…..Interview with Chris Osa Nehikhare, State PDP Publicity Secretary

 

Interview with the Edo State PDP Publicity Secretary and Chairman Media and Publicity Sub Committee of the PDP Gubernatorial Campaign Council, Mr. Chris Osa Nehikhare. He spoke on the importance of the reelection of Governor Godwin Obaseki.

 

Host: Habiibah Oyeghe Oyarekhua

 

Guest: Chris Osa Nehikhare, Edo State Publicity Secretary of the PDP

 

Host: What do you make of the political intrigues that have trailed the 2020 Governorship election in Edo State? What has changed since the last election??

Chris Nehikhare: What has changed is the integrity of the personalities involved in this election, it’s not just the candidates but those that are propelling and selling their candidates for the Edo people to decide who they want. Four years ago, you had people on one side that sold a narrative to Edo people, this year, this same people are selling a different narrative to the Edo people on this same candidate. Edo people are wiser now and they tend to vote for those they know and those they trust. They would reach their decisions by themselves without being propelled by narratives. Choosing the person of their choice would be eye marking the achievements, the projects, the things that have been done by the candidates. On this side of the divide we have Governor Godwin Obaseki who has, against all odds, even when he was being harassed, bullied, intimidated, chassed, he was focused providing the dividends of democracy, providing development for the Edo people. These are the things that matter in this election and our duty is to let Edo people and Nigerians know that the best person for the job of Governor of Edo State in 2020, is Governor Godwin Obaseki.

Host: You have just told us about what has changed since the last election, what about the intrigues that are trailing this election?

Chris Nehikhare: These are things that happen in every election circle. People come up with all kinds of stories to try and gain advantage. The intrigues are normal. Politicians and the Edo electorate who are one of the most sophisticated in Nigeria know it is normal. They cannot be fooled by the narratives that come out especially from APC at this point in time to try and sell a candidate and a brand that had been rejected in the past. The simple agenda was rejected then, the people cannot be fooled, no matter how they try to package their candidate.

Host: The candidate of the All Progressives Congress used to be a member of the PDP, why is the PDP not bothered that he may compromise the structure in the upcoming election?

Chris Nehikhare: He used to be a member of the APC before he came to the PDP and back to APC again. These are political nomads and when nomads come, they bring fifty people and when they are going back to where they came from the fifty people are not complete. I don’t think he has left the PDP with all the people he came to the PDP with. He has only left with a few that have their ambition and lives tied to his ambition. We are not bothered about that because apart from our structure being reorganized, I am sure you are aware that we had a Congress in March this year where a new State Chairman emerged and new executives from the Ward level all the way to the State level emerged.

The system now in the PDP is a new system. Yes, the faces might be the same but there is a new thinking, there has been a joggle, a new arrogance, a new love for Edo people. We are not bothered when you say a candidate left the PDP for the APC, a Party that had been rejected by Edo people even when they were in government. The only person that made APC to thick, that was the center of its gravity in the state was Governor Obaseki and he has left the APC. Once he left the party, its attraction to the Edo people became non-existent. His leaving the Party crumbled the Party and left it in tatters. The APC structure from the wards to the state levels only exists in the campaign headquarters of the candidate of the POI faction of the APC. What you have left of the APC in Edo State are politicians that are desperate and want their hands on the Till Box of Edo State government. They are less than 0.2 percent of the Edo population. The Edo people who the governor works for, are the 99.08 percent and it is they that will determine who will govern Edo State, not the lions and tigers. The people are the Hunters that will hunt down these so-called Lions and Tigers!

Host: Talking about the elections, what are the bottlenecks that you envisage in this election?

Chris Nehikhare: Transparency and fairness especially from INEC and to some extent the security agencies. If everybody plays fair and everybody acts in a manner that was designed by our constitution, the election would be free and fair and there would be no bottlenecks. INEC’s organizational ability and their ability to be free, fair and transparent will determine Nigeria’s democracy. If they fail in these areas then our democracy will be endangered in Nigeria.

Host: What are the strong points of the PDP in this forth coming election?

Chris Nehikhare: Our strong point is really the achievements of Governor Obaseki. Do not forget that before he joined us, we were a strong critic of his government especially in respect of projects that were being done and not told to the people. One thing for sure was that when he was not with the PDP, there was no time in our attack on this governor that we criticized him based on any form of financial recklessness as financial prudence has always been his strong point. That is what PDP stands for today, a Party that was ready to serve the Edo people, do all the things to make Edo great was now being led by a man who had decided to work hand in gloves to make Edo better. PDP got a very good candidate and Edo people should be proud that they have a man like this at this point in time ready to go forward and build a stronger State. Do not forget he said his vision was to make Edo State the business Hub in West Africa and that’s exactly what he has been doing and would continue to do in the next four years!

Host: As a PDP member, can you confirm to the viewers that your Party envisaged that Obaseki would join you from the APC? The reason we ask is because of the way he was received with open arms.

Chris Nehikhare: We were not envisaging him to come to our Party at all. We wanted one of our own within the Party at the time to be the candidate because we had drawn a beautiful roadmap. But as God would have it, the people that had him rejected him, they pushed him off. Even while we were deciding whether he would come or not, we got numerous calls from eminent citizens in this state that we must give him the Party platform to run and only an irresponsible political party would reject a request from these people that have ruled this state at one time or the other, eminent and prominent Statesmen. The Party talked to its aspirants and we agreed he should be given the platform to contest. Like I have said, it was hand in gloves with this candidate.

Host: Talking about financial prudence what would you say are the differences between this government and the previous one?

Chris Nehikhare:  There are so many differences between this government and the previous one. This government has been very careful how it uses State resources. You are aware that in the previous dispensation, the governor then used the state resources as if it was his personal income, dispensing favor right, left and center. Those that were collecting resources of the State were collecting it for their pockets, to the extent that touts (agbaros) were celebrating attaining a billion naira in their personal bank accounts, making those who are hardworking, who have gone to school not to have confidence in the education they had attained.

Obaseki has redesigned the Tax system to make sure that what is taken from the people goes to  the government and is used for the development of the people. Revenue is collected in a civilized manner, not with whips and chains. Technically speaking, Governor Obaseki unlocked the chains with which the Edo people were chained between 2008 and 2016.

Host: What do you make of the complaints regarding electoral violence in Edo State?

Chris Nehikhare: It is most embarrassing and I condemn it in all its totality. When the issue of violence came up, it was clear they were trying to drag us to an area we didn’t want to go to. By the time we discovered that their aim really was to have the election postponed for some sinister reasons because they knew they were going to lose, we had to come out to tell the Edo people not to be intimidated or scared. The state government and the Nigerian security agencies would encourage all Edo people to come out to vote on election day. Violence is just a scare tactics they have developed to scare Edo people. In pre-election times like this, there is always talk of tension and what really triggered this issue of violence was the video that went viral.

In the video, the APC candidate was speaking to some people who referred to themselves as lions and tigers and he told them that some of them were so dangerous that they can move from one local government to the other and from ward to ward to disrupt the election when it  is clear that the electoral law stipulates that on election day, you are restricted to your unit. That was what gave rise to this tension and feeling that there would be violence but we now know where they are going to. We reject it and urge the people of Edo State to reject it and make sure that the only violence on election day would be for the electorate to use their PVCs to send the APC in Edo State back to the drawing board.

Host: How is the PDP working to check cases of rigging and violence on election day?

Chris Nehikhare:  Rigging is always a plan being hatched by the APC; they have a history of rigging. Look at Kogi, look at Osun. Unfortunately for them, in Edo we have the most sophisticated electorate and for that reason it would be difficult for anybody to use the template we discovered recently they refer to as the “Hope Uzodinma Template”. The Party and Edo people will resist it and APC will have nowhere to go. We are not worried about that right now because we have the support and followership in Edo people who are determined to retain Obaseki as their Governor.

Host: There is this fear in the minds of the people that they may not come out to vote?

Chris Nehikhare: We have told them and we believe they know that they have to come out, there is nothing for them to fear. Anybody that plans violence would be dealt with by the law, anybody that is seen with arms will be dealt with by the law, anybody that moves around from ward to ward and unit to unit on election day will be dealt with by the law. The electorate have no reason whatsoever to fear, the election would be peaceful and the PDP and the Edo people will win that election.

Our major concern is in the hands of the operators of the election, INEC. They have to be free, transparent and fair and be seen to do things in a professional manner. There is also the interference from outside forces especially our security forces. We have been hearing of federal might, these things have to be stopped and we make sure it doesn’t happen not just by Federal Government but by every Nigerian. We don’t want our election to be more deadly than the coup that took place in Mali a few days ago.

 

Host: The APC Candidate and his running mate have legal pitfalls that will invalidate their candidacy, how do you intend to leverage on this for your benefit?

Chris Nehikhare: The cases are in court but what we want to do is to make sure they are defeated fairly and squarely on September 19th before the court decides on their fate. Technically, we are all aware that the APC does not have a candidate. The State Chairman of the APC went out publicly to say that he is not aware of any primaries and that they don’t have a candidate, then the National Chairman at the time, who was acting after Oshiomole was kicked out also said he is not aware of the candidature of Ize Iyamu.

Technically, we can say Ize Iyamu is an impostor because the organs that were in place at the time he claimed to have been elected the candidate of the APC have all denied him. The APC has three prominent factions in the State namely, EPM, APC and POI, we are not counting on that. What we are counting on is the support of the Edo people, the number of PVCs that are going to be used to nail the final coffin of the APC in the state on September 19.

Host: What would you say about the ward to ward campaign of Governor Obaseki as opposed to the local government to local government campaign of the opposition?

Chris Nehikhare: One word is Excellent. The ward to ward campaign has shown us that the Edo people are determined to return Governor Obaseki. We are meeting the communities and the people in their backyards and the response has been excellent. Also because of the peculiarity of COVID-19 situation which the Governor and the Edo PDP are passionate about, we decided to embark on a campaign where we meet a few people in a small environment like their backyards. However, whenever the campaign starts, we begin with the need to observe the COVID-19 containment protocol and advice the people to always wash their hands, wear their face masks, hand sanitize, keep safe social distancing, self-isolate when they observe the symptoms of COVID-19. Also going to the wards has given us the opportunity to see the project needs of some of the most remote parts of the state. That is why we were able to identify some communities where the roads had been abandoned for years but on paper it said these roads had been fixed. This is the case in Okpella where the books of Adams Oshiomole said these roads had been fixed. As we all know that government is a continuum, governor Obaseki has apologized for this lie by the Oshiomole administration and has promised the people of Okpella recompense.

Host: At the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic when a lot of states where shutting down completely, Edo Sate did not shut down completely due to Economic reasons which made the PDP opposition then to criticize Obaseki heavily, would you say the governor handled the situation perfectly well in all honesty?

Chris Nehikhare: In retrospect and in all honesty, I think the PDP and myself especially jumped the gun because we saw the model of lock-down being used by other states and other countries, we expected the governor to use that model for our safety and that is why we criticized him. The governor took time to explain to the Edo people and the PDP at the time and he gave reasons and conditions upon which we can move around. At the same time, he did not collapse the economy as technically you know Nigeria and indeed the world is in recession now because of the way we shut down and the Edo State economy did not grind to a halt because of the style Obaseki used. We owe him a thank you for keeping the economy going, for keeping the people safe by telling them what to do and by screening over five hundred thousand people in a short period of time to make sure that this covid-19 is contained.

Host: What is the relationship between the Bonafide PDP members and those that have defected from APC and came with the governor to join the PDP?

Chris Nehikhare: There is no Bonafide, real or fake PDP member. From the minute you take a membership card you have the same rights and benefits with every card-carrying member. Do not forget that most of these people coming back have PDP in their DNA. Our aim right now is to make sure we deliver Governor Obaseki on September 19 from across the 192 wards in the state.

Host: What do you make of the controversy over the Edo Modular Refinery and the APC’s wrangling about it?

Chris Nehikhare: The controversy is an embarrassment to the APC. Their former national Chairman, who is their albatross, went on national television to say there is nothing like the Modular Refinery when the whole world can see that the refinery exists and is about to start refining crude oil. It is clear that the refinery is sited in Edo State, that the governor attracted the investor, provided land to the investor, provided Seven Hundred Million Naira as part of funding for the project and that Edo people are employed to work in that refinery. We wonder what exactly the opposition is looking for because they are having sleepless nights as the projects are all coming up to public awareness. They have to start telling lies that there is no project or that Edo state government only put small amount of money in the projects.

Host: When one says PDP, it is not unusual for somebody to respond by saying, share the money! You say Obaseki is very prudent about spending money, If Obaseki is reelected and he doesn’t share the money how would you feel?

Chris Nehikhare: That narrative has expired. The narrative of share the money now belongs to the APC. You know Obaseki was hounded out of the APC because he refused to share the money. He refused to put money in the pockets of politicians and rather put the money for projects that will benefit the Edo people. That is why they hounded him out because he does not “take care of the politicians”. That narrative and stigma of the PDP has been cleansed from our system. What you have in the PDP today is a new, improved, reengineered set of people running the affairs of the PDP and its membership. Any political party that stays in opposition for twelve years, that does not have power at the center and still remains relevant,  you know that party is ready and committed to the growth and development of the Edo people, you know that party is made up of men of integrity. That is why Governor Obaseki fits in perfectly with the new thinking of the PDP because his philosophy of using the resources of Edo State for Edo people resonates with the PDP in Edo State today. The party was built by us, people you don’t know their names. For example, I became prominent in the PDP after we went into opposition because I had decided to help build the Party. We are ready to sacrifice for the people. PDP does not share the money but asks for development. The PDP wants happy Edo people in a strong state.

Host: Let us look at the last three years and eight months, can you give us a chronology of projects of the Obaseki administration.

Chris Nehikhare: I will give you a few as we would be here all day if I have to go into all the projects. I will talk about the reforms in the Judiciary, in Pension and the Civil Service. These reforms will make us have an efficient society, government and city. Talking about the judiciary, I am sure if you drive through the Sapele Road area today, you will see that for the first time in many years, the High Court Area has a new look and is equipped with modern communication. This has been done quietly. Governor Obaseki also made sure our judges are comfortable and live in a very peaceful environment.

Talking about Civil Service reforms, you are aware civil servants have not gone for training for at least thirty years. First of all, he set up a civil service training institute with modern communication equipment and instructors and all those things needed to improve civil service performance. Not only that, the civil service buildings that had been abandoned long before some of us were born have been renovated to an unbelievable standard. The civil service secretariat is built up, equipped and beautiful to give the civil servants a sense of appreciation and they would be eligible for training and retraining for efficient service delivery.

That done, our parents today are happy that the Edo State local economy is picking up because the people know, just like clockwork, that from the 25^th, 26^th of every month, civil servants receive their salaries. Not only civil servants but the pensioners who were owed billions of Naira for over thirteen years, have had their arrears cleared by Governor Obaseki and they are now paid as and when due. You know what that does to the economy? Mama Joy or Papa David can now sell on credit to our civil servants knowing that come 25^th or 26^th they too can get their monies from their customers.

It did not end there. The reform also affected Basic Education at the primary school level. The governor brought in a system called Edo Best whereby eleven thousand teachers were trained on how to use devices to take care of lesson notes and all the lesson materials for children to key into a system to be able to stimulate the intellect of the pupils to the extent that other states and the United Nations have taken interest in this model and even export it to other states and countries.

