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Obasanjo never made me governor –Osunbor

MAY 26, 2013 

Former governor of Edo State and two-time senator, Prof. Oserhiemen Osunbor, in this interview with JAMES AZANIA, speaks about his ouster from office and the crisis in the Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party

How has life been since you were removed in 2008 as Edo State governor by the appeal court?

Well, life has been great, and as the Bible tells us in every situation we give thanks to God. And as they say, when one door closes another one opens. Happily enough for me, I’m a professional in politics. Some will say I’m not a professional politician, but I’m happy that I’m a professional in politics. So even when temporarily we stepped back after what happened on November 11, 2008, we stepped back to reflect and I went back to my profession, which is law. And, as you know since 2011, I have been a commissioner with the Nigerian Law Reform Commission. So, life has been great; we glorify God, we thank God for everything. Also, my close friends have been around me, through thick and thin. So, were able to put behind the time that we had in government, knowing well that there is a lot more in store for us in the future.

You took another shot at becoming governor, but people felt you came out disappointed with what transpired at the February 2012 Peoples Democratic Party’s primaries.

Can you give us an insight into this?

Let me state first that after what happened in November 2008, I decided to step back a little bit and watch the state, watch the politics of Edo State and reflect on what happened. I was encouraged that about six months of my exit from government, people started to sing a new song. People now started to appreciate what we represented and what we did for the people of Edo State, during the short period that we were there. I was encouraged by the general expression of goodwill and support across the state and the clamour that I should have a shot at the governorship once again, even at the meetings of the state PDP, in smaller caucus meetings and the enlarged stakeholders meeting in Benin. You could see that so many people wanted me to run, because they felt that I represented the best chance for PDP to win the governorship election in Edo State. So, after considering all these pleas and this massive show of support among the people, I decided to offer my candidature on the platform of the PDP and I was encouraged in particular by the discussions I had with one of my friends and supporters. He told me when I was still considering whether or not to run, that I had no choice but to run, if I wanted to remain in politics. He said that if I got the PDP ticket, he was sure I would win the governorship election; if I didn’t get the ticket I was still a winner because then nobody would blame Osunbor for not coming out, or for not answering the clarion call from the people to run. So whichever way, whether I got the ticket or I didn’t get the ticket, I would win by presenting myself to the people. And, I feel vindicated, I feel happy that I offered myself.

You referred to what transpired in February 2012, at the PDP primaries, and PDP got it wrong, the leadership, not the rank and file. The leaders who are the problem of PDP, they don’t want to do the correct thing, so they went out campaigning that we must not vote for Osunbor, that if you vote for Osunbor, you will be sanctioned.

The primaries went the way it did, but one of the consequences of the actions of the leaders was that people flooded out of PDP in large numbers. They left in protest about the manipulation that went on during the primaries and the result is what you saw as the outcome of the governorship election on July 14, 2012. What they (ACN) called 18 over 18, which was principally out of peoples anger.

The rank and file of PDP knew what was good for the party, then of course, I would be selfish not to make myself available to serve the people. Having said that, I want to leave speculations about what will happen in 2016, because it is still about three and a half years away. There needs to be continuity in government programmes. We need to reduce the amount of abandoned projects that we experience as a state or as a country, because government is a continuous thing. There were also certain programmes and policies that I had in mind, some I had started, but were not continued, some that we were not even able to begin to implement. If the opportunity does present itself, I know that the people are yearning for those kinds of things and I know that it would be good to be able to deliver these dividends of democracy to the people. The main reason I was propelled to show interest in the governorship, in the first place, in the period up to 2007 and then the election (2012), was that I knew that the people of Edo State were yearning so much to feel the impact of government.

The main reason why I wanted to contest or why I contested was that I knew the people of Edo State were yearning for the dividends of democracy. That was why as soon as I assumed office I went straight into making the people feel the impact of government. In fact, in my inaugural address and public statements, I did promise that before the end of December 2007, people across the state would begin to feel the impact of government in their respective areas. I’m so happy and thankful to God that I was able to fulfil that promise. So, if the opportunity does present itself, to do more of that and be able to implement those ideas, I’d be thankful to God to be able to roll out those programmes and projects to get them accomplished.

