*We will create an economic empire to benefit the people of Edo — Godwin Obaseki*

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.