The governor made a promise in 2016 that he was going to set up two hundred thousand jobs. Thus, he created Edo Jobs. Edo Jobs is actually a novel thing in these paths whereby, job applications for Edo people were being captured online and lots of Edo youths have been trained, retrained and employed through that system by attaching them to existing companies in the relevant areas of their newly acquired skills. Today the last batch of 157,000 people have gone through it and are properly employed. There is also the Edo Hub which was also brought in, whereby young men and women are trained on different fields, especially Information Technology (IT). The state government is partnering with Google, LinkedIn, Facebook and other international IT companies where they train our youths. I can tell you for free that lots of our youths have gone through Edo Hub and they are being paid in Dollars now because they are working for foreign companies.

In the area of farming, this is the first time in the history of Nigeria where young graduates are proud to become farmers because the Agripreneur programme encourages young people to take up farming as a profession, where whatever they produce is guaranteed to be taken over by off takers, so there is no loss at all. I laugh when APC members today say the governor has not created jobs. There was no time the governor said he was going to create 200,000 jobs in the civil service. Our civil service is lean and efficient, he has made it so. Creating jobs for Edo people is creating a conducive environment for investors to come in. The Modular Refinery has come in, the Benin River Port Gelegele is taking shape, the Agricultural Institutes across the three Senatorial Districts are creating jobs and preparing our youth to be agricultural entrepreneurs, Warake Rice Farm is there for all to see, College of Education in Abudu, all these things aggregated together have provided our Edo people work as they are working in all these places.

Host: Can you say something about your face cap. You have on it, ”Resetting Edo”. Has Edo not been set right all these years?

Chris Nehikhare: From 2008 to 2016, the government pulled Edo back by having the wrong set of people become role models to Edo Youths and People. Young men started doubting their educational qualification because all they could see were thugs, uneducated people leading them, being in charge of taxes, being the ones celebrating Billions of Naira in their accounts and scattering the town without checks. What Godwin Obaseki wants to do and what Edo people want is to have a society where the best are in front, where Edo puts its best foot forward and no child is left behind. Children who are not fast enough to join the pace are pulled along so that Edo State is on the right path. An Edo where role models are positive role models for our children to follow. Our resetting has to do with creating and recognizing positive role models in Edo State.

 

…..Interview with Chris Osa Nehikhare, State PDP Publicity Secretary

 

Interview with the Edo State PDP Publicity Secretary and Chairman Media and Publicity Sub Committee of the PDP Gubernatorial Campaign Council, Mr. Chris Osa Nehikhare. He spoke on the importance of the reelection of Governor Godwin Obaseki.

 

Host: Habiibah Oyeghe Oyarekhua

 

Guest: Chris Osa Nehikhare, Edo State Publicity Secretary of the PDP

 

Host: What do you make of the political intrigues that have trailed the 2020 Governorship election in Edo State? What has changed since the last election??

Chris Nehikhare: What has changed is the integrity of the personalities involved in this election, it’s not just the candidates but those that are propelling and selling their candidates for the Edo people to decide who they want. Four years ago, you had people on one side that sold a narrative to Edo people, this year, this same people are selling a different narrative to the Edo people on this same candidate. Edo people are wiser now and they tend to vote for those they know and those they trust. They would reach their decisions by themselves without being propelled by narratives. Choosing the person of their choice would be eye marking the achievements, the projects, the things that have been done by the candidates. On this side of the divide we have Governor Godwin Obaseki who has, against all odds, even when he was being harassed, bullied, intimidated, chassed, he was focused providing the dividends of democracy, providing development for the Edo people. These are the things that matter in this election and our duty is to let Edo people and Nigerians know that the best person for the job of Governor of Edo State in 2020, is Governor Godwin Obaseki.

Host: You have just told us about what has changed since the last election, what about the intrigues that are trailing this election?

Chris Nehikhare: These are things that happen in every election circle. People come up with all kinds of stories to try and gain advantage. The intrigues are normal. Politicians and the Edo electorate who are one of the most sophisticated in Nigeria know it is normal. They cannot be fooled by the narratives that come out especially from APC at this point in time to try and sell a candidate and a brand that had been rejected in the past. The simple agenda was rejected then, the people cannot be fooled, no matter how they try to package their candidate.

Host: The candidate of the All Progressives Congress used to be a member of the PDP, why is the PDP not bothered that he may compromise the structure in the upcoming election?

Chris Nehikhare: He used to be a member of the APC before he came to the PDP and back to APC again. These are political nomads and when nomads come, they bring fifty people and when they are going back to where they came from the fifty people are not complete. I don’t think he has left the PDP with all the people he came to the PDP with. He has only left with a few that have their ambition and lives tied to his ambition. We are not bothered about that because apart from our structure being reorganized, I am sure you are aware that we had a Congress in March this year where a new State Chairman emerged and new executives from the Ward level all the way to the State level emerged.

The system now in the PDP is a new system. Yes, the faces might be the same but there is a new thinking, there has been a joggle, a new arrogance, a new love for Edo people. We are not bothered when you say a candidate left the PDP for the APC, a Party that had been rejected by Edo people even when they were in government. The only person that made APC to thick, that was the center of its gravity in the state was Governor Obaseki and he has left the APC. Once he left the party, its attraction to the Edo people became non-existent. His leaving the Party crumbled the Party and left it in tatters. The APC structure from the wards to the state levels only exists in the campaign headquarters of the candidate of the POI faction of the APC. What you have left of the APC in Edo State are politicians that are desperate and want their hands on the Till Box of Edo State government. They are less than 0.2 percent of the Edo population. The Edo people who the governor works for, are the 99.08 percent and it is they that will determine who will govern Edo State, not the lions and tigers. The people are the Hunters that will hunt down these so-called Lions and Tigers!

Host: Talking about the elections, what are the bottlenecks that you envisage in this election?

Chris Nehikhare: Transparency and fairness especially from INEC and to some extent the security agencies. If everybody plays fair and everybody acts in a manner that was designed by our constitution, the election would be free and fair and there would be no bottlenecks. INEC’s organizational ability and their ability to be free, fair and transparent will determine Nigeria’s democracy. If they fail in these areas then our democracy will be endangered in Nigeria.

Host: What are the strong points of the PDP in this forth coming election?

Chris Nehikhare: Our strong point is really the achievements of Governor Obaseki. Do not forget that before he joined us, we were a strong critic of his government especially in respect of projects that were being done and not told to the people. One thing for sure was that when he was not with the PDP, there was no time in our attack on this governor that we criticized him based on any form of financial recklessness as financial prudence has always been his strong point. That is what PDP stands for today, a Party that was ready to serve the Edo people, do all the things to make Edo great was now being led by a man who had decided to work hand in gloves to make Edo better. PDP got a very good candidate and Edo people should be proud that they have a man like this at this point in time ready to go forward and build a stronger State. Do not forget he said his vision was to make Edo State the business Hub in West Africa and that’s exactly what he has been doing and would continue to do in the next four years!

Host: As a PDP member, can you confirm to the viewers that your Party envisaged that Obaseki would join you from the APC? The reason we ask is because of the way he was received with open arms.

Chris Nehikhare: We were not envisaging him to come to our Party at all. We wanted one of our own within the Party at the time to be the candidate because we had drawn a beautiful roadmap. But as God would have it, the people that had him rejected him, they pushed him off. Even while we were deciding whether he would come or not, we got numerous calls from eminent citizens in this state that we must give him the Party platform to run and only an irresponsible political party would reject a request from these people that have ruled this state at one time or the other, eminent and prominent Statesmen. The Party talked to its aspirants and we agreed he should be given the platform to contest. Like I have said, it was hand in gloves with this candidate.

Host: Talking about financial prudence what would you say are the differences between this government and the previous one?

Chris Nehikhare:  There are so many differences between this government and the previous one. This government has been very careful how it uses State resources. You are aware that in the previous dispensation, the governor then used the state resources as if it was his personal income, dispensing favor right, left and center. Those that were collecting resources of the State were collecting it for their pockets, to the extent that touts (agbaros) were celebrating attaining a billion naira in their personal bank accounts, making those who are hardworking, who have gone to school not to have confidence in the education they had attained.

Obaseki has redesigned the Tax system to make sure that what is taken from the people goes to  the government and is used for the development of the people. Revenue is collected in a civilized manner, not with whips and chains. Technically speaking, Governor Obaseki unlocked the chains with which the Edo people were chained between 2008 and 2016.

Host: What do you make of the complaints regarding electoral violence in Edo State?

Chris Nehikhare: It is most embarrassing and I condemn it in all its totality. When the issue of violence came up, it was clear they were trying to drag us to an area we didn’t want to go to. By the time we discovered that their aim really was to have the election postponed for some sinister reasons because they knew they were going to lose, we had to come out to tell the Edo people not to be intimidated or scared. The state government and the Nigerian security agencies would encourage all Edo people to come out to vote on election day. Violence is just a scare tactics they have developed to scare Edo people. In pre-election times like this, there is always talk of tension and what really triggered this issue of violence was the video that went viral.

In the video, the APC candidate was speaking to some people who referred to themselves as lions and tigers and he told them that some of them were so dangerous that they can move from one local government to the other and from ward to ward to disrupt the election when it  is clear that the electoral law stipulates that on election day, you are restricted to your unit. That was what gave rise to this tension and feeling that there would be violence but we now know where they are going to. We reject it and urge the people of Edo State to reject it and make sure that the only violence on election day would be for the electorate to use their PVCs to send the APC in Edo State back to the drawing board.

Host: How is the PDP working to check cases of rigging and violence on election day?

Chris Nehikhare:  Rigging is always a plan being hatched by the APC; they have a history of rigging. Look at Kogi, look at Osun. Unfortunately for them, in Edo we have the most sophisticated electorate and for that reason it would be difficult for anybody to use the template we discovered recently they refer to as the “Hope Uzodinma Template”. The Party and Edo people will resist it and APC will have nowhere to go. We are not worried about that right now because we have the support and followership in Edo people who are determined to retain Obaseki as their Governor.

Host: There is this fear in the minds of the people that they may not come out to vote?

Chris Nehikhare: We have told them and we believe they know that they have to come out, there is nothing for them to fear. Anybody that plans violence would be dealt with by the law, anybody that is seen with arms will be dealt with by the law, anybody that moves around from ward to ward and unit to unit on election day will be dealt with by the law. The electorate have no reason whatsoever to fear, the election would be peaceful and the PDP and the Edo people will win that election.

Our major concern is in the hands of the operators of the election, INEC. They have to be free, transparent and fair and be seen to do things in a professional manner. There is also the interference from outside forces especially our security forces. We have been hearing of federal might, these things have to be stopped and we make sure it doesn’t happen not just by Federal Government but by every Nigerian. We don’t want our election to be more deadly than the coup that took place in Mali a few days ago.

 

Host: The APC Candidate and his running mate have legal pitfalls that will invalidate their candidacy, how do you intend to leverage on this for your benefit?

Chris Nehikhare: The cases are in court but what we want to do is to make sure they are defeated fairly and squarely on September 19th before the court decides on their fate. Technically, we are all aware that the APC does not have a candidate. The State Chairman of the APC went out publicly to say that he is not aware of any primaries and that they don’t have a candidate, then the National Chairman at the time, who was acting after Oshiomole was kicked out also said he is not aware of the candidature of Ize Iyamu.

Technically, we can say Ize Iyamu is an impostor because the organs that were in place at the time he claimed to have been elected the candidate of the APC have all denied him. The APC has three prominent factions in the State namely, EPM, APC and POI, we are not counting on that. What we are counting on is the support of the Edo people, the number of PVCs that are going to be used to nail the final coffin of the APC in the state on September 19.

Host: What would you say about the ward to ward campaign of Governor Obaseki as opposed to the local government to local government campaign of the opposition?

Chris Nehikhare: One word is Excellent. The ward to ward campaign has shown us that the Edo people are determined to return Governor Obaseki. We are meeting the communities and the people in their backyards and the response has been excellent. Also because of the peculiarity of COVID-19 situation which the Governor and the Edo PDP are passionate about, we decided to embark on a campaign where we meet a few people in a small environment like their backyards. However, whenever the campaign starts, we begin with the need to observe the COVID-19 containment protocol and advice the people to always wash their hands, wear their face masks, hand sanitize, keep safe social distancing, self-isolate when they observe the symptoms of COVID-19. Also going to the wards has given us the opportunity to see the project needs of some of the most remote parts of the state. That is why we were able to identify some communities where the roads had been abandoned for years but on paper it said these roads had been fixed. This is the case in Okpella where the books of Adams Oshiomole said these roads had been fixed. As we all know that government is a continuum, governor Obaseki has apologized for this lie by the Oshiomole administration and has promised the people of Okpella recompense.

Host: At the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic when a lot of states where shutting down completely, Edo Sate did not shut down completely due to Economic reasons which made the PDP opposition then to criticize Obaseki heavily, would you say the governor handled the situation perfectly well in all honesty?

Chris Nehikhare: In retrospect and in all honesty, I think the PDP and myself especially jumped the gun because we saw the model of lock-down being used by other states and other countries, we expected the governor to use that model for our safety and that is why we criticized him. The governor took time to explain to the Edo people and the PDP at the time and he gave reasons and conditions upon which we can move around. At the same time, he did not collapse the economy as technically you know Nigeria and indeed the world is in recession now because of the way we shut down and the Edo State economy did not grind to a halt because of the style Obaseki used. We owe him a thank you for keeping the economy going, for keeping the people safe by telling them what to do and by screening over five hundred thousand people in a short period of time to make sure that this covid-19 is contained.

Host: What is the relationship between the Bonafide PDP members and those that have defected from APC and came with the governor to join the PDP?

Chris Nehikhare: There is no Bonafide, real or fake PDP member. From the minute you take a membership card you have the same rights and benefits with every card-carrying member. Do not forget that most of these people coming back have PDP in their DNA. Our aim right now is to make sure we deliver Governor Obaseki on September 19 from across the 192 wards in the state.

Host: What do you make of the controversy over the Edo Modular Refinery and the APC’s wrangling about it?

Chris Nehikhare: The controversy is an embarrassment to the APC. Their former national Chairman, who is their albatross, went on national television to say there is nothing like the Modular Refinery when the whole world can see that the refinery exists and is about to start refining crude oil. It is clear that the refinery is sited in Edo State, that the governor attracted the investor, provided land to the investor, provided Seven Hundred Million Naira as part of funding for the project and that Edo people are employed to work in that refinery. We wonder what exactly the opposition is looking for because they are having sleepless nights as the projects are all coming up to public awareness. They have to start telling lies that there is no project or that Edo state government only put small amount of money in the projects.

Host: When one says PDP, it is not unusual for somebody to respond by saying, share the money! You say Obaseki is very prudent about spending money, If Obaseki is reelected and he doesn’t share the money how would you feel?

Chris Nehikhare: That narrative has expired. The narrative of share the money now belongs to the APC. You know Obaseki was hounded out of the APC because he refused to share the money. He refused to put money in the pockets of politicians and rather put the money for projects that will benefit the Edo people. That is why they hounded him out because he does not “take care of the politicians”. That narrative and stigma of the PDP has been cleansed from our system. What you have in the PDP today is a new, improved, reengineered set of people running the affairs of the PDP and its membership. Any political party that stays in opposition for twelve years, that does not have power at the center and still remains relevant,  you know that party is ready and committed to the growth and development of the Edo people, you know that party is made up of men of integrity. That is why Governor Obaseki fits in perfectly with the new thinking of the PDP because his philosophy of using the resources of Edo State for Edo people resonates with the PDP in Edo State today. The party was built by us, people you don’t know their names. For example, I became prominent in the PDP after we went into opposition because I had decided to help build the Party. We are ready to sacrifice for the people. PDP does not share the money but asks for development. The PDP wants happy Edo people in a strong state.