You spoke about the leadership of PDP in Edo State and advised that they get things right. What about the chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees and PDP’s rallying figure in the state, Chief Tony Anenih? What’s your assessment of him and his role in the party?

Right from the first time I knew Chief Tony Anenih, politically, that was about 1994, in the period leading to the constitutional conference, I became very close to him. I identified with him politically and even while we were at the constitutional conference, I did a lot to help him. As a senator, I did quite a lot. Of course, he helped me to get the ticket as a senator, he helped in funding the campaigns, but I also helped him a great deal. Among them, even the road leading to his house in Uromi, which was done by the NDDC (Niger Delta Development Commission), I put that project in the NDDC budget, just as I put the road in front of my house here in Iruekpen. It was the NDDC that did it. I put two of them in the budget, my own and his own. Even as a minister, he was not able to tar the road leading to his place; that the road leading to his house is tarred today was my own effort. I put it in the NDDC budget, even the road leading from Ekpoma to Ijogba. I also, as governor, with (Matthew) Iduoriyekemwen, who was then the state representative (NDDC commissioner), I put them on the budget and I am happy that they are executing those roads now. So, Chief Anenih did a lot for me, but I also helped him tremendously, as a senator.

But the point of departure was the issue of who became governor. To anoint a single person as a governor of Edo State has made him to make a lot of mistakes. You know that he personifies PDP in Edo State. He is the personification of PDP in Edo State. He decides who becomes councillor, who gets ticket as a councillorship candidate, as a chairmanship candidate; he decides who is a delegate at all levels of election. Since he is the personification (of PDP), if PDP is doing well, it is he that is doing well, if PDP is doing badly, it is he that is doing badly. He is the leader of PDP in Edo State, nobody contests that with him. So, if the party in Edo State is not doing well, you ask the leader in Edo State. The buck stops at his table; he decides who becomes chairman of the party in Edo State, he decides who becomes chairman of even the ward, so I leave it to your judgement as to what role he has played in the fortunes or misfortunes of PDP in Edo State.

The next level of your question is the role the national leadership is playing. I have held talks, discussions with the leadership of the party at the national level. They are aware, they know, they tell me that they know the problems of the PDP in Edo State. So, it is left to them whether they can have the courage, the capacity or the will to be able to tackle the problems of PDP in Edo State and resolve them.

Unless they do that, PDP unfortunately will be doomed in Edo State. PDP can booming and be doing well in the rest of Nigeria, but the problem of PDP in Edo State remains. As far as I know never in the history of PDP in Nigeria has PDP failed so badly in a governorship election as they did in the Edo State governorship election in 2012. The reason for that was the manipulation of the PDP primaries. So, that is the experience; but I wonder if those who were responsible for those manipulations have learnt their lesson.

But, unfortunately if they do not have a change of heart things will continue to be difficult for them, as it was during the recent local government election in the state.

It has been said that your emergence as Edo PDP governorship candidate in 2007, was the beginning of disharmony in the party. Do you agree?

Well you are right that the public has been misled into seeing this as the genesis of the problems of PDP in Edo State. If you are familiar with the problem of PDP in Edo State, right from 1999 you will know that the genesis of the problem was even earlier than 2007. I think I have always mentioned that the first indication was the position of the speaker in the state house of assembly. There was impeachment and counter-impeachment of the speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly not less than five times, before my emergence. You would realise that there was already serious crisis that manifested in the impeachment of the speaker. But the height of the crisis of the PDP in Edo State was when a sitting governor, Lucky Igbinedion, was deregistered as a member of PDP along with the members of his family and his close allies and supporters.

