobody is expecting that by the time the candidate emerges every member of the PDP will queue behind the person.

Anyone who expects that is not a politician or a realist. There is no time in the history of our party that everybody has agreed on the choice of the party candidate.

A major policy of the government, Edo Best is under fire, why is this so?

EdoBest by all the standards is top-notch. The World Bank, world education bodies, and the government of Rwanda cannot be wrong. Also, the government of Lagos State, the government of Bayelsa State cannot be wrong as well as the governments of about seven to eight states cannot be wrong about our model. These are states and institutions that have given us a pass mark or studied and replicated our model in their states. Our six-year-old pupils have the same capacity, and the same literacy level as six-year-olds in Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Our 15-year-old also has the same capacity as any other 15-year-old in any part of the world. We have developed our teaching methods that make our students confident and clever. Today, the quality of our students is incomparable. The complaint is about the amount of derelict structures we inherited and not the quality of the teaching or products we are churning out yearly.

We are putting those structures right and Edo State is one of the best three states in WAEC and NECO consistently for the past six years. People try to compare EdoBest with the Red Roof revolution under the last administration but I can tell you that Red Roof is not quality education. What the present government has done is deeper than what we used to have. We have a policy that any school that was built with mud, is brought down and rebuilt. Today, this is the first government that has a quality assurance agency to make sure that schools being set up meet the minimum requirements. The officials go out daily to government and private schools recommending the closure of schools that don't meet minimum standards.

Don't you think the fertilizer plant, the flour mill, and ethanol plants sold out to private individuals could have been better managed by the state government as some have argued?

People who said those establishments would be better managed by the government must be living in the 1950s. In today's world, the government needs not run businesses. What we do as a government in the state is to facilitate businesses and hand them over to the private sector. The tax paid by these establishments will in turn boost the Internally Generated Revenue of the state. The flour mill belongs to an Edo citizen who has bought and rescued that company and he has invested more in it since he purchased it. The government lost that establishment because of bad management, but a private company has now purchased it and has employed Edo people who now working there. Aside from employment, secondary wealth is also going to be created for our people through mills. We thank the company for taking that decision and we are going to support them to continue to do well. For the ethanol plant, Edo people can cultivate cassava and make money by selling it to the company. As a farmer, if I see where the cassava I planted and harvested will be bought, of course, I will do it year in, year out. So, what the government needs is to help free resources to make sure there is an enabling environment in place by providing good roads, electricity, and water. How many companies are owned by the United States of America? No matter how strategic the industry is, it is the private sector that drives it with the government giving the needed support and control. We need to encourage our entrepreneurs and our young people to make money through businesses. The investment you see in the state is what makes the airport busy. The hospitality business is also booming with new hotels coming up and the old getting fully booked always. These things are not happening by chance. It is by the strategic planning we have put in place in the past seven years that we are reaping the result now.

What is your take on the clamour by Edo Central to produce the next governor of the state?

I believe all Edolites at all times have every right to contest for any position they want. At the end of the day, it is the Edo people that will vote for the governor they want. Every part of the state wants to produce the next governor. So as a government, we have to encourage the Edo people to aim very high. We are not going to discourage anybody but we also believe in fairness and equity. The delegate also determines who gets the ticket and whoever emerges through that process is who we as the people will support.

Does the government drive to increase the internally generated hurting businesses as some have protested lately over multiple taxations?

I think from my knowledge of accounting and taxation, nobody is willing to pay taxes. We can just look at you and say come and pay tax. So, if a section or group is looking for justification to raise the prices of their products, they should stop using taxation as an excuse. Let them open their books to Edo people. Let them open their operation to Edo people and let us see if they are fairly taxed or not.