Host: Let us look at the last three years and eight months, can you give us a chronology of projects of the Obaseki administration.

Chris Nehikhare: I will give you a few as we would be here all day if I have to go into all the projects. I will talk about the reforms in the Judiciary, in Pension and the Civil Service. These reforms will make us have an efficient society, government and city. Talking about the judiciary, I am sure if you drive through the Sapele Road area today, you will see that for the first time in many years, the High Court Area has a new look and is equipped with modern communication. This has been done quietly. Governor Obaseki also made sure our judges are comfortable and live in a very peaceful environment.

Talking about Civil Service reforms, you are aware civil servants have not gone for training for at least thirty years. First of all, he set up a civil service training institute with modern communication equipment and instructors and all those things needed to improve civil service performance. Not only that, the civil service buildings that had been abandoned long before some of us were born have been renovated to an unbelievable standard. The civil service secretariat is built up, equipped and beautiful to give the civil servants a sense of appreciation and they would be eligible for training and retraining for efficient service delivery.

That done, our parents today are happy that the Edo State local economy is picking up because the people know, just like clockwork, that from the 25^th, 26^th of every month, civil servants receive their salaries. Not only civil servants but the pensioners who were owed billions of Naira for over thirteen years, have had their arrears cleared by Governor Obaseki and they are now paid as and when due. You know what that does to the economy? Mama Joy or Papa David can now sell on credit to our civil servants knowing that come 25^th or 26^th they too can get their monies from their customers.

It did not end there. The reform also affected Basic Education at the primary school level. The governor brought in a system called Edo Best whereby eleven thousand teachers were trained on how to use devices to take care of lesson notes and all the lesson materials for children to key into a system to be able to stimulate the intellect of the pupils to the extent that other states and the United Nations have taken interest in this model and even export it to other states and countries.

The governor made a promise in 2016 that he was going to set up two hundred thousand jobs. Thus, he created Edo Jobs. Edo Jobs is actually a novel thing in these paths whereby, job applications for Edo people were being captured online and lots of Edo youths have been trained, retrained and employed through that system by attaching them to existing companies in the relevant areas of their newly acquired skills. Today the last batch of 157,000 people have gone through it and are properly employed. There is also the Edo Hub which was also brought in, whereby young men and women are trained on different fields, especially Information Technology (IT). The state government is partnering with Google, LinkedIn, Facebook and other international IT companies where they train our youths. I can tell you for free that lots of our youths have gone through Edo Hub and they are being paid in Dollars now because they are working for foreign companies.

In the area of farming, this is the first time in the history of Nigeria where young graduates are proud to become farmers because the Agripreneur programme encourages young people to take up farming as a profession, where whatever they produce is guaranteed to be taken over by off takers, so there is no loss at all. I laugh when APC members today say the governor has not created jobs. There was no time the governor said he was going to create 200,000 jobs in the civil service. Our civil service is lean and efficient, he has made it so. Creating jobs for Edo people is creating a conducive environment for investors to come in. The Modular Refinery has come in, the Benin River Port Gelegele is taking shape, the Agricultural Institutes across the three Senatorial Districts are creating jobs and preparing our youth to be agricultural entrepreneurs, Warake Rice Farm is there for all to see, College of Education in Abudu, all these things aggregated together have provided our Edo people work as they are working in all these places.

Host: Can you say something about your face cap. You have on it, ”Resetting Edo”. Has Edo not been set right all these years?

Chris Nehikhare: From 2008 to 2016, the government pulled Edo back by having the wrong set of people become role models to Edo Youths and People. Young men started doubting their educational qualification because all they could see were thugs, uneducated people leading them, being in charge of taxes, being the ones celebrating Billions of Naira in their accounts and scattering the town without checks. What Godwin Obaseki wants to do and what Edo people want is to have a society where the best are in front, where Edo puts its best foot forward and no child is left behind. Children who are not fast enough to join the pace are pulled along so that Edo State is on the right path. An Edo where role models are positive role models for our children to follow. Our resetting has to do with creating and recognizing positive role models in Edo State.

 

…..Interview with Chris Osa Nehikhare, State PDP Publicity Secretary

 

Interview with the Edo State PDP Publicity Secretary and Chairman Media and Publicity Sub Committee of the PDP Gubernatorial Campaign Council, Mr. Chris Osa Nehikhare. He spoke on the importance of the reelection of Governor Godwin Obaseki.

 

Host: Habiibah Oyeghe Oyarekhua

 

Guest: Chris Osa Nehikhare, Edo State Publicity Secretary of the PDP

 

Host: What do you make of the political intrigues that have trailed the 2020 Governorship election in Edo State? What has changed since the last election??

Chris Nehikhare: What has changed is the integrity of the personalities involved in this election, it’s not just the candidates but those that are propelling and selling their candidates for the Edo people to decide who they want. Four years ago, you had people on one side that sold a narrative to Edo people, this year, this same people are selling a different narrative to the Edo people on this same candidate. Edo people are wiser now and they tend to vote for those they know and those they trust. They would reach their decisions by themselves without being propelled by narratives. Choosing the person of their choice would be eye marking the achievements, the projects, the things that have been done by the candidates. On this side of the divide we have Governor Godwin Obaseki who has, against all odds, even when he was being harassed, bullied, intimidated, chassed, he was focused providing the dividends of democracy, providing development for the Edo people. These are the things that matter in this election and our duty is to let Edo people and Nigerians know that the best person for the job of Governor of Edo State in 2020, is Governor Godwin Obaseki.

Host: You have just told us about what has changed since the last election, what about the intrigues that are trailing this election?

Chris Nehikhare: These are things that happen in every election circle. People come up with all kinds of stories to try and gain advantage. The intrigues are normal. Politicians and the Edo electorate who are one of the most sophisticated in Nigeria know it is normal. They cannot be fooled by the narratives that come out especially from APC at this point in time to try and sell a candidate and a brand that had been rejected in the past. The simple agenda was rejected then, the people cannot be fooled, no matter how they try to package their candidate.

Host: The candidate of the All Progressives Congress used to be a member of the PDP, why is the PDP not bothered that he may compromise the structure in the upcoming election?

Chris Nehikhare: He used to be a member of the APC before he came to the PDP and back to APC again. These are political nomads and when nomads come, they bring fifty people and when they are going back to where they came from the fifty people are not complete. I don’t think he has left the PDP with all the people he came to the PDP with. He has only left with a few that have their ambition and lives tied to his ambition. We are not bothered about that because apart from our structure being reorganized, I am sure you are aware that we had a Congress in March this year where a new State Chairman emerged and new executives from the Ward level all the way to the State level emerged.

The system now in the PDP is a new system. Yes, the faces might be the same but there is a new thinking, there has been a joggle, a new arrogance, a new love for Edo people. We are not bothered when you say a candidate left the PDP for the APC, a Party that had been rejected by Edo people even when they were in government. The only person that made APC to thick, that was the center of its gravity in the state was Governor Obaseki and he has left the APC. Once he left the party, its attraction to the Edo people became non-existent. His leaving the Party crumbled the Party and left it in tatters. The APC structure from the wards to the state levels only exists in the campaign headquarters of the candidate of the POI faction of the APC. What you have left of the APC in Edo State are politicians that are desperate and want their hands on the Till Box of Edo State government. They are less than 0.2 percent of the Edo population. The Edo people who the governor works for, are the 99.08 percent and it is they that will determine who will govern Edo State, not the lions and tigers. The people are the Hunters that will hunt down these so-called Lions and Tigers!

Host: Talking about the elections, what are the bottlenecks that you envisage in this election?

Chris Nehikhare: Transparency and fairness especially from INEC and to some extent the security agencies. If everybody plays fair and everybody acts in a manner that was designed by our constitution, the election would be free and fair and there would be no bottlenecks. INEC’s organizational ability and their ability to be free, fair and transparent will determine Nigeria’s democracy. If they fail in these areas then our democracy will be endangered in Nigeria.

Host: What are the strong points of the PDP in this forth coming election?

Chris Nehikhare: Our strong point is really the achievements of Governor Obaseki. Do not forget that before he joined us, we were a strong critic of his government especially in respect of projects that were being done and not told to the people. One thing for sure was that when he was not with the PDP, there was no time in our attack on this governor that we criticized him based on any form of financial recklessness as financial prudence has always been his strong point. That is what PDP stands for today, a Party that was ready to serve the Edo people, do all the things to make Edo great was now being led by a man who had decided to work hand in gloves to make Edo better. PDP got a very good candidate and Edo people should be proud that they have a man like this at this point in time ready to go forward and build a stronger State. Do not forget he said his vision was to make Edo State the business Hub in West Africa and that’s exactly what he has been doing and would continue to do in the next four years!

Host: As a PDP member, can you confirm to the viewers that your Party envisaged that Obaseki would join you from the APC? The reason we ask is because of the way he was received with open arms.

Chris Nehikhare: We were not envisaging him to come to our Party at all. We wanted one of our own within the Party at the time to be the candidate because we had drawn a beautiful roadmap. But as God would have it, the people that had him rejected him, they pushed him off. Even while we were deciding whether he would come or not, we got numerous calls from eminent citizens in this state that we must give him the Party platform to run and only an irresponsible political party would reject a request from these people that have ruled this state at one time or the other, eminent and prominent Statesmen. The Party talked to its aspirants and we agreed he should be given the platform to contest. Like I have said, it was hand in gloves with this candidate.

Host: Talking about financial prudence what would you say are the differences between this government and the previous one?

Chris Nehikhare:  There are so many differences between this government and the previous one. This government has been very careful how it uses State resources. You are aware that in the previous dispensation, the governor then used the state resources as if it was his personal income, dispensing favor right, left and center. Those that were collecting resources of the State were collecting it for their pockets, to the extent that touts (agbaros) were celebrating attaining a billion naira in their personal bank accounts, making those who are hardworking, who have gone to school not to have confidence in the education they had attained.

Obaseki has redesigned the Tax system to make sure that what is taken from the people goes to  the government and is used for the development of the people. Revenue is collected in a civilized manner, not with whips and chains. Technically speaking, Governor Obaseki unlocked the chains with which the Edo people were chained between 2008 and 2016.

Host: What do you make of the complaints regarding electoral violence in Edo State?

Chris Nehikhare: It is most embarrassing and I condemn it in all its totality. When the issue of violence came up, it was clear they were trying to drag us to an area we didn’t want to go to. By the time we discovered that their aim really was to have the election postponed for some sinister reasons because they knew they were going to lose, we had to come out to tell the Edo people not to be intimidated or scared. The state government and the Nigerian security agencies would encourage all Edo people to come out to vote on election day. Violence is just a scare tactics they have developed to scare Edo people. In pre-election times like this, there is always talk of tension and what really triggered this issue of violence was the video that went viral.

In the video, the APC candidate was speaking to some people who referred to themselves as lions and tigers and he told them that some of them were so dangerous that they can move from one local government to the other and from ward to ward to disrupt the election when it  is clear that the electoral law stipulates that on election day, you are restricted to your unit. That was what gave rise to this tension and feeling that there would be violence but we now know where they are going to. We reject it and urge the people of Edo State to reject it and make sure that the only violence on election day would be for the electorate to use their PVCs to send the APC in Edo State back to the drawing board.

Host: How is the PDP working to check cases of rigging and violence on election day?

Chris Nehikhare:  Rigging is always a plan being hatched by the APC; they have a history of rigging. Look at Kogi, look at Osun. Unfortunately for them, in Edo we have the most sophisticated electorate and for that reason it would be difficult for anybody to use the template we discovered recently they refer to as the “Hope Uzodinma Template”. The Party and Edo people will resist it and APC will have nowhere to go. We are not worried about that right now because we have the support and followership in Edo people who are determined to retain Obaseki as their Governor.

Host: There is this fear in the minds of the people that they may not come out to vote?

Chris Nehikhare: We have told them and we believe they know that they have to come out, there is nothing for them to fear. Anybody that plans violence would be dealt with by the law, anybody that is seen with arms will be dealt with by the law, anybody that moves around from ward to ward and unit to unit on election day will be dealt with by the law. The electorate have no reason whatsoever to fear, the election would be peaceful and the PDP and the Edo people will win that election.

Our major concern is in the hands of the operators of the election, INEC. They have to be free, transparent and fair and be seen to do things in a professional manner. There is also the interference from outside forces especially our security forces. We have been hearing of federal might, these things have to be stopped and we make sure it doesn’t happen not just by Federal Government but by every Nigerian. We don’t want our election to be more deadly than the coup that took place in Mali a few days ago.

 

Host: The APC Candidate and his running mate have legal pitfalls that will invalidate their candidacy, how do you intend to leverage on this for your benefit?

Chris Nehikhare: The cases are in court but what we want to do is to make sure they are defeated fairly and squarely on September 19th before the court decides on their fate. Technically, we are all aware that the APC does not have a candidate. The State Chairman of the APC went out publicly to say that he is not aware of any primaries and that they don’t have a candidate, then the National Chairman at the time, who was acting after Oshiomole was kicked out also said he is not aware of the candidature of Ize Iyamu.

Technically, we can say Ize Iyamu is an impostor because the organs that were in place at the time he claimed to have been elected the candidate of the APC have all denied him. The APC has three prominent factions in the State namely, EPM, APC and POI, we are not counting on that. What we are counting on is the support of the Edo people, the number of PVCs that are going to be used to nail the final coffin of the APC in the state on September 19.

Host: What would you say about the ward to ward campaign of Governor Obaseki as opposed to the local government to local government campaign of the opposition?

Chris Nehikhare: One word is Excellent. The ward to ward campaign has shown us that the Edo people are determined to return Governor Obaseki. We are meeting the communities and the people in their backyards and the response has been excellent. Also because of the peculiarity of COVID-19 situation which the Governor and the Edo PDP are passionate about, we decided to embark on a campaign where we meet a few people in a small environment like their backyards. However, whenever the campaign starts, we begin with the need to observe the COVID-19 containment protocol and advice the people to always wash their hands, wear their face masks, hand sanitize, keep safe social distancing, self-isolate when they observe the symptoms of COVID-19. Also going to the wards has given us the opportunity to see the project needs of some of the most remote parts of the state. That is why we were able to identify some communities where the roads had been abandoned for years but on paper it said these roads had been fixed. This is the case in Okpella where the books of Adams Oshiomole said these roads had been fixed. As we all know that government is a continuum, governor Obaseki has apologized for this lie by the Oshiomole administration and has promised the people of Okpella recompense.

Host: At the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic when a lot of states where shutting down completely, Edo Sate did not shut down completely due to Economic reasons which made the PDP opposition then to criticize Obaseki heavily, would you say the governor handled the situation perfectly well in all honesty?

