Governor Elect of Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki, who will Saturday, be sworn-in as Governor Adams Oshiomhole's successor, says in this interview that party leaders will, to a large extent, determine his appointees. He spoke on his relationship with his boss and how he intends to fulfil his electoral promises to the people. Excerpts: Sir, the new Oba of Benin has admonished you on several
occasions to ensure you follow the foot steps of Governor Oshiomhole, how do you intend to do that and how loyal will you be to the traditional institution? Of course, I have to be loyal because I need the leaders in the institution more than Oshiomhole in terms of my developmental plans. In the past they will come to government house, now I intend to go to them and seek their advise. My goal is to bring in investment and this investment has to be located in their domain. I have to design a relationship so that they would help me create the environment, the stability and the security required for those investments. So,my relationship with them will not only be cordial but symbiotic. It is not going to be a formality; they are going to be an active part because of the respect I have
for them and the role they would play in stabilizing the polity.But there is this fear that you may not be as generous as Oshiomhole in your dealings with people? The truth is that, Oshiomhole was able to afford it because oil prices were high, if oil prices go back up and I get the
revenue, I will even attempt to do more but right now it is not so easy considering the situation we have found find ourselves. We have to be more prudent but we are hoping that once the revenue picks up and the economy is more buoyant I have to take care of them, they are my employers. But right now, when we are struggling to pay salaries and keep government running it will be imprudent to go and borrow to distribute but hopefully it will not last too long and certainly if the economy is as good as when Oshiomhole started, I will give as much. But honestly I will do my best to satisfy our people. I don't think there is anything to worry about because we are going to create wealth. You said you will not accommodate opposition members into your cabinet are still sticking to that?
Yes. First, we don't have a government of national unity, we
won fair and square in an election; the people spoke and it
was very clear the choice they wanted. My own agenda is
very straight forward and different from that of the opposition.
My party is very rich with people with ideas and even from
the federal level down we have an agenda, a very progressive
agenda to run and I don't see how the PDP people will fit into
my government. I will come up with programmes that will
benefit everybody and they will be glad I emerged as governor
rather than their own candidate.
How are you going to relate with or deal with PDP leaders like
Anenih, Igbinedion and others?
As far as I am concerned, from the polls, it was shown that
they were rejected so I expect and hope they have read the
hand writing on the wall and they will gracefully retire from
politics. I heard one of them is retiring on his book launch
and on that day he would declare that he is retiring from
politics. The handwriting is clear, they should leave the coast
because they really don't have much to offer. They have
offered everything they can in this democratic dispensation.
So they should retire gracefully; they have played their part as
leaders and now I think they should allow the younger ones to
take over.
What will be your focus in each of the three senatorial
districts?
The first thing is that we would conclude all existing projects.
We will not have any abandoned project; I mean that is the
hallmark of continuity but the focus is now more on economic
empowerment. So, for each locality we have identified the key
economic drivers and our programme as a government will be
to create an enabling environment in terms of security,
infrastructure, and manpower to support those economic
activities in each of the senatorial districts. For instance, in
Edo North thanks to the lime stone that is already on ground
in the Okpella axis, we will leverage on that to increase
access to mining and agricultural opportunities. We have
identified a few which we believe can be started up by the
first quarter of next year, ditto in Central; there are people
who are waiting to see the shape of the new government
before they bring their investment in specific transaction we
have identified. So those ones will be supported. In the South,
the story will not be different. The buzz word today is
Agrobusiness and as you will see even from my inauguration
we are making sure that will be the starting point by inviting
a lot of would-be potential investors in Edo to now begin to
feel comfortable coming in and taking a position
economically.
Gelegele sea Port
As we speak, proposals are being considered and once I am
sworn-in we are going to get to setup a team to look at the
amount of work that has been done and all what is required
to attract the necessary investment. We believe that we may
not have to wait on the federal government, once we can
establish its viability we can get the private investment to
support it.
Why do you think governors always fight with their
predecessors?