You remember when materials for party registration in 2005 were off-loaded in Ubiaja, they didn’t get to Benin; to the extent that Lucky Igbinedion; his father, the Esama (Gabriel Igbinedion); (Pastor Osagie) Ize-Iyamu, who today is one of the leaders of ACN in the state, were deregistered. They were the ones, who with Lucky Igbinedion and his people, formed Grace Group; and their slogan was that ‘No man is God’. They then went on to form Grace Group and the Grace Group transformed into the Action Congress then. It was the AC that fielded Oshiomhole in 2007 to become the governor of Edo State. So you can see that the problem went beyond 2007. And, the people responsible for this problem, you should know them; it is the same individuals at the height of the crisis in the house of assembly, masterminded the deregistration of Lucky Igbinedion. They were the ones that started the fight against Osunbor, in other that their anointed candidate would

become the governor of Edo State. They are the ones still troubling

PDP in Edo State today. They have pocketed PDP as a personal property

and as long as that continues, there is no democracy. When the G35 rose up to fight Abacha and his supporters, some of the people who have pocketed PDP today were considered enemies of Nigeria, supporters of the military. As long as these people still remain in charge of PDP, it is unfortunate that things will be difficult for PDP in Edo State.

What role did Mrs. Stella Obasanjo play in your emergence as Edo PDP governorship candidate?

Well, these are things that took place a long time ago. If you will recall, she died in October 2005. PDP primaries where I emerged took place in November 2006; I don’t know how you will say somebody who died in 2005 could influence the outcome of what happened in 2006. It is the same people who are spreading this disinformation even to the extent of telling the public that Osunbor has defected to ACN. They don’t want to acknowledge the fact that I’m in PDP. So, they have been spreading stories, you recall when they even published in a magazine, in November 2004, that I hired a native doctor to assassinate (Senator) Ugbesia and some other people which later the person who was responsible came to this compound here with some other leaders knelt down and apologised that the story was concocted by him.

They are still the same people feeding the public with the information that it was Obasanjo who imposed me. Sometimes when is it convenient they will say it was Obasanjo who made me governor, and when it is convenient for them, they will say they made me governor. When it is convenient for them they will say one thing and when it is not, they will say another. But God Almighty did it for me, because they never wanted me; these human beings who parade themselves as God, but God Almighty is the one that made me governor, and he alone permitted me to be removed for his own purpose.

After the PDP primaries (2012) the party leadership embarked on what they called reconciliation and they came to you, but it appears nothing changed. What is your take on this?

Well, things changed (laughs). What I can say is that things changed definitely. They came and we agreed on a number of things, right here in this sitting room; the state chairman of the party, Gen. (Charles Airhiavbere) and myself. We had this discussion, about three or four items, but none of them, not a single one did they fulfil, so they didn’t honour the understanding that we had, they did not play their own part. But things changed, because I was at the stadium when the President came to campaign and we also gave a solidarity salute to PDP members, to encourage them on that occasion. So you can’t say that nothing changed. On a personal level, my relationship with the general is very good. We relate very well, we interact well, he appreciates me for what I represent… relative to some other characters who were lying around him, deceiving him and collecting his money. I believe the general holds me in high esteem and I also hold him in high esteem, and it was unfortunate that he didn’t understand. He was new in politics and didn’t know some of these characters, and they took undue advantage of the fact that he is new. But he now knows them better and he understands them better, so things has changed as a result of those discussions. It is not correct that to say that nothing changed.

You praised the efforts of Governor Adams Oshiomhole and people wonder why.

Well, first of all, as you know Governor Oshiomhole was the one who extended the hand of fellowship to me, by coming here, 12 days after the (PDP) primaries. They came in March on a solidarity visit to me 12 days after the primaries. PDP didn’t come until two and half months after the primaries. So, back to the Comrade Governor, when he came, after our discussions, he went out and he spoke well about me; commended me on my approach to the governorship, putting the interest of the people over and above my own personal interest. I first also have to compliment him, because when somebody comes to visit you, apart from the issue of respect, not just anybody, but the governor of a state, he is the governor of my state and it is my honour to play host to the governor of my state. I welcomed him and you should know that Governor Oshiomhole has done well. He has done well and if every governor within his tenure is able to record Oshiomhole’s kind of achievements, then Nigeria is going to be a better place. When you see somebody doing something good, you just have to commend the person, irrespective of the party he or she belongs. It is poor politics that people criticise all the time. When there is need to praise, you do so. When it is time to condemn, you condemn or criticise. So, I said things that are commendable in Oshiomhole. Oshiomhole respects me as a former governor, when he just came in, he didn’t. But when he came here, he apologised and he promised to continue to accord me the respect that I deserve as a former governor and I appreciate.