Chris Nehikhare: In retrospect and in all honesty, I think the PDP and myself especially jumped the gun because we saw the model of lock-down being used by other states and other countries, we expected the governor to use that model for our safety and that is why we criticized him. The governor took time to explain to the Edo people and the PDP at the time and he gave reasons and conditions upon which we can move around. At the same time, he did not collapse the economy as technically you know Nigeria and indeed the world is in recession now because of the way we shut down and the Edo State economy did not grind to a halt because of the style Obaseki used. We owe him a thank you for keeping the economy going, for keeping the people safe by telling them what to do and by screening over five hundred thousand people in a short period of time to make sure that this covid-19 is contained.

Host: What is the relationship between the Bonafide PDP members and those that have defected from APC and came with the governor to join the PDP?

Chris Nehikhare: There is no Bonafide, real or fake PDP member. From the minute you take a membership card you have the same rights and benefits with every card-carrying member. Do not forget that most of these people coming back have PDP in their DNA. Our aim right now is to make sure we deliver Governor Obaseki on September 19 from across the 192 wards in the state.

Host: What do you make of the controversy over the Edo Modular Refinery and the APC’s wrangling about it?

Chris Nehikhare: The controversy is an embarrassment to the APC. Their former national Chairman, who is their albatross, went on national television to say there is nothing like the Modular Refinery when the whole world can see that the refinery exists and is about to start refining crude oil. It is clear that the refinery is sited in Edo State, that the governor attracted the investor, provided land to the investor, provided Seven Hundred Million Naira as part of funding for the project and that Edo people are employed to work in that refinery. We wonder what exactly the opposition is looking for because they are having sleepless nights as the projects are all coming up to public awareness. They have to start telling lies that there is no project or that Edo state government only put small amount of money in the projects.

Host: When one says PDP, it is not unusual for somebody to respond by saying, share the money! You say Obaseki is very prudent about spending money, If Obaseki is reelected and he doesn’t share the money how would you feel?

Chris Nehikhare: That narrative has expired. The narrative of share the money now belongs to the APC. You know Obaseki was hounded out of the APC because he refused to share the money. He refused to put money in the pockets of politicians and rather put the money for projects that will benefit the Edo people. That is why they hounded him out because he does not “take care of the politicians”. That narrative and stigma of the PDP has been cleansed from our system. What you have in the PDP today is a new, improved, reengineered set of people running the affairs of the PDP and its membership. Any political party that stays in opposition for twelve years, that does not have power at the center and still remains relevant,  you know that party is ready and committed to the growth and development of the Edo people, you know that party is made up of men of integrity. That is why Governor Obaseki fits in perfectly with the new thinking of the PDP because his philosophy of using the resources of Edo State for Edo people resonates with the PDP in Edo State today. The party was built by us, people you don’t know their names. For example, I became prominent in the PDP after we went into opposition because I had decided to help build the Party. We are ready to sacrifice for the people. PDP does not share the money but asks for development. The PDP wants happy Edo people in a strong state.

Host: Let us look at the last three years and eight months, can you give us a chronology of projects of the Obaseki administration.

Chris Nehikhare: I will give you a few as we would be here all day if I have to go into all the projects. I will talk about the reforms in the Judiciary, in Pension and the Civil Service. These reforms will make us have an efficient society, government and city. Talking about the judiciary, I am sure if you drive through the Sapele Road area today, you will see that for the first time in many years, the High Court Area has a new look and is equipped with modern communication. This has been done quietly. Governor Obaseki also made sure our judges are comfortable and live in a very peaceful environment.

Talking about Civil Service reforms, you are aware civil servants have not gone for training for at least thirty years. First of all, he set up a civil service training institute with modern communication equipment and instructors and all those things needed to improve civil service performance. Not only that, the civil service buildings that had been abandoned long before some of us were born have been renovated to an unbelievable standard. The civil service secretariat is built up, equipped and beautiful to give the civil servants a sense of appreciation and they would be eligible for training and retraining for efficient service delivery.

That done, our parents today are happy that the Edo State local economy is picking up because the people know, just like clockwork, that from the 25^th, 26^th of every month, civil servants receive their salaries. Not only civil servants but the pensioners who were owed billions of Naira for over thirteen years, have had their arrears cleared by Governor Obaseki and they are now paid as and when due. You know what that does to the economy? Mama Joy or Papa David can now sell on credit to our civil servants knowing that come 25^th or 26^th they too can get their monies from their customers.

It did not end there. The reform also affected Basic Education at the primary school level. The governor brought in a system called Edo Best whereby eleven thousand teachers were trained on how to use devices to take care of lesson notes and all the lesson materials for children to key into a system to be able to stimulate the intellect of the pupils to the extent that other states and the United Nations have taken interest in this model and even export it to other states and countries.

The governor made a promise in 2016 that he was going to set up two hundred thousand jobs. Thus, he created Edo Jobs. Edo Jobs is actually a novel thing in these paths whereby, job applications for Edo people were being captured online and lots of Edo youths have been trained, retrained and employed through that system by attaching them to existing companies in the relevant areas of their newly acquired skills. Today the last batch of 157,000 people have gone through it and are properly employed. There is also the Edo Hub which was also brought in, whereby young men and women are trained on different fields, especially Information Technology (IT). The state government is partnering with Google, LinkedIn, Facebook and other international IT companies where they train our youths. I can tell you for free that lots of our youths have gone through Edo Hub and they are being paid in Dollars now because they are working for foreign companies.

In the area of farming, this is the first time in the history of Nigeria where young graduates are proud to become farmers because the Agripreneur programme encourages young people to take up farming as a profession, where whatever they produce is guaranteed to be taken over by off takers, so there is no loss at all. I laugh when APC members today say the governor has not created jobs. There was no time the governor said he was going to create 200,000 jobs in the civil service. Our civil service is lean and efficient, he has made it so. Creating jobs for Edo people is creating a conducive environment for investors to come in. The Modular Refinery has come in, the Benin River Port Gelegele is taking shape, the Agricultural Institutes across the three Senatorial Districts are creating jobs and preparing our youth to be agricultural entrepreneurs, Warake Rice Farm is there for all to see, College of Education in Abudu, all these things aggregated together have provided our Edo people work as they are working in all these places.

Host: Can you say something about your face cap. You have on it, ”Resetting Edo”. Has Edo not been set right all these years?

Chris Nehikhare: From 2008 to 2016, the government pulled Edo back by having the wrong set of people become role models to Edo Youths and People. Young men started doubting their educational qualification because all they could see were thugs, uneducated people leading them, being in charge of taxes, being the ones celebrating Billions of Naira in their accounts and scattering the town without checks. What Godwin Obaseki wants to do and what Edo people want is to have a society where the best are in front, where Edo puts its best foot forward and no child is left behind. Children who are not fast enough to join the pace are pulled along so that Edo State is on the right path. An Edo where role models are positive role models for our children to follow. Our resetting has to do with creating and recognizing positive role models in Edo State.

 

…..Interview with Chris Osa Nehikhare, State PDP Publicity Secretary

 

Interview with the Edo State PDP Publicity Secretary and Chairman Media and Publicity Sub Committee of the PDP Gubernatorial Campaign Council, Mr. Chris Osa Nehikhare. He spoke on the importance of the reelection of Governor Godwin Obaseki.

 

Host: Habiibah Oyeghe Oyarekhua

 

Guest: Chris Osa Nehikhare, Edo State Publicity Secretary of the PDP

 

Host: What do you make of the political intrigues that have trailed the 2020 Governorship election in Edo State? What has changed since the last election??

Chris Nehikhare: What has changed is the integrity of the personalities involved in this election, it’s not just the candidates but those that are propelling and selling their candidates for the Edo people to decide who they want. Four years ago, you had people on one side that sold a narrative to Edo people, this year, this same people are selling a different narrative to the Edo people on this same candidate. Edo people are wiser now and they tend to vote for those they know and those they trust. They would reach their decisions by themselves without being propelled by narratives. Choosing the person of their choice would be eye marking the achievements, the projects, the things that have been done by the candidates. On this side of the divide we have Governor Godwin Obaseki who has, against all odds, even when he was being harassed, bullied, intimidated, chassed, he was focused providing the dividends of democracy, providing development for the Edo people. These are the things that matter in this election and our duty is to let Edo people and Nigerians know that the best person for the job of Governor of Edo State in 2020, is Governor Godwin Obaseki.

Host: You have just told us about what has changed since the last election, what about the intrigues that are trailing this election?

Chris Nehikhare: These are things that happen in every election circle. People come up with all kinds of stories to try and gain advantage. The intrigues are normal. Politicians and the Edo electorate who are one of the most sophisticated in Nigeria know it is normal. They cannot be fooled by the narratives that come out especially from APC at this point in time to try and sell a candidate and a brand that had been rejected in the past. The simple agenda was rejected then, the people cannot be fooled, no matter how they try to package their candidate.

Host: The candidate of the All Progressives Congress used to be a member of the PDP, why is the PDP not bothered that he may compromise the structure in the upcoming election?

Chris Nehikhare: He used to be a member of the APC before he came to the PDP and back to APC again. These are political nomads and when nomads come, they bring fifty people and when they are going back to where they came from the fifty people are not complete. I don’t think he has left the PDP with all the people he came to the PDP with. He has only left with a few that have their ambition and lives tied to his ambition. We are not bothered about that because apart from our structure being reorganized, I am sure you are aware that we had a Congress in March this year where a new State Chairman emerged and new executives from the Ward level all the way to the State level emerged.

The system now in the PDP is a new system. Yes, the faces might be the same but there is a new thinking, there has been a joggle, a new arrogance, a new love for Edo people. We are not bothered when you say a candidate left the PDP for the APC, a Party that had been rejected by Edo people even when they were in government. The only person that made APC to thick, that was the center of its gravity in the state was Governor Obaseki and he has left the APC. Once he left the party, its attraction to the Edo people became non-existent. His leaving the Party crumbled the Party and left it in tatters. The APC structure from the wards to the state levels only exists in the campaign headquarters of the candidate of the POI faction of the APC. What you have left of the APC in Edo State are politicians that are desperate and want their hands on the Till Box of Edo State government. They are less than 0.2 percent of the Edo population. The Edo people who the governor works for, are the 99.08 percent and it is they that will determine who will govern Edo State, not the lions and tigers. The people are the Hunters that will hunt down these so-called Lions and Tigers!

Host: Talking about the elections, what are the bottlenecks that you envisage in this election?

Chris Nehikhare: Transparency and fairness especially from INEC and to some extent the security agencies. If everybody plays fair and everybody acts in a manner that was designed by our constitution, the election would be free and fair and there would be no bottlenecks. INEC’s organizational ability and their ability to be free, fair and transparent will determine Nigeria’s democracy. If they fail in these areas then our democracy will be endangered in Nigeria.

Host: What are the strong points of the PDP in this forth coming election?

Chris Nehikhare: Our strong point is really the achievements of Governor Obaseki. Do not forget that before he joined us, we were a strong critic of his government especially in respect of projects that were being done and not told to the people. One thing for sure was that when he was not with the PDP, there was no time in our attack on this governor that we criticized him based on any form of financial recklessness as financial prudence has always been his strong point. That is what PDP stands for today, a Party that was ready to serve the Edo people, do all the things to make Edo great was now being led by a man who had decided to work hand in gloves to make Edo better. PDP got a very good candidate and Edo people should be proud that they have a man like this at this point in time ready to go forward and build a stronger State. Do not forget he said his vision was to make Edo State the business Hub in West Africa and that’s exactly what he has been doing and would continue to do in the next four years!

Host: As a PDP member, can you confirm to the viewers that your Party envisaged that Obaseki would join you from the APC? The reason we ask is because of the way he was received with open arms.

Chris Nehikhare: We were not envisaging him to come to our Party at all. We wanted one of our own within the Party at the time to be the candidate because we had drawn a beautiful roadmap. But as God would have it, the people that had him rejected him, they pushed him off. Even while we were deciding whether he would come or not, we got numerous calls from eminent citizens in this state that we must give him the Party platform to run and only an irresponsible political party would reject a request from these people that have ruled this state at one time or the other, eminent and prominent Statesmen. The Party talked to its aspirants and we agreed he should be given the platform to contest. Like I have said, it was hand in gloves with this candidate.

Host: Talking about financial prudence what would you say are the differences between this government and the previous one?

Chris Nehikhare:  There are so many differences between this government and the previous one. This government has been very careful how it uses State resources. You are aware that in the previous dispensation, the governor then used the state resources as if it was his personal income, dispensing favor right, left and center. Those that were collecting resources of the State were collecting it for their pockets, to the extent that touts (agbaros) were celebrating attaining a billion naira in their personal bank accounts, making those who are hardworking, who have gone to school not to have confidence in the education they had attained.

Obaseki has redesigned the Tax system to make sure that what is taken from the people goes to  the government and is used for the development of the people. Revenue is collected in a civilized manner, not with whips and chains. Technically speaking, Governor Obaseki unlocked the chains with which the Edo people were chained between 2008 and 2016.

Host: What do you make of the complaints regarding electoral violence in Edo State?

Chris Nehikhare: It is most embarrassing and I condemn it in all its totality. When the issue of violence came up, it was clear they were trying to drag us to an area we didn’t want to go to. By the time we discovered that their aim really was to have the election postponed for some sinister reasons because they knew they were going to lose, we had to come out to tell the Edo people not to be intimidated or scared. The state government and the Nigerian security agencies would encourage all Edo people to come out to vote on election day. Violence is just a scare tactics they have developed to scare Edo people. In pre-election times like this, there is always talk of tension and what really triggered this issue of violence was the video that went viral.

In the video, the APC candidate was speaking to some people who referred to themselves as lions and tigers and he told them that some of them were so dangerous that they can move from one local government to the other and from ward to ward to disrupt the election when it  is clear that the electoral law stipulates that on election day, you are restricted to your unit. That was what gave rise to this tension and feeling that there would be violence but we now know where they are going to. We reject it and urge the people of Edo State to reject it and make sure that the only violence on election day would be for the electorate to use their PVCs to send the APC in Edo State back to the drawing board.

Host: How is the PDP working to check cases of rigging and violence on election day?

Chris Nehikhare:  Rigging is always a plan being hatched by the APC; they have a history of rigging. Look at Kogi, look at Osun. Unfortunately for them, in Edo we have the most sophisticated electorate and for that reason it would be difficult for anybody to use the template we discovered recently they refer to as the “Hope Uzodinma Template”. The Party and Edo people will resist it and APC will have nowhere to go. We are not worried about that right now because we have the support and followership in Edo people who are determined to retain Obaseki as their Governor.

Host: There is this fear in the minds of the people that they may not come out to vote?

Chris Nehikhare: We have told them and we believe they know that they have to come out, there is nothing for them to fear. Anybody that plans violence would be dealt with by the law, anybody that is seen with arms will be dealt with by the law, anybody that moves around from ward to ward and unit to unit on election day will be dealt with by the law. The electorate have no reason whatsoever to fear, the election would be peaceful and the PDP and the Edo people will win that election.

Our major concern is in the hands of the operators of the election, INEC. They have to be free, transparent and fair and be seen to do things in a professional manner. There is also the interference from outside forces especially our security forces. We have been hearing of federal might, these things have to be stopped and we make sure it doesn’t happen not just by Federal Government but by every Nigerian. We don’t want our election to be more deadly than the coup that took place in Mali a few days ago.

 

Host: The APC Candidate and his running mate have legal pitfalls that will invalidate their candidacy, how do you intend to leverage on this for your benefit?

