Anslem Ojezua is the chairman, All Progressives Congress, APC, Edo State. In this interview with our correspondent ONAZENA ABBEY, he spoke on the current crisis, rocking the state House of Assembly, as well as the party’s position on the matter among other sundry issues.
Why did the APC-led state government decides to inaugurate the state Assembly at midnight?
I don’t agree with you. It appears you have already reached a conclusion and made your own judgment on the issue. I don’t agree with you. Therefore, what do you want me to say on a matter I consider to be doubtful when you have already reached a conclusion? The duty to inaugurate the state House of Assembly does not rest on the party. Your duty first of all is to go to the Clerk of the House, who will give you the facts. The facts you are telling me is different from what the Clerk told me. The Clerk of the House will lecture you on how they inaugurated the House. Go update yourself there. I don’t want to give you hearsay information
But the aggrieved members-select said they were not invited to the inauguration.
They told you that they were not invited but the Clerk of the House notified them. How do you reconcile that? I heard on Channels TV when their spokesperson said the Clerk of the House notified them. Is telephone not notification, what notification do you now want again? Have you asked from the Clerk of the House? Have you got response from the Clerk? You have only heard from people, who have lost out in a political battle and you have reached a conclusion. The man who should have given you a balanced account, who should have no interest in one way or another, you did not hear from him.
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Why do you say they lost out, was it really a political battle?
Of course, it was a political battle between them and their colleagues and against the party because prior to the inauguration, the party had taken a decision together with them and the following day they went behind the party to go and make a contrary position and statement .They said the governor was trying to impose speaker on the House.
Don’t you think it is the duty of the House to elect its leadership?
But in accordance with the wishes of the party, who sponsor them, on whose platform they were elected. It has always been the case. It was the case at the National Assembly. Why should it be different in Edo State? If you want to continue on that line of argument, what was the offence Senator Saraki (Bukola) committed?
The leadership of the party in the state threatened to sanction the aggrieved members rather than fashioning out ways to end the crisis. Do you think this is the right step?
If you act against the interest of the party, it is against the constitution of the party and we cited those relevant sections and they are entitled to be heard. I have instructed that they should be queried and they are entitled to respond; they have to explain it. In fact, events as they unfold indicate that there are third party interests. Obviously, they are not alone but whoever that is sponsoring them will reveal his or herself very soon.
The party has a way of carrying out its processes. We don’t have both sides, we have one House of Assembly and we have told them what we want. The House leadership has been installed and it is in accordance with the wishes of the party. So, I am not complaining.
Don’t you think the crisis, rocking the party is connected with the second term bid of Governor Obaseki?
The party’s position is that Governor Godwin Obaseki has the time to run his government until his first term is over. INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) has not fixed a date for Edo State election. So, why do you want to run a race that has not even been fixed? So, all this talk about Obaseki’s second term is just to distract the man because they know Governor Obaseki has a very good stand with the citizens. It is just that those who should be supporting him to do more, for personal reasons, refused to do so. But let me also warn that those who throw stones into the market place should know that their mother may just be there.
Events of the last few months have shown that the leadership of the party is equally polarised along the pro-Oshiomhole and pro-Obaseki group. Which side are you?
I don’t know about pro-Oshiomhole and pro-Obaseki groups. We have one government in the state and that government is led by Governor Godwin Obaseki. So, if you are a true party man and the party put Obaseki in place, we have a duty to support him. If you are not a true party man, then you can do everything to reverse, retract what the government is doing. Then, that will be selfish, but I believe that at the appropriate time, those who have the real power, the people of Edo State will speak.
But some notable leaders in the party are already kicking against Obaseki’s second term bid.
Let them go and contest when the time comes. But in the meantime, Obaseki is the governor. They should keep quiet and let the man work. I think Edo people are getting out of patience with some of these people; probably because we were having good ride and they cannot come and stop the progress, whatever progress Obaseki is making. They are not used to Obaseki’s style of governance. But, unfortunately, I love it and it is yielding result and I am not the only one who has that opinion. So, whether Obaseki is going to have a second term or not will be determined by the people of Edo State. It is not some leaders you are calling notable. I don’t know what is notable about them. I don’t know what is notable about retrogression. I don’t know what you mean by notable? What makes them notable? Who are they? Let me tell you, most of these people came to join APC when the party was already made a government. They came to join us from PDP. They were in PDP.
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In your recent statement, you called on the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to call the 19 members-elect to order, saying he is aware of the crisis. Are you in any way indicting him?
Of course, the national chairman is from Edo State. I’m not suspecting anymore and I know he is in contact with these people. That is why in my statement, I said he should talk to them. One of them is his brother. I don’t know if they call it crisis but there is no crisis anywhere. I don’t see any crisis. The leadership of Edo State House of Assembly has been established. Where is the crisis? Some people are not happy about it. I don’t know. They know what to do. They either reconcile or do otherwise; I don’t know.
If they cannot accept the leadership of the House, I cannot help it. This is not the first time we are having situation like this
What is the fate of the party come 2020 gubernatorial election?
I don’t know. It depends on how we manage it. Before the just concluded election, how many states did we have? How many do we have now? In two states, Zamfara and Rivers, APC did not contest election legally and it boils down to how we managed the affairs of the party. So, I don’t know. It depends on the leadership of the party whether the party will do well or not in 2020.
