The Chairman, Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Dan Orbih, tells FRIDAY OLOKOR that the party will ensure that Governor Adams Oshiomhole does not get a second term come 2012
Next year, there will be a governorship election in Edo State. What are the chances of the PDP in the state?
The party will ensure that Governor Adams Oshiomhole packs his luggage to his village, Iyamo, after next year’s election. He may even decide not to pack to Iyamo but join the international labour movement where he may be more appreciated. I must say that since he came into government, it has been a story of unfulfilled promises, failed expectations on the part of the people and deceit on the part of the government. The day of reckoning is at hand and come July 14, 2012, he will find his way out of the Government House. This is one government that has not been able to initiate any project since inception. All the projects that were commissioned by Oshiomhole’s administration were initiated by his predecessors and the few which he probably initiated were the renovation of existing schools. These are projects that have Federal Government’s counterpart funding and he cannot take credit for them. The other thing you can point to is the expansion of the Airport Road and creation of walkways on a few streets in Benin City but we don’t know if they will ever be completed. The expansion of Airport Road covering a distance of less than six kilometres has turned out to be the greatest fraud of this government. The contract is over-prized and is the most expensive road construction project ever awarded anywhere in the world. The project is yet to take off effectively and we don’t know if it will be completed. The government has now re-awarded the contract to another Lagos-based company and the PDP has challenged the governor to tell us the actual money spent on the project.
Based on the scenario you painted, don’t you think Oshiomhole needs a second tenure to complete these projects?
If continuity means allowing Oshiomhole to plunge the state into further debt and to further expose the planless nature of his government, then all Edo people will ensure they end his administration in 2012. Recently, the government said it would need over N126bn to complete some of the projects it had embarked upon. Is that an indication of a government that has plans on how to execute projects within the confines of the available resources? The answer is no. A good governor must be a good manager of men and resources. I wept in my heart when I watched the television drama staged by Oshiomhole against the chairman of the taskforce on demolition of illegal properties, Major Lawrence Oloye (retd). The governor said Oloye was not a town planner and was demolishing properties. We have a governor who appoints people even when they have little or no knowledge about the assignment he has given them to do.
A lot of people feel that the PDP does not see anything good in Oshiomhole’s administration. Why are you always attacking him?
What does he have to show as a former labour leader? The popularity he enjoyed as a former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress was based on the fact that he led workers to oppose the increase in the price of petroleum products. I want to state that it is a pity that we have a governor with a background in the labour movement and he came to government to put a great burden on workers in the state. Today, the average worker in Edo state pays the highest tax compared to his counterparts in other states of the federation. Under Oshiomhole’s regime, we have had more strikes by different unions than any government that has been in the state since independence. That shows that we have a problem. As regards PDP’s criticism of the current administration, it is not just constructive but also objective. The major problem we are facing in our democracy is that once a political party loses out in a contest, they go to sleep and whoever finds himself in government goes about running it the way he likes.