Chris Nehikhare: The cases are in court but what we want to do is to make sure they are defeated fairly and squarely on September 19th before the court decides on their fate. Technically, we are all aware that the APC does not have a candidate. The State Chairman of the APC went out publicly to say that he is not aware of any primaries and that they don’t have a candidate, then the National Chairman at the time, who was acting after Oshiomole was kicked out also said he is not aware of the candidature of Ize Iyamu.

Technically, we can say Ize Iyamu is an impostor because the organs that were in place at the time he claimed to have been elected the candidate of the APC have all denied him. The APC has three prominent factions in the State namely, EPM, APC and POI, we are not counting on that. What we are counting on is the support of the Edo people, the number of PVCs that are going to be used to nail the final coffin of the APC in the state on September 19.

Host: What would you say about the ward to ward campaign of Governor Obaseki as opposed to the local government to local government campaign of the opposition?

Chris Nehikhare: One word is Excellent. The ward to ward campaign has shown us that the Edo people are determined to return Governor Obaseki. We are meeting the communities and the people in their backyards and the response has been excellent. Also because of the peculiarity of COVID-19 situation which the Governor and the Edo PDP are passionate about, we decided to embark on a campaign where we meet a few people in a small environment like their backyards. However, whenever the campaign starts, we begin with the need to observe the COVID-19 containment protocol and advice the people to always wash their hands, wear their face masks, hand sanitize, keep safe social distancing, self-isolate when they observe the symptoms of COVID-19. Also going to the wards has given us the opportunity to see the project needs of some of the most remote parts of the state. That is why we were able to identify some communities where the roads had been abandoned for years but on paper it said these roads had been fixed. This is the case in Okpella where the books of Adams Oshiomole said these roads had been fixed. As we all know that government is a continuum, governor Obaseki has apologized for this lie by the Oshiomole administration and has promised the people of Okpella recompense.

Host: At the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic when a lot of states where shutting down completely, Edo Sate did not shut down completely due to Economic reasons which made the PDP opposition then to criticize Obaseki heavily, would you say the governor handled the situation perfectly well in all honesty?

Chris Nehikhare: In retrospect and in all honesty, I think the PDP and myself especially jumped the gun because we saw the model of lock-down being used by other states and other countries, we expected the governor to use that model for our safety and that is why we criticized him. The governor took time to explain to the Edo people and the PDP at the time and he gave reasons and conditions upon which we can move around. At the same time, he did not collapse the economy as technically you know Nigeria and indeed the world is in recession now because of the way we shut down and the Edo State economy did not grind to a halt because of the style Obaseki used. We owe him a thank you for keeping the economy going, for keeping the people safe by telling them what to do and by screening over five hundred thousand people in a short period of time to make sure that this covid-19 is contained.

Host: What is the relationship between the Bonafide PDP members and those that have defected from APC and came with the governor to join the PDP?

Chris Nehikhare: There is no Bonafide, real or fake PDP member. From the minute you take a membership card you have the same rights and benefits with every card-carrying member. Do not forget that most of these people coming back have PDP in their DNA. Our aim right now is to make sure we deliver Governor Obaseki on September 19 from across the 192 wards in the state.

Host: What do you make of the controversy over the Edo Modular Refinery and the APC’s wrangling about it?

Chris Nehikhare: The controversy is an embarrassment to the APC. Their former national Chairman, who is their albatross, went on national television to say there is nothing like the Modular Refinery when the whole world can see that the refinery exists and is about to start refining crude oil. It is clear that the refinery is sited in Edo State, that the governor attracted the investor, provided land to the investor, provided Seven Hundred Million Naira as part of funding for the project and that Edo people are employed to work in that refinery. We wonder what exactly the opposition is looking for because they are having sleepless nights as the projects are all coming up to public awareness. They have to start telling lies that there is no project or that Edo state government only put small amount of money in the projects.

Host: When one says PDP, it is not unusual for somebody to respond by saying, share the money! You say Obaseki is very prudent about spending money, If Obaseki is reelected and he doesn’t share the money how would you feel?

Chris Nehikhare: That narrative has expired. The narrative of share the money now belongs to the APC. You know Obaseki was hounded out of the APC because he refused to share the money. He refused to put money in the pockets of politicians and rather put the money for projects that will benefit the Edo people. That is why they hounded him out because he does not “take care of the politicians”. That narrative and stigma of the PDP has been cleansed from our system. What you have in the PDP today is a new, improved, reengineered set of people running the affairs of the PDP and its membership. Any political party that stays in opposition for twelve years, that does not have power at the center and still remains relevant,  you know that party is ready and committed to the growth and development of the Edo people, you know that party is made up of men of integrity. That is why Governor Obaseki fits in perfectly with the new thinking of the PDP because his philosophy of using the resources of Edo State for Edo people resonates with the PDP in Edo State today. The party was built by us, people you don’t know their names. For example, I became prominent in the PDP after we went into opposition because I had decided to help build the Party. We are ready to sacrifice for the people. PDP does not share the money but asks for development. The PDP wants happy Edo people in a strong state.

Host: Let us look at the last three years and eight months, can you give us a chronology of projects of the Obaseki administration.

Chris Nehikhare: I will give you a few as we would be here all day if I have to go into all the projects. I will talk about the reforms in the Judiciary, in Pension and the Civil Service. These reforms will make us have an efficient society, government and city. Talking about the judiciary, I am sure if you drive through the Sapele Road area today, you will see that for the first time in many years, the High Court Area has a new look and is equipped with modern communication. This has been done quietly. Governor Obaseki also made sure our judges are comfortable and live in a very peaceful environment.

Talking about Civil Service reforms, you are aware civil servants have not gone for training for at least thirty years. First of all, he set up a civil service training institute with modern communication equipment and instructors and all those things needed to improve civil service performance. Not only that, the civil service buildings that had been abandoned long before some of us were born have been renovated to an unbelievable standard. The civil service secretariat is built up, equipped and beautiful to give the civil servants a sense of appreciation and they would be eligible for training and retraining for efficient service delivery.

That done, our parents today are happy that the Edo State local economy is picking up because the people know, just like clockwork, that from the 25^th, 26^th of every month, civil servants receive their salaries. Not only civil servants but the pensioners who were owed billions of Naira for over thirteen years, have had their arrears cleared by Governor Obaseki and they are now paid as and when due. You know what that does to the economy? Mama Joy or Papa David can now sell on credit to our civil servants knowing that come 25^th or 26^th they too can get their monies from their customers.

It did not end there. The reform also affected Basic Education at the primary school level. The governor brought in a system called Edo Best whereby eleven thousand teachers were trained on how to use devices to take care of lesson notes and all the lesson materials for children to key into a system to be able to stimulate the intellect of the pupils to the extent that other states and the United Nations have taken interest in this model and even export it to other states and countries.

The governor made a promise in 2016 that he was going to set up two hundred thousand jobs. Thus, he created Edo Jobs. Edo Jobs is actually a novel thing in these paths whereby, job applications for Edo people were being captured online and lots of Edo youths have been trained, retrained and employed through that system by attaching them to existing companies in the relevant areas of their newly acquired skills. Today the last batch of 157,000 people have gone through it and are properly employed. There is also the Edo Hub which was also brought in, whereby young men and women are trained on different fields, especially Information Technology (IT). The state government is partnering with Google, LinkedIn, Facebook and other international IT companies where they train our youths. I can tell you for free that lots of our youths have gone through Edo Hub and they are being paid in Dollars now because they are working for foreign companies.

In the area of farming, this is the first time in the history of Nigeria where young graduates are proud to become farmers because the Agripreneur programme encourages young people to take up farming as a profession, where whatever they produce is guaranteed to be taken over by off takers, so there is no loss at all. I laugh when APC members today say the governor has not created jobs. There was no time the governor said he was going to create 200,000 jobs in the civil service. Our civil service is lean and efficient, he has made it so. Creating jobs for Edo people is creating a conducive environment for investors to come in. The Modular Refinery has come in, the Benin River Port Gelegele is taking shape, the Agricultural Institutes across the three Senatorial Districts are creating jobs and preparing our youth to be agricultural entrepreneurs, Warake Rice Farm is there for all to see, College of Education in Abudu, all these things aggregated together have provided our Edo people work as they are working in all these places.

Host: Can you say something about your face cap. You have on it, ”Resetting Edo”. Has Edo not been set right all these years?

Chris Nehikhare: From 2008 to 2016, the government pulled Edo back by having the wrong set of people become role models to Edo Youths and People. Young men started doubting their educational qualification because all they could see were thugs, uneducated people leading them, being in charge of taxes, being the ones celebrating Billions of Naira in their accounts and scattering the town without checks. What Godwin Obaseki wants to do and what Edo people want is to have a society where the best are in front, where Edo puts its best foot forward and no child is left behind. Children who are not fast enough to join the pace are pulled along so that Edo State is on the right path. An Edo where role models are positive role models for our children to follow. Our resetting has to do with creating and recognizing positive role models in Edo State.

 

…..Interview with Chris Osa Nehikhare, State PDP Publicity Secretary

 

Interview with the Edo State PDP Publicity Secretary and Chairman Media and Publicity Sub Committee of the PDP Gubernatorial Campaign Council, Mr. Chris Osa Nehikhare. He spoke on the importance of the reelection of Governor Godwin Obaseki.

 

Host: Habiibah Oyeghe Oyarekhua

 

Guest: Chris Osa Nehikhare, Edo State Publicity Secretary of the PDP

 

Host: What do you make of the political intrigues that have trailed the 2020 Governorship election in Edo State? What has changed since the last election??

Chris Nehikhare: What has changed is the integrity of the personalities involved in this election, it’s not just the candidates but those that are propelling and selling their candidates for the Edo people to decide who they want. Four years ago, you had people on one side that sold a narrative to Edo people, this year, this same people are selling a different narrative to the Edo people on this same candidate. Edo people are wiser now and they tend to vote for those they know and those they trust. They would reach their decisions by themselves without being propelled by narratives. Choosing the person of their choice would be eye marking the achievements, the projects, the things that have been done by the candidates. On this side of the divide we have Governor Godwin Obaseki who has, against all odds, even when he was being harassed, bullied, intimidated, chassed, he was focused providing the dividends of democracy, providing development for the Edo people. These are the things that matter in this election and our duty is to let Edo people and Nigerians know that the best person for the job of Governor of Edo State in 2020, is Governor Godwin Obaseki.

Host: You have just told us about what has changed since the last election, what about the intrigues that are trailing this election?

Chris Nehikhare: These are things that happen in every election circle. People come up with all kinds of stories to try and gain advantage. The intrigues are normal. Politicians and the Edo electorate who are one of the most sophisticated in Nigeria know it is normal. They cannot be fooled by the narratives that come out especially from APC at this point in time to try and sell a candidate and a brand that had been rejected in the past. The simple agenda was rejected then, the people cannot be fooled, no matter how they try to package their candidate.

Host: The candidate of the All Progressives Congress used to be a member of the PDP, why is the PDP not bothered that he may compromise the structure in the upcoming election?

Chris Nehikhare: He used to be a member of the APC before he came to the PDP and back to APC again. These are political nomads and when nomads come, they bring fifty people and when they are going back to where they came from the fifty people are not complete. I don’t think he has left the PDP with all the people he came to the PDP with. He has only left with a few that have their ambition and lives tied to his ambition. We are not bothered about that because apart from our structure being reorganized, I am sure you are aware that we had a Congress in March this year where a new State Chairman emerged and new executives from the Ward level all the way to the State level emerged.

The system now in the PDP is a new system. Yes, the faces might be the same but there is a new thinking, there has been a joggle, a new arrogance, a new love for Edo people. We are not bothered when you say a candidate left the PDP for the APC, a Party that had been rejected by Edo people even when they were in government. The only person that made APC to thick, that was the center of its gravity in the state was Governor Obaseki and he has left the APC. Once he left the party, its attraction to the Edo people became non-existent. His leaving the Party crumbled the Party and left it in tatters. The APC structure from the wards to the state levels only exists in the campaign headquarters of the candidate of the POI faction of the APC. What you have left of the APC in Edo State are politicians that are desperate and want their hands on the Till Box of Edo State government. They are less than 0.2 percent of the Edo population. The Edo people who the governor works for, are the 99.08 percent and it is they that will determine who will govern Edo State, not the lions and tigers. The people are the Hunters that will hunt down these so-called Lions and Tigers!

Host: Talking about the elections, what are the bottlenecks that you envisage in this election?

Chris Nehikhare: Transparency and fairness especially from INEC and to some extent the security agencies. If everybody plays fair and everybody acts in a manner that was designed by our constitution, the election would be free and fair and there would be no bottlenecks. INEC’s organizational ability and their ability to be free, fair and transparent will determine Nigeria’s democracy. If they fail in these areas then our democracy will be endangered in Nigeria.

Host: What are the strong points of the PDP in this forth coming election?

Chris Nehikhare: Our strong point is really the achievements of Governor Obaseki. Do not forget that before he joined us, we were a strong critic of his government especially in respect of projects that were being done and not told to the people. One thing for sure was that when he was not with the PDP, there was no time in our attack on this governor that we criticized him based on any form of financial recklessness as financial prudence has always been his strong point. That is what PDP stands for today, a Party that was ready to serve the Edo people, do all the things to make Edo great was now being led by a man who had decided to work hand in gloves to make Edo better. PDP got a very good candidate and Edo people should be proud that they have a man like this at this point in time ready to go forward and build a stronger State. Do not forget he said his vision was to make Edo State the business Hub in West Africa and that’s exactly what he has been doing and would continue to do in the next four years!

Host: As a PDP member, can you confirm to the viewers that your Party envisaged that Obaseki would join you from the APC? The reason we ask is because of the way he was received with open arms.

Chris Nehikhare: We were not envisaging him to come to our Party at all. We wanted one of our own within the Party at the time to be the candidate because we had drawn a beautiful roadmap. But as God would have it, the people that had him rejected him, they pushed him off. Even while we were deciding whether he would come or not, we got numerous calls from eminent citizens in this state that we must give him the Party platform to run and only an irresponsible political party would reject a request from these people that have ruled this state at one time or the other, eminent and prominent Statesmen. The Party talked to its aspirants and we agreed he should be given the platform to contest. Like I have said, it was hand in gloves with this candidate.

Host: Talking about financial prudence what would you say are the differences between this government and the previous one?

Chris Nehikhare:  There are so many differences between this government and the previous one. This government has been very careful how it uses State resources. You are aware that in the previous dispensation, the governor then used the state resources as if it was his personal income, dispensing favor right, left and center. Those that were collecting resources of the State were collecting it for their pockets, to the extent that touts (agbaros) were celebrating attaining a billion naira in their personal bank accounts, making those who are hardworking, who have gone to school not to have confidence in the education they had attained.

Obaseki has redesigned the Tax system to make sure that what is taken from the people goes to  the government and is used for the development of the people. Revenue is collected in a civilized manner, not with whips and chains. Technically speaking, Governor Obaseki unlocked the chains with which the Edo people were chained between 2008 and 2016.

Host: What do you make of the complaints regarding electoral violence in Edo State?

Chris Nehikhare: It is most embarrassing and I condemn it in all its totality. When the issue of violence came up, it was clear they were trying to drag us to an area we didn’t want to go to. By the time we discovered that their aim really was to have the election postponed for some sinister reasons because they knew they were going to lose, we had to come out to tell the Edo people not to be intimidated or scared. The state government and the Nigerian security agencies would encourage all Edo people to come out to vote on election day. Violence is just a scare tactics they have developed to scare Edo people. In pre-election times like this, there is always talk of tension and what really triggered this issue of violence was the video that went viral.