The reason, maybe because they are core politicians that
want to create an empire. We want to create a political
empire but the good thing about Oshiomhole and I is that we
are not classic politicians. We have come in to take on some
specific assignments which is more germane. For me, my
goal is not to build a political empire, I would rather build an
economic empire for the benefit of my people. I just want to
focus on more governance than there is politics. If you look
at it, we are one team that came into government and we are
still working together as one. We have got to share a
common passion for the state and that is the key driver and
giving the way we have worked for the last eight years, I don't
see what will radically change today that will make us be at
each other's neck
I will love politics to be played at Iyamho because Oshiomhole
is our leader because that will give me enough space and time
to work. That would be ideal because one of the drawbacks
of my predecessor was the need to build a party and stabilise
the politics and he had to spend a lot more time on the
politics. He could have accomplished more if he had more
time to deal with issues of governance. If I am fortunate
enough to have people who can help me spend more time to
manage the politics so that I can drive development, that
would be ideal. That is why you need a party and a strong
party structure where a party leader spends more time in
helping to manage the politics. While the governor who is
supposed to be the Chief Executive Officer implements the
policies of the party. But if I have to spend time settling
quarrels at ward levels I will not have time to pursue issues of
governance.
200,000 jobs' promise
Yes, I am very optimistic because we didn't get that number
from the air. There are specific activities of social transaction
that we are looking at which we will begin to unveil when we
get into the office. Like I said, we are fortunate that even at
the federal level there is also concern and resources are
being put in to ensure that government creates enabling
environment for businesses to thrive. The bulk of this job, like
I said, are going to come from agriculture, mining and
government is going to very active identifying the
opportunities. It is hoped that nothing will change too
drastically from where we are today but that things can only
improve.
Recession
The recession throws up opportunities, because what
extensionally is happening is that as a country we are not
earning enough foreign exchange to buy and import the
almost $30 billion goods that we consume in this country.
Which means that there is now a huge opportunity to produce
most of those goods and services within Nigeria. These
production will be located in states and it is only those states
that are well managed that investors will feel that their
investment is safe and secure. Those states are the ones that
would attract those investment opportunities, production
activities and companies.
I want to position Edo State as one of those, one of the top
three so that when people come in, they are interested in
producing goods and services in Nigeria, Edo must be one of
the top three they consider.
People are afraid that you may increase taxes in Edo?
We should distinguish between taxation and extortion
because what people are complaining about is extortion and
the way people trying to get levies and fines from them. That
must stop and that would stop. There are only a hundred and
sixty thousand people in Edo state today who pay taxes, that
is the people that pay tax and the government receives. What
we need to do is to expand the base so that more people pay
something and make the process fairer because right now it
is not fair because only 160, 000 carry the burden of the
entire state. You will find out that you don't need to increase
the amount of tax people pay but just make sure that more
people who are eligible pay so that more people carry the
burden of our development.
What do you hope to achieve in your first 100 days?
I have a four year term so I am not going to benchmark
myself on a traditional benchmark. There are certain short
term milestones which we need to achieve whether in 50 or
120 days or 180 days we will determine how realistic it is to
accomplish those short term goals and then look at the
medium and longer term work. My goal is not to be desperate
to play to the gallery and make the noise I feel people want to
hear. For me the important thing is to create something that
is enduring, I am not going to white-wash because I am so
anxious to see things accomplished in a 100 days and
therefore create white wash and phantom projects.
There are rumours that you want to appoint people from
Lagos into your cabinet when sworn-in and abandon those
who worked for the party?
I don't have any such plans; I have been here for the last
eight years and I have worked with people and I believe we
have very good quality manpower. Certainly I am not going to
bring non-Edo people so even if they are going to come from
Lagos, they are going to be Edo people.
However the emphasis is on good, quality people who are
representatives of where they come from in the state. So I will
be working very closely with all the political leaders in the
state in determining who we select or appoint; I will consult
extensively with them but whoever we appoint must be
people who the political leaders are comfortable with whether
they come from here or outside. Political leaders will
determine who I will appoint. I am serving them and I must
be loyal to all Edo people.
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