In the video, the APC candidate was speaking to some people who referred to themselves as lions and tigers and he told them that some of them were so dangerous that they can move from one local government to the other and from ward to ward to disrupt the election when it  is clear that the electoral law stipulates that on election day, you are restricted to your unit. That was what gave rise to this tension and feeling that there would be violence but we now know where they are going to. We reject it and urge the people of Edo State to reject it and make sure that the only violence on election day would be for the electorate to use their PVCs to send the APC in Edo State back to the drawing board.

Host: How is the PDP working to check cases of rigging and violence on election day?

Chris Nehikhare:  Rigging is always a plan being hatched by the APC; they have a history of rigging. Look at Kogi, look at Osun. Unfortunately for them, in Edo we have the most sophisticated electorate and for that reason it would be difficult for anybody to use the template we discovered recently they refer to as the “Hope Uzodinma Template”. The Party and Edo people will resist it and APC will have nowhere to go. We are not worried about that right now because we have the support and followership in Edo people who are determined to retain Obaseki as their Governor.

Host: There is this fear in the minds of the people that they may not come out to vote?

Chris Nehikhare: We have told them and we believe they know that they have to come out, there is nothing for them to fear. Anybody that plans violence would be dealt with by the law, anybody that is seen with arms will be dealt with by the law, anybody that moves around from ward to ward and unit to unit on election day will be dealt with by the law. The electorate have no reason whatsoever to fear, the election would be peaceful and the PDP and the Edo people will win that election.

Our major concern is in the hands of the operators of the election, INEC. They have to be free, transparent and fair and be seen to do things in a professional manner. There is also the interference from outside forces especially our security forces. We have been hearing of federal might, these things have to be stopped and we make sure it doesn’t happen not just by Federal Government but by every Nigerian. We don’t want our election to be more deadly than the coup that took place in Mali a few days ago.

 

Host: The APC Candidate and his running mate have legal pitfalls that will invalidate their candidacy, how do you intend to leverage on this for your benefit?

Chris Nehikhare: The cases are in court but what we want to do is to make sure they are defeated fairly and squarely on September 19th before the court decides on their fate. Technically, we are all aware that the APC does not have a candidate. The State Chairman of the APC went out publicly to say that he is not aware of any primaries and that they don’t have a candidate, then the National Chairman at the time, who was acting after Oshiomole was kicked out also said he is not aware of the candidature of Ize Iyamu.

Technically, we can say Ize Iyamu is an impostor because the organs that were in place at the time he claimed to have been elected the candidate of the APC have all denied him. The APC has three prominent factions in the State namely, EPM, APC and POI, we are not counting on that. What we are counting on is the support of the Edo people, the number of PVCs that are going to be used to nail the final coffin of the APC in the state on September 19.

Host: What would you say about the ward to ward campaign of Governor Obaseki as opposed to the local government to local government campaign of the opposition?

Chris Nehikhare: One word is Excellent. The ward to ward campaign has shown us that the Edo people are determined to return Governor Obaseki. We are meeting the communities and the people in their backyards and the response has been excellent. Also because of the peculiarity of COVID-19 situation which the Governor and the Edo PDP are passionate about, we decided to embark on a campaign where we meet a few people in a small environment like their backyards. However, whenever the campaign starts, we begin with the need to observe the COVID-19 containment protocol and advice the people to always wash their hands, wear their face masks, hand sanitize, keep safe social distancing, self-isolate when they observe the symptoms of COVID-19. Also going to the wards has given us the opportunity to see the project needs of some of the most remote parts of the state. That is why we were able to identify some communities where the roads had been abandoned for years but on paper it said these roads had been fixed. This is the case in Okpella where the books of Adams Oshiomole said these roads had been fixed. As we all know that government is a continuum, governor Obaseki has apologized for this lie by the Oshiomole administration and has promised the people of Okpella recompense.

Host: At the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic when a lot of states where shutting down completely, Edo Sate did not shut down completely due to Economic reasons which made the PDP opposition then to criticize Obaseki heavily, would you say the governor handled the situation perfectly well in all honesty?

Chris Nehikhare: In retrospect and in all honesty, I think the PDP and myself especially jumped the gun because we saw the model of lock-down being used by other states and other countries, we expected the governor to use that model for our safety and that is why we criticized him. The governor took time to explain to the Edo people and the PDP at the time and he gave reasons and conditions upon which we can move around. At the same time, he did not collapse the economy as technically you know Nigeria and indeed the world is in recession now because of the way we shut down and the Edo State economy did not grind to a halt because of the style Obaseki used. We owe him a thank you for keeping the economy going, for keeping the people safe by telling them what to do and by screening over five hundred thousand people in a short period of time to make sure that this covid-19 is contained.

Host: What is the relationship between the Bonafide PDP members and those that have defected from APC and came with the governor to join the PDP?

Chris Nehikhare: There is no Bonafide, real or fake PDP member. From the minute you take a membership card you have the same rights and benefits with every card-carrying member. Do not forget that most of these people coming back have PDP in their DNA. Our aim right now is to make sure we deliver Governor Obaseki on September 19 from across the 192 wards in the state.

Host: What do you make of the controversy over the Edo Modular Refinery and the APC’s wrangling about it?

Chris Nehikhare: The controversy is an embarrassment to the APC. Their former national Chairman, who is their albatross, went on national television to say there is nothing like the Modular Refinery when the whole world can see that the refinery exists and is about to start refining crude oil. It is clear that the refinery is sited in Edo State, that the governor attracted the investor, provided land to the investor, provided Seven Hundred Million Naira as part of funding for the project and that Edo people are employed to work in that refinery. We wonder what exactly the opposition is looking for because they are having sleepless nights as the projects are all coming up to public awareness. They have to start telling lies that there is no project or that Edo state government only put small amount of money in the projects.

Host: When one says PDP, it is not unusual for somebody to respond by saying, share the money! You say Obaseki is very prudent about spending money, If Obaseki is reelected and he doesn’t share the money how would you feel?

Chris Nehikhare: That narrative has expired. The narrative of share the money now belongs to the APC. You know Obaseki was hounded out of the APC because he refused to share the money. He refused to put money in the pockets of politicians and rather put the money for projects that will benefit the Edo people. That is why they hounded him out because he does not “take care of the politicians”. That narrative and stigma of the PDP has been cleansed from our system. What you have in the PDP today is a new, improved, reengineered set of people running the affairs of the PDP and its membership. Any political party that stays in opposition for twelve years, that does not have power at the center and still remains relevant,  you know that party is ready and committed to the growth and development of the Edo people, you know that party is made up of men of integrity. That is why Governor Obaseki fits in perfectly with the new thinking of the PDP because his philosophy of using the resources of Edo State for Edo people resonates with the PDP in Edo State today. The party was built by us, people you don’t know their names. For example, I became prominent in the PDP after we went into opposition because I had decided to help build the Party. We are ready to sacrifice for the people. PDP does not share the money but asks for development. The PDP wants happy Edo people in a strong state.

Host: Let us look at the last three years and eight months, can you give us a chronology of projects of the Obaseki administration.

Chris Nehikhare: I will give you a few as we would be here all day if I have to go into all the projects. I will talk about the reforms in the Judiciary, in Pension and the Civil Service. These reforms will make us have an efficient society, government and city. Talking about the judiciary, I am sure if you drive through the Sapele Road area today, you will see that for the first time in many years, the High Court Area has a new look and is equipped with modern communication. This has been done quietly. Governor Obaseki also made sure our judges are comfortable and live in a very peaceful environment.

Talking about Civil Service reforms, you are aware civil servants have not gone for training for at least thirty years. First of all, he set up a civil service training institute with modern communication equipment and instructors and all those things needed to improve civil service performance. Not only that, the civil service buildings that had been abandoned long before some of us were born have been renovated to an unbelievable standard. The civil service secretariat is built up, equipped and beautiful to give the civil servants a sense of appreciation and they would be eligible for training and retraining for efficient service delivery.

That done, our parents today are happy that the Edo State local economy is picking up because the people know, just like clockwork, that from the 25^th, 26^th of every month, civil servants receive their salaries. Not only civil servants but the pensioners who were owed billions of Naira for over thirteen years, have had their arrears cleared by Governor Obaseki and they are now paid as and when due. You know what that does to the economy? Mama Joy or Papa David can now sell on credit to our civil servants knowing that come 25^th or 26^th they too can get their monies from their customers.

It did not end there. The reform also affected Basic Education at the primary school level. The governor brought in a system called Edo Best whereby eleven thousand teachers were trained on how to use devices to take care of lesson notes and all the lesson materials for children to key into a system to be able to stimulate the intellect of the pupils to the extent that other states and the United Nations have taken interest in this model and even export it to other states and countries.

The governor made a promise in 2016 that he was going to set up two hundred thousand jobs. Thus, he created Edo Jobs. Edo Jobs is actually a novel thing in these paths whereby, job applications for Edo people were being captured online and lots of Edo youths have been trained, retrained and employed through that system by attaching them to existing companies in the relevant areas of their newly acquired skills. Today the last batch of 157,000 people have gone through it and are properly employed. There is also the Edo Hub which was also brought in, whereby young men and women are trained on different fields, especially Information Technology (IT). The state government is partnering with Google, LinkedIn, Facebook and other international IT companies where they train our youths. I can tell you for free that lots of our youths have gone through Edo Hub and they are being paid in Dollars now because they are working for foreign companies.

In the area of farming, this is the first time in the history of Nigeria where young graduates are proud to become farmers because the Agripreneur programme encourages young people to take up farming as a profession, where whatever they produce is guaranteed to be taken over by off takers, so there is no loss at all. I laugh when APC members today say the governor has not created jobs. There was no time the governor said he was going to create 200,000 jobs in the civil service. Our civil service is lean and efficient, he has made it so. Creating jobs for Edo people is creating a conducive environment for investors to come in. The Modular Refinery has come in, the Benin River Port Gelegele is taking shape, the Agricultural Institutes across the three Senatorial Districts are creating jobs and preparing our youth to be agricultural entrepreneurs, Warake Rice Farm is there for all to see, College of Education in Abudu, all these things aggregated together have provided our Edo people work as they are working in all these places.

Host: Can you say something about your face cap. You have on it, ”Resetting Edo”. Has Edo not been set right all these years?

Chris Nehikhare: From 2008 to 2016, the government pulled Edo back by having the wrong set of people become role models to Edo Youths and People. Young men started doubting their educational qualification because all they could see were thugs, uneducated people leading them, being in charge of taxes, being the ones celebrating Billions of Naira in their accounts and scattering the town without checks. What Godwin Obaseki wants to do and what Edo people want is to have a society where the best are in front, where Edo puts its best foot forward and no child is left behind. Children who are not fast enough to join the pace are pulled along so that Edo State is on the right path. An Edo where role models are positive role models for our children to follow. Our resetting has to do with creating and recognizing positive role models in Edo State.

 

…..Interview with Chris Osa Nehikhare, State PDP Publicity Secretary

 

Interview with the Edo State PDP Publicity Secretary and Chairman Media and Publicity Sub Committee of the PDP Gubernatorial Campaign Council, Mr. Chris Osa Nehikhare. He spoke on the importance of the reelection of Governor Godwin Obaseki.

 

Host: Habiibah Oyeghe Oyarekhua

 

Guest: Chris Osa Nehikhare, Edo State Publicity Secretary of the PDP

 

Host: What do you make of the political intrigues that have trailed the 2020 Governorship election in Edo State? What has changed since the last election??

Chris Nehikhare: What has changed is the integrity of the personalities involved in this election, it’s not just the candidates but those that are propelling and selling their candidates for the Edo people to decide who they want. Four years ago, you had people on one side that sold a narrative to Edo people, this year, this same people are selling a different narrative to the Edo people on this same candidate. Edo people are wiser now and they tend to vote for those they know and those they trust. They would reach their decisions by themselves without being propelled by narratives. Choosing the person of their choice would be eye marking the achievements, the projects, the things that have been done by the candidates. On this side of the divide we have Governor Godwin Obaseki who has, against all odds, even when he was being harassed, bullied, intimidated, chassed, he was focused providing the dividends of democracy, providing development for the Edo people. These are the things that matter in this election and our duty is to let Edo people and Nigerians know that the best person for the job of Governor of Edo State in 2020, is Governor Godwin Obaseki.

Host: You have just told us about what has changed since the last election, what about the intrigues that are trailing this election?

Chris Nehikhare: These are things that happen in every election circle. People come up with all kinds of stories to try and gain advantage. The intrigues are normal. Politicians and the Edo electorate who are one of the most sophisticated in Nigeria know it is normal. They cannot be fooled by the narratives that come out especially from APC at this point in time to try and sell a candidate and a brand that had been rejected in the past. The simple agenda was rejected then, the people cannot be fooled, no matter how they try to package their candidate.

Host: The candidate of the All Progressives Congress used to be a member of the PDP, why is the PDP not bothered that he may compromise the structure in the upcoming election?

Chris Nehikhare: He used to be a member of the APC before he came to the PDP and back to APC again. These are political nomads and when nomads come, they bring fifty people and when they are going back to where they came from the fifty people are not complete. I don’t think he has left the PDP with all the people he came to the PDP with. He has only left with a few that have their ambition and lives tied to his ambition. We are not bothered about that because apart from our structure being reorganized, I am sure you are aware that we had a Congress in March this year where a new State Chairman emerged and new executives from the Ward level all the way to the State level emerged.

The system now in the PDP is a new system. Yes, the faces might be the same but there is a new thinking, there has been a joggle, a new arrogance, a new love for Edo people. We are not bothered when you say a candidate left the PDP for the APC, a Party that had been rejected by Edo people even when they were in government. The only person that made APC to thick, that was the center of its gravity in the state was Governor Obaseki and he has left the APC. Once he left the party, its attraction to the Edo people became non-existent. His leaving the Party crumbled the Party and left it in tatters. The APC structure from the wards to the state levels only exists in the campaign headquarters of the candidate of the POI faction of the APC. What you have left of the APC in Edo State are politicians that are desperate and want their hands on the Till Box of Edo State government. They are less than 0.2 percent of the Edo population. The Edo people who the governor works for, are the 99.08 percent and it is they that will determine who will govern Edo State, not the lions and tigers. The people are the Hunters that will hunt down these so-called Lions and Tigers!

Host: Talking about the elections, what are the bottlenecks that you envisage in this election?

Chris Nehikhare: Transparency and fairness especially from INEC and to some extent the security agencies. If everybody plays fair and everybody acts in a manner that was designed by our constitution, the election would be free and fair and there would be no bottlenecks. INEC’s organizational ability and their ability to be free, fair and transparent will determine Nigeria’s democracy. If they fail in these areas then our democracy will be endangered in Nigeria.

Host: What are the strong points of the PDP in this forth coming election?

Chris Nehikhare: Our strong point is really the achievements of Governor Obaseki. Do not forget that before he joined us, we were a strong critic of his government especially in respect of projects that were being done and not told to the people. One thing for sure was that when he was not with the PDP, there was no time in our attack on this governor that we criticized him based on any form of financial recklessness as financial prudence has always been his strong point. That is what PDP stands for today, a Party that was ready to serve the Edo people, do all the things to make Edo great was now being led by a man who had decided to work hand in gloves to make Edo better. PDP got a very good candidate and Edo people should be proud that they have a man like this at this point in time ready to go forward and build a stronger State. Do not forget he said his vision was to make Edo State the business Hub in West Africa and that’s exactly what he has been doing and would continue to do in the next four years!

Host: As a PDP member, can you confirm to the viewers that your Party envisaged that Obaseki would join you from the APC? The reason we ask is because of the way he was received with open arms.

Chris Nehikhare: We were not envisaging him to come to our Party at all. We wanted one of our own within the Party at the time to be the candidate because we had drawn a beautiful roadmap. But as God would have it, the people that had him rejected him, they pushed him off. Even while we were deciding whether he would come or not, we got numerous calls from eminent citizens in this state that we must give him the Party platform to run and only an irresponsible political party would reject a request from these people that have ruled this state at one time or the other, eminent and prominent Statesmen. The Party talked to its aspirants and we agreed he should be given the platform to contest. Like I have said, it was hand in gloves with this candidate.

Host: Talking about financial prudence what would you say are the differences between this government and the previous one?

Chris Nehikhare:  There are so many differences between this government and the previous one. This government has been very careful how it uses State resources. You are aware that in the previous dispensation, the governor then used the state resources as if it was his personal income, dispensing favor right, left and center. Those that were collecting resources of the State were collecting it for their pockets, to the extent that touts (agbaros) were celebrating attaining a billion naira in their personal bank accounts, making those who are hardworking, who have gone to school not to have confidence in the education they had attained.

Obaseki has redesigned the Tax system to make sure that what is taken from the people goes to  the government and is used for the development of the people. Revenue is collected in a civilized manner, not with whips and chains. Technically speaking, Governor Obaseki unlocked the chains with which the Edo people were chained between 2008 and 2016.

Host: What do you make of the complaints regarding electoral violence in Edo State?

Chris Nehikhare: It is most embarrassing and I condemn it in all its totality. When the issue of violence came up, it was clear they were trying to drag us to an area we didn’t want to go to. By the time we discovered that their aim really was to have the election postponed for some sinister reasons because they knew they were going to lose, we had to come out to tell the Edo people not to be intimidated or scared. The state government and the Nigerian security agencies would encourage all Edo people to come out to vote on election day. Violence is just a scare tactics they have developed to scare Edo people. In pre-election times like this, there is always talk of tension and what really triggered this issue of violence was the video that went viral.

In the video, the APC candidate was speaking to some people who referred to themselves as lions and tigers and he told them that some of them were so dangerous that they can move from one local government to the other and from ward to ward to disrupt the election when it  is clear that the electoral law stipulates that on election day, you are restricted to your unit. That was what gave rise to this tension and feeling that there would be violence but we now know where they are going to. We reject it and urge the people of Edo State to reject it and make sure that the only violence on election day would be for the electorate to use their PVCs to send the APC in Edo State back to the drawing board.

Host: How is the PDP working to check cases of rigging and violence on election day?

Chris Nehikhare:  Rigging is always a plan being hatched by the APC; they have a history of rigging. Look at Kogi, look at Osun. Unfortunately for them, in Edo we have the most sophisticated electorate and for that reason it would be difficult for anybody to use the template we discovered recently they refer to as the “Hope Uzodinma Template”. The Party and Edo people will resist it and APC will have nowhere to go. We are not worried about that right now because we have the support and followership in Edo people who are determined to retain Obaseki as their Governor.

Host: There is this fear in the minds of the people that they may not come out to vote?

Chris Nehikhare: We have told them and we believe they know that they have to come out, there is nothing for them to fear. Anybody that plans violence would be dealt with by the law, anybody that is seen with arms will be dealt with by the law, anybody that moves around from ward to ward and unit to unit on election day will be dealt with by the law. The electorate have no reason whatsoever to fear, the election would be peaceful and the PDP and the Edo people will win that election.

Our major concern is in the hands of the operators of the election, INEC. They have to be free, transparent and fair and be seen to do things in a professional manner. There is also the interference from outside forces especially our security forces. We have been hearing of federal might, these things have to be stopped and we make sure it doesn’t happen not just by Federal Government but by every Nigerian. We don’t want our election to be more deadly than the coup that took place in Mali a few days ago.

 

Host: The APC Candidate and his running mate have legal pitfalls that will invalidate their candidacy, how do you intend to leverage on this for your benefit?

Chris Nehikhare: The cases are in court but what we want to do is to make sure they are defeated fairly and squarely on September 19th before the court decides on their fate. Technically, we are all aware that the APC does not have a candidate. The State Chairman of the APC went out publicly to say that he is not aware of any primaries and that they don’t have a candidate, then the National Chairman at the time, who was acting after Oshiomole was kicked out also said he is not aware of the candidature of Ize Iyamu.

Technically, we can say Ize Iyamu is an impostor because the organs that were in place at the time he claimed to have been elected the candidate of the APC have all denied him. The APC has three prominent factions in the State namely, EPM, APC and POI, we are not counting on that. What we are counting on is the support of the Edo people, the number of PVCs that are going to be used to nail the final coffin of the APC in the state on September 19.

Host: What would you say about the ward to ward campaign of Governor Obaseki as opposed to the local government to local government campaign of the opposition?

Chris Nehikhare: One word is Excellent. The ward to ward campaign has shown us that the Edo people are determined to return Governor Obaseki. We are meeting the communities and the people in their backyards and the response has been excellent. Also because of the peculiarity of COVID-19 situation which the Governor and the Edo PDP are passionate about, we decided to embark on a campaign where we meet a few people in a small environment like their backyards. However, whenever the campaign starts, we begin with the need to observe the COVID-19 containment protocol and advice the people to always wash their hands, wear their face masks, hand sanitize, keep safe social distancing, self-isolate when they observe the symptoms of COVID-19. Also going to the wards has given us the opportunity to see the project needs of some of the most remote parts of the state. That is why we were able to identify some communities where the roads had been abandoned for years but on paper it said these roads had been fixed. This is the case in Okpella where the books of Adams Oshiomole said these roads had been fixed. As we all know that government is a continuum, governor Obaseki has apologized for this lie by the Oshiomole administration and has promised the people of Okpella recompense.

Host: At the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic when a lot of states where shutting down completely, Edo Sate did not shut down completely due to Economic reasons which made the PDP opposition then to criticize Obaseki heavily, would you say the governor handled the situation perfectly well in all honesty?

Chris Nehikhare: In retrospect and in all honesty, I think the PDP and myself especially jumped the gun because we saw the model of lock-down being used by other states and other countries, we expected the governor to use that model for our safety and that is why we criticized him. The governor took time to explain to the Edo people and the PDP at the time and he gave reasons and conditions upon which we can move around. At the same time, he did not collapse the economy as technically you know Nigeria and indeed the world is in recession now because of the way we shut down and the Edo State economy did not grind to a halt because of the style Obaseki used. We owe him a thank you for keeping the economy going, for keeping the people safe by telling them what to do and by screening over five hundred thousand people in a short period of time to make sure that this covid-19 is contained.

Host: What is the relationship between the Bonafide PDP members and those that have defected from APC and came with the governor to join the PDP?

Chris Nehikhare: There is no Bonafide, real or fake PDP member. From the minute you take a membership card you have the same rights and benefits with every card-carrying member. Do not forget that most of these people coming back have PDP in their DNA. Our aim right now is to make sure we deliver Governor Obaseki on September 19 from across the 192 wards in the state.

Host: What do you make of the controversy over the Edo Modular Refinery and the APC’s wrangling about it?

Chris Nehikhare: The controversy is an embarrassment to the APC. Their former national Chairman, who is their albatross, went on national television to say there is nothing like the Modular Refinery when the whole world can see that the refinery exists and is about to start refining crude oil. It is clear that the refinery is sited in Edo State, that the governor attracted the investor, provided land to the investor, provided Seven Hundred Million Naira as part of funding for the project and that Edo people are employed to work in that refinery. We wonder what exactly the opposition is looking for because they are having sleepless nights as the projects are all coming up to public awareness. They have to start telling lies that there is no project or that Edo state government only put small amount of money in the projects.

Host: When one says PDP, it is not unusual for somebody to respond by saying, share the money! You say Obaseki is very prudent about spending money, If Obaseki is reelected and he doesn’t share the money how would you feel?

Chris Nehikhare: That narrative has expired. The narrative of share the money now belongs to the APC. You know Obaseki was hounded out of the APC because he refused to share the money. He refused to put money in the pockets of politicians and rather put the money for projects that will benefit the Edo people. That is why they hounded him out because he does not “take care of the politicians”. That narrative and stigma of the PDP has been cleansed from our system. What you have in the PDP today is a new, improved, reengineered set of people running the affairs of the PDP and its membership. Any political party that stays in opposition for twelve years, that does not have power at the center and still remains relevant,  you know that party is ready and committed to the growth and development of the Edo people, you know that party is made up of men of integrity. That is why Governor Obaseki fits in perfectly with the new thinking of the PDP because his philosophy of using the resources of Edo State for Edo people resonates with the PDP in Edo State today. The party was built by us, people you don’t know their names. For example, I became prominent in the PDP after we went into opposition because I had decided to help build the Party. We are ready to sacrifice for the people. PDP does not share the money but asks for development. The PDP wants happy Edo people in a strong state.

Host: Let us look at the last three years and eight months, can you give us a chronology of projects of the Obaseki administration.

Chris Nehikhare: I will give you a few as we would be here all day if I have to go into all the projects. I will talk about the reforms in the Judiciary, in Pension and the Civil Service. These reforms will make us have an efficient society, government and city. Talking about the judiciary, I am sure if you drive through the Sapele Road area today, you will see that for the first time in many years, the High Court Area has a new look and is equipped with modern communication. This has been done quietly. Governor Obaseki also made sure our judges are comfortable and live in a very peaceful environment.

Talking about Civil Service reforms, you are aware civil servants have not gone for training for at least thirty years. First of all, he set up a civil service training institute with modern communication equipment and instructors and all those things needed to improve civil service performance. Not only that, the civil service buildings that had been abandoned long before some of us were born have been renovated to an unbelievable standard. The civil service secretariat is built up, equipped and beautiful to give the civil servants a sense of appreciation and they would be eligible for training and retraining for efficient service delivery.

That done, our parents today are happy that the Edo State local economy is picking up because the people know, just like clockwork, that from the 25^th, 26^th of every month, civil servants receive their salaries. Not only civil servants but the pensioners who were owed billions of Naira for over thirteen years, have had their arrears cleared by Governor Obaseki and they are now paid as and when due. You know what that does to the economy? Mama Joy or Papa David can now sell on credit to our civil servants knowing that come 25^th or 26^th they too can get their monies from their customers.

It did not end there. The reform also affected Basic Education at the primary school level. The governor brought in a system called Edo Best whereby eleven thousand teachers were trained on how to use devices to take care of lesson notes and all the lesson materials for children to key into a system to be able to stimulate the intellect of the pupils to the extent that other states and the United Nations have taken interest in this model and even export it to other states and countries.

The governor made a promise in 2016 that he was going to set up two hundred thousand jobs. Thus, he created Edo Jobs. Edo Jobs is actually a novel thing in these paths whereby, job applications for Edo people were being captured online and lots of Edo youths have been trained, retrained and employed through that system by attaching them to existing companies in the relevant areas of their newly acquired skills. Today the last batch of 157,000 people have gone through it and are properly employed. There is also the Edo Hub which was also brought in, whereby young men and women are trained on different fields, especially Information Technology (IT). The state government is partnering with Google, LinkedIn, Facebook and other international IT companies where they train our youths. I can tell you for free that lots of our youths have gone through Edo Hub and they are being paid in Dollars now because they are working for foreign companies.

In the area of farming, this is the first time in the history of Nigeria where young graduates are proud to become farmers because the Agripreneur programme encourages young people to take up farming as a profession, where whatever they produce is guaranteed to be taken over by off takers, so there is no loss at all. I laugh when APC members today say the governor has not created jobs. There was no time the governor said he was going to create 200,000 jobs in the civil service. Our civil service is lean and efficient, he has made it so. Creating jobs for Edo people is creating a conducive environment for investors to come in. The Modular Refinery has come in, the Benin River Port Gelegele is taking shape, the Agricultural Institutes across the three Senatorial Districts are creating jobs and preparing our youth to be agricultural entrepreneurs, Warake Rice Farm is there for all to see, College of Education in Abudu, all these things aggregated together have provided our Edo people work as they are working in all these places.

Host: Can you say something about your face cap. You have on it, ”Resetting Edo”. Has Edo not been set right all these years?

Chris Nehikhare: From 2008 to 2016, the government pulled Edo back by having the wrong set of people become role models to Edo Youths and People. Young men started doubting their educational qualification because all they could see were thugs, uneducated people leading them, being in charge of taxes, being the ones celebrating Billions of Naira in their accounts and scattering the town without checks. What Godwin Obaseki wants to do and what Edo people want is to have a society where the best are in front, where Edo puts its best foot forward and no child is left behind. Children who are not fast enough to join the pace are pulled along so that Edo State is on the right path. An Edo where role models are positive role models for our children to follow. Our resetting has to do with creating and recognizing positive role models in Edo State.

 

…..Interview with Chris Osa Nehikhare, State PDP Publicity Secretary

 

Interview with the Edo State PDP Publicity Secretary and Chairman Media and Publicity Sub Committee of the PDP Gubernatorial Campaign Council, Mr. Chris Osa Nehikhare. He spoke on the importance of the reelection of Governor Godwin Obaseki.

 

Host: Habiibah Oyeghe Oyarekhua

 

Guest: Chris Osa Nehikhare, Edo State Publicity Secretary of the PDP

 

Host: What do you make of the political intrigues that have trailed the 2020 Governorship election in Edo State? What has changed since the last election??

Chris Nehikhare: What has changed is the integrity of the personalities involved in this election, it’s not just the candidates but those that are propelling and selling their candidates for the Edo people to decide who they want. Four years ago, you had people on one side that sold a narrative to Edo people, this year, this same people are selling a different narrative to the Edo people on this same candidate. Edo people are wiser now and they tend to vote for those they know and those they trust. They would reach their decisions by themselves without being propelled by narratives. Choosing the person of their choice would be eye marking the achievements, the projects, the things that have been done by the candidates. On this side of the divide we have Governor Godwin Obaseki who has, against all odds, even when he was being harassed, bullied, intimidated, chassed, he was focused providing the dividends of democracy, providing development for the Edo people. These are the things that matter in this election and our duty is to let Edo people and Nigerians know that the best person for the job of Governor of Edo State in 2020, is Governor Godwin Obaseki.

Host: You have just told us about what has changed since the last election, what about the intrigues that are trailing this election?

Chris Nehikhare: These are things that happen in every election circle. People come up with all kinds of stories to try and gain advantage. The intrigues are normal. Politicians and the Edo electorate who are one of the most sophisticated in Nigeria know it is normal. They cannot be fooled by the narratives that come out especially from APC at this point in time to try and sell a candidate and a brand that had been rejected in the past. The simple agenda was rejected then, the people cannot be fooled, no matter how they try to package their candidate.

Host: The candidate of the All Progressives Congress used to be a member of the PDP, why is the PDP not bothered that he may compromise the structure in the upcoming election?

Chris Nehikhare: He used to be a member of the APC before he came to the PDP and back to APC again. These are political nomads and when nomads come, they bring fifty people and when they are going back to where they came from the fifty people are not complete. I don’t think he has left the PDP with all the people he came to the PDP with. He has only left with a few that have their ambition and lives tied to his ambition. We are not bothered about that because apart from our structure being reorganized, I am sure you are aware that we had a Congress in March this year where a new State Chairman emerged and new executives from the Ward level all the way to the State level emerged.

The system now in the PDP is a new system. Yes, the faces might be the same but there is a new thinking, there has been a joggle, a new arrogance, a new love for Edo people. We are not bothered when you say a candidate left the PDP for the APC, a Party that had been rejected by Edo people even when they were in government. The only person that made APC to thick, that was the center of its gravity in the state was Governor Obaseki and he has left the APC. Once he left the party, its attraction to the Edo people became non-existent. His leaving the Party crumbled the Party and left it in tatters. The APC structure from the wards to the state levels only exists in the campaign headquarters of the candidate of the POI faction of the APC. What you have left of the APC in Edo State are politicians that are desperate and want their hands on the Till Box of Edo State government. They are less than 0.2 percent of the Edo population. The Edo people who the governor works for, are the 99.08 percent and it is they that will determine who will govern Edo State, not the lions and tigers. The people are the Hunters that will hunt down these so-called Lions and Tigers!

Host: Talking about the elections, what are the bottlenecks that you envisage in this election?

Chris Nehikhare: Transparency and fairness especially from INEC and to some extent the security agencies. If everybody plays fair and everybody acts in a manner that was designed by our constitution, the election would be free and fair and there would be no bottlenecks. INEC’s organizational ability and their ability to be free, fair and transparent will determine Nigeria’s democracy. If they fail in these areas then our democracy will be endangered in Nigeria.

Host: What are the strong points of the PDP in this forth coming election?

Chris Nehikhare: Our strong point is really the achievements of Governor Obaseki. Do not forget that before he joined us, we were a strong critic of his government especially in respect of projects that were being done and not told to the people. One thing for sure was that when he was not with the PDP, there was no time in our attack on this governor that we criticized him based on any form of financial recklessness as financial prudence has always been his strong point. That is what PDP stands for today, a Party that was ready to serve the Edo people, do all the things to make Edo great was now being led by a man who had decided to work hand in gloves to make Edo better. PDP got a very good candidate and Edo people should be proud that they have a man like this at this point in time ready to go forward and build a stronger State. Do not forget he said his vision was to make Edo State the business Hub in West Africa and that’s exactly what he has been doing and would continue to do in the next four years!

Host: As a PDP member, can you confirm to the viewers that your Party envisaged that Obaseki would join you from the APC? The reason we ask is because of the way he was received with open arms.

Chris Nehikhare: We were not envisaging him to come to our Party at all. We wanted one of our own within the Party at the time to be the candidate because we had drawn a beautiful roadmap. But as God would have it, the people that had him rejected him, they pushed him off. Even while we were deciding whether he would come or not, we got numerous calls from eminent citizens in this state that we must give him the Party platform to run and only an irresponsible political party would reject a request from these people that have ruled this state at one time or the other, eminent and prominent Statesmen. The Party talked to its aspirants and we agreed he should be given the platform to contest. Like I have said, it was hand in gloves with this candidate.

Host: Talking about financial prudence what would you say are the differences between this government and the previous one?

Chris Nehikhare:  There are so many differences between this government and the previous one. This government has been very careful how it uses State resources. You are aware that in the previous dispensation, the governor then used the state resources as if it was his personal income, dispensing favor right, left and center. Those that were collecting resources of the State were collecting it for their pockets, to the extent that touts (agbaros) were celebrating attaining a billion naira in their personal bank accounts, making those who are hardworking, who have gone to school not to have confidence in the education they had attained.

Obaseki has redesigned the Tax system to make sure that what is taken from the people goes to  the government and is used for the development of the people. Revenue is collected in a civilized manner, not with whips and chains. Technically speaking, Governor Obaseki unlocked the chains with which the Edo people were chained between 2008 and 2016.

Host: What do you make of the complaints regarding electoral violence in Edo State?

Chris Nehikhare: It is most embarrassing and I condemn it in all its totality. When the issue of violence came up, it was clear they were trying to drag us to an area we didn’t want to go to. By the time we discovered that their aim really was to have the election postponed for some sinister reasons because they knew they were going to lose, we had to come out to tell the Edo people not to be intimidated or scared. The state government and the Nigerian security agencies would encourage all Edo people to come out to vote on election day. Violence is just a scare tactics they have developed to scare Edo people. In pre-election times like this, there is always talk of tension and what really triggered this issue of violence was the video that went viral.

In the video, the APC candidate was speaking to some people who referred to themselves as lions and tigers and he told them that some of them were so dangerous that they can move from one local government to the other and from ward to ward to disrupt the election when it  is clear that the electoral law stipulates that on election day, you are restricted to your unit. That was what gave rise to this tension and feeling that there would be violence but we now know where they are going to. We reject it and urge the people of Edo State to reject it and make sure that the only violence on election day would be for the electorate to use their PVCs to send the APC in Edo State back to the drawing board.

Host: How is the PDP working to check cases of rigging and violence on election day?

Chris Nehikhare:  Rigging is always a plan being hatched by the APC; they have a history of rigging. Look at Kogi, look at Osun. Unfortunately for them, in Edo we have the most sophisticated electorate and for that reason it would be difficult for anybody to use the template we discovered recently they refer to as the “Hope Uzodinma Template”. The Party and Edo people will resist it and APC will have nowhere to go. We are not worried about that right now because we have the support and followership in Edo people who are determined to retain Obaseki as their Governor.

Host: There is this fear in the minds of the people that they may not come out to vote?

Chris Nehikhare: We have told them and we believe they know that they have to come out, there is nothing for them to fear. Anybody that plans violence would be dealt with by the law, anybody that is seen with arms will be dealt with by the law, anybody that moves around from ward to ward and unit to unit on election day will be dealt with by the law. The electorate have no reason whatsoever to fear, the election would be peaceful and the PDP and the Edo people will win that election.

Our major concern is in the hands of the operators of the election, INEC. They have to be free, transparent and fair and be seen to do things in a professional manner. There is also the interference from outside forces especially our security forces. We have been hearing of federal might, these things have to be stopped and we make sure it doesn’t happen not just by Federal Government but by every Nigerian. We don’t want our election to be more deadly than the coup that took place in Mali a few days ago.

 

Host: The APC Candidate and his running mate have legal pitfalls that will invalidate their candidacy, how do you intend to leverage on this for your benefit?

Chris Nehikhare: The cases are in court but what we want to do is to make sure they are defeated fairly and squarely on September 19th before the court decides on their fate. Technically, we are all aware that the APC does not have a candidate. The State Chairman of the APC went out publicly to say that he is not aware of any primaries and that they don’t have a candidate, then the National Chairman at the time, who was acting after Oshiomole was kicked out also said he is not aware of the candidature of Ize Iyamu.

Technically, we can say Ize Iyamu is an impostor because the organs that were in place at the time he claimed to have been elected the candidate of the APC have all denied him. The APC has three prominent factions in the State namely, EPM, APC and POI, we are not counting on that. What we are counting on is the support of the Edo people, the number of PVCs that are going to be used to nail the final coffin of the APC in the state on September 19.

Host: What would you say about the ward to ward campaign of Governor Obaseki as opposed to the local government to local government campaign of the opposition?

Chris Nehikhare: One word is Excellent. The ward to ward campaign has shown us that the Edo people are determined to return Governor Obaseki. We are meeting the communities and the people in their backyards and the response has been excellent. Also because of the peculiarity of COVID-19 situation which the Governor and the Edo PDP are passionate about, we decided to embark on a campaign where we meet a few people in a small environment like their backyards. However, whenever the campaign starts, we begin with the need to observe the COVID-19 containment protocol and advice the people to always wash their hands, wear their face masks, hand sanitize, keep safe social distancing, self-isolate when they observe the symptoms of COVID-19. Also going to the wards has given us the opportunity to see the project needs of some of the most remote parts of the state. That is why we were able to identify some communities where the roads had been abandoned for years but on paper it said these roads had been fixed. This is the case in Okpella where the books of Adams Oshiomole said these roads had been fixed. As we all know that government is a continuum, governor Obaseki has apologized for this lie by the Oshiomole administration and has promised the people of Okpella recompense.

Host: At the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic when a lot of states where shutting down completely, Edo Sate did not shut down completely due to Economic reasons which made the PDP opposition then to criticize Obaseki heavily, would you say the governor handled the situation perfectly well in all honesty?

Chris Nehikhare: In retrospect and in all honesty, I think the PDP and myself especially jumped the gun because we saw the model of lock-down being used by other states and other countries, we expected the governor to use that model for our safety and that is why we criticized him. The governor took time to explain to the Edo people and the PDP at the time and he gave reasons and conditions upon which we can move around. At the same time, he did not collapse the economy as technically you know Nigeria and indeed the world is in recession now because of the way we shut down and the Edo State economy did not grind to a halt because of the style Obaseki used. We owe him a thank you for keeping the economy going, for keeping the people safe by telling them what to do and by screening over five hundred thousand people in a short period of time to make sure that this covid-19 is contained.

Host: What is the relationship between the Bonafide PDP members and those that have defected from APC and came with the governor to join the PDP?

Chris Nehikhare: There is no Bonafide, real or fake PDP member. From the minute you take a membership card you have the same rights and benefits with every card-carrying member. Do not forget that most of these people coming back have PDP in their DNA. Our aim right now is to make sure we deliver Governor Obaseki on September 19 from across the 192 wards in the state.

Host: What do you make of the controversy over the Edo Modular Refinery and the APC’s wrangling about it?

Chris Nehikhare: The controversy is an embarrassment to the APC. Their former national Chairman, who is their albatross, went on national television to say there is nothing like the Modular Refinery when the whole world can see that the refinery exists and is about to start refining crude oil. It is clear that the refinery is sited in Edo State, that the governor attracted the investor, provided land to the investor, provided Seven Hundred Million Naira as part of funding for the project and that Edo people are employed to work in that refinery. We wonder what exactly the opposition is looking for because they are having sleepless nights as the projects are all coming up to public awareness. They have to start telling lies that there is no project or that Edo state government only put small amount of money in the projects.

Host: When one says PDP, it is not unusual for somebody to respond by saying, share the money! You say Obaseki is very prudent about spending money, If Obaseki is reelected and he doesn’t share the money how would you feel?

Chris Nehikhare: That narrative has expired. The narrative of share the money now belongs to the APC. You know Obaseki was hounded out of the APC because he refused to share the money. He refused to put money in the pockets of politicians and rather put the money for projects that will benefit the Edo people. That is why they hounded him out because he does not “take care of the politicians”. That narrative and stigma of the PDP has been cleansed from our system. What you have in the PDP today is a new, improved, reengineered set of people running the affairs of the PDP and its membership. Any political party that stays in opposition for twelve years, that does not have power at the center and still remains relevant,  you know that party is ready and committed to the growth and development of the Edo people, you know that party is made up of men of integrity. That is why Governor Obaseki fits in perfectly with the new thinking of the PDP because his philosophy of using the resources of Edo State for Edo people resonates with the PDP in Edo State today. The party was built by us, people you don’t know their names. For example, I became prominent in the PDP after we went into opposition because I had decided to help build the Party. We are ready to sacrifice for the people. PDP does not share the money but asks for development. The PDP wants happy Edo people in a strong state.

Host: Let us look at the last three years and eight months, can you give us a chronology of projects of the Obaseki administration.

Chris Nehikhare: I will give you a few as we would be here all day if I have to go into all the projects. I will talk about the reforms in the Judiciary, in Pension and the Civil Service. These reforms will make us have an efficient society, government and city. Talking about the judiciary, I am sure if you drive through the Sapele Road area today, you will see that for the first time in many years, the High Court Area has a new look and is equipped with modern communication. This has been done quietly. Governor Obaseki also made sure our judges are comfortable and live in a very peaceful environment.

Talking about Civil Service reforms, you are aware civil servants have not gone for training for at least thirty years. First of all, he set up a civil service training institute with modern communication equipment and instructors and all those things needed to improve civil service performance. Not only that, the civil service buildings that had been abandoned long before some of us were born have been renovated to an unbelievable standard. The civil service secretariat is built up, equipped and beautiful to give the civil servants a sense of appreciation and they would be eligible for training and retraining for efficient service delivery.

That done, our parents today are happy that the Edo State local economy is picking up because the people know, just like clockwork, that from the 25^th, 26^th of every month, civil servants receive their salaries. Not only civil servants but the pensioners who were owed billions of Naira for over thirteen years, have had their arrears cleared by Governor Obaseki and they are now paid as and when due. You know what that does to the economy? Mama Joy or Papa David can now sell on credit to our civil servants knowing that come 25^th or 26^th they too can get their monies from their customers.

It did not end there. The reform also affected Basic Education at the primary school level. The governor brought in a system called Edo Best whereby eleven thousand teachers were trained on how to use devices to take care of lesson notes and all the lesson materials for children to key into a system to be able to stimulate the intellect of the pupils to the extent that other states and the United Nations have taken interest in this model and even export it to other states and countries.

The governor made a promise in 2016 that he was going to set up two hundred thousand jobs. Thus, he created Edo Jobs. Edo Jobs is actually a novel thing in these paths whereby, job applications for Edo people were being captured online and lots of Edo youths have been trained, retrained and employed through that system by attaching them to existing companies in the relevant areas of their newly acquired skills. Today the last batch of 157,000 people have gone through it and are properly employed. There is also the Edo Hub which was also brought in, whereby young men and women are trained on different fields, especially Information Technology (IT). The state government is partnering with Google, LinkedIn, Facebook and other international IT companies where they train our youths. I can tell you for free that lots of our youths have gone through Edo Hub and they are being paid in Dollars now because they are working for foreign companies.

In the area of farming, this is the first time in the history of Nigeria where young graduates are proud to become farmers because the Agripreneur programme encourages young people to take up farming as a profession, where whatever they produce is guaranteed to be taken over by off takers, so there is no loss at all. I laugh when APC members today say the governor has not created jobs. There was no time the governor said he was going to create 200,000 jobs in the civil service. Our civil service is lean and efficient, he has made it so. Creating jobs for Edo people is creating a conducive environment for investors to come in. The Modular Refinery has come in, the Benin River Port Gelegele is taking shape, the Agricultural Institutes across the three Senatorial Districts are creating jobs and preparing our youth to be agricultural entrepreneurs, Warake Rice Farm is there for all to see, College of Education in Abudu, all these things aggregated together have provided our Edo people work as they are working in all these places.

Host: Can you say something about your face cap. You have on it, ”Resetting Edo”. Has Edo not been set right all these years?

Chris Nehikhare: From 2008 to 2016, the government pulled Edo back by having the wrong set of people become role models to Edo Youths and People. Young men started doubting their educational qualification because all they could see were thugs, uneducated people leading them, being in charge of taxes, being the ones celebrating Billions of Naira in their accounts and scattering the town without checks. What Godwin Obaseki wants to do and what Edo people want is to have a society where the best are in front, where Edo puts its best foot forward and no child is left behind. Children who are not fast enough to join the pace are pulled along so that Edo State is on the right path. An Edo where role models are positive role models for our children to follow. Our resetting has to do with creating and recognizing positive role models in Edo State.