How I Stopped The Sale Of Edo House – Orbih

 

Chief Dan Orbih is the Edo State chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. In an interview with PATRICK OCHOGA (Leadership), has describes as weak the efforts of APC-led government at providing services in the state. He gives reasons why he had to go to court to stop the Comrade governor from selling Edo House in Lagos. 

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Recently, Governor Adams Oshiomhole rolled out the drums to celebrate his 6th year anniversary. What is your assessment of the governor since he took over the mantle of leadership in the state?

I have already described Oshiomhole’s six years anniversary as the celebration of failure and deceit. Never have we seen anybody in public office celebrating abysmal failure in the way and manner Oshiomhole invited people from outside Edo State to mark that event.

In fact, a close observation of what has transpired from the first time he came in with so much promise to this moment where his popularity has fallen to the lowest ebb, one will be right to describe him as a man who fits in into the lyrics of legendary Jimmy Cliff with the words ‘the harder they come, the harder they fall’.

That is exactly how Oshiomhole is. He fits into that picture of what Jimmy Cliff sang many years ago. To me, I like to use this opportunity to actually advise Adams that Edo people were actually looking forward for him to tell us what he has achieved and what he intend to do with the remaining two years. Instead he turned the occasion into an arena of throwing punches at the President, our amiable Mr President.

And listening to him, I was also reminded of another great song by Jimmy Cliff titled (hypocrite). This is the same governor who few weeks ago welcomed the President and went with him to commission the Benin-Ore road which he described as the best road in this part of the world can now turn around and abuse Mr President that he came to resurface the Benin-Ore road. The same man who a few months ago when the Minister of Agriculture came to commissioned the irrigation project praised the federal government to high heaven, eulogizing the importance of the roject it will have on the people now came to say the President has not done anything for Edo state. I was there myself and i heard the comment of the people in the Community about what they said about President Jonathan, am also aware that even a blind man traveling from Benin City to Abuja will appreciate the on-going construction work of the dualization and coincidentally that road passes in front of Oshiomhole’s house in Iyamo. I also know that we have today 200 motorised borehole commissioned projects by the effort of the Benin Owena River basin. But the man who has not being able to fix Benin roads is saying Mr President has not done anything for Edo . Am aware that Jonathan has approved the establishment of a new University, the Federal University of Building Technology, in Uromi and as we speak, staff are already on ground supervising the construction of some of the building even in my own community Mr President has given us government girls secondary school and the same thing is happening at the University of Benin. I want to say it loud and clear that comes 2015 Presidential election we will vote massively for the PDP presidential candidate. We have seen very clearly what the difference between what the PDP federal government stand for and what the APC government of rascality stand for and there is basis for comparism.

It is on record that the ACN then voted overwhelming for the victory of President Jonathan in Edo in 2011. Today, Oshiomhole has assured Mr President to forget winning Edo State. How prepared is your party to deliver Edo to PDP in 2015?

The statement credited to Adams Oshiomhole who is recently known as Eric Oshiomhole, is just a mere figment of his imagination. He knows and everybody knows that we have depleted the ranks of APC in Edo. Today, PDP have two elected senators at the national assembly.

Their members including the former deputy speaker now acting Speaker with other elected APC members in the house have since join the PDP, perhaps, APC now exist within government circles and government officials and the immediate family members of Oshiomhole. I can assure you that we have put in place a process that will bring massive turn out of voters voting in favour of PDP. Adams Oshiomhole himself have assisted us greatly in the task of getting people to embrace PDP and vote PDP by his poor abysmal performance in office, today Benin City among the South /South state is the only state capital that have no roads. You can no longer access anywhere by road. Even for the governor, it takes him hours to drive out of Benin. Mechanics in Benin City are having a field day. No matter how new a vehicle is, you cannot drive it for two weeks without visiting the mechanics workshop.

Few weeks back he organized a town hall meeting where he asked some traditional rulers to grace the occasion and for that occasion he gave them N8milion of public fund for attending. We know about town hall meeting, he wanted to sell Edo House in Lagos and we said don’t sell it , he wanted to justify it he called for a town hall meeting and people were asking him to go and sell the building and I said that building cannot be sold by Oshiomhole. I went to court and I stopped it so from history he should know that this town hall meetings are useless, it is just a gathering of praise singers who will drum up imaginary support for his failed policies. He is gradually dragging the traditional institutions into the political arena and the amount of money he is doling out is alarming. Town hall meeting that has no value to the lives of our people. Six year anniversary of celebration of failure, he also invited traditional rulers and gave them N15 million, we have witnessed misappropriation of state fund in the history of governance under Oshiomhole. I have challenged the governor to take me to court to deny all I have said. The pain in my heart is that these monies being mis-appropriated can be used to revive Bendel

brewery where our youths can be engaged, it can be use to bring back Edo line back to its lost glory, this is the tragedy of the Edo people.

 Do you think Jonathan has done enough to guarantee him a second term?

For the first time we are seeing a President who is going about quietly addressing fundamental issue facing our nation. What he has achieved in power sector in the last few years and his road map towards provision of power which is the bedrock to any administration especially as it relate to industrialization and production capacity

of most industry and what he has done is novel. And if you look at the transportation sector people can now travel at ease and I believe if given a chance some of the foundation he has laid in various sectors will manifest in another one or two years and Nigeria will be better

for it.

We learnt that likes of Chief Tom Ikimi and Pastor Ize-Iyamu who defected to the PDP were short-changed in the recent concluded ward congresses, what is party doing to calm aggrieved members?

I can appreciate where your question is coming from. At the time we started depleting the numbers of APC in Edo state, Oshiomhole only hope was that come the congress of the PDP the party will be divided and be abandoned but to his greatest surprise nothing in that light happened. He is now the one saying we are aware Ize-Iyamu and Tom Ikimi are not happy. I want to say that the duos are happy and satisfied with the way the party is conducted the primaries that will throw up candidate in the next election.

Some of the APC decampees who recently joined the PDP cried out during the South/South rally before the President to be fully integrated into the scheme of things. What are you doing regarding this?

I was at the Presidential rally at the Ogbe stadium I didn’t see anybody cry neither did I see anybody hold any handkerchief. The only man who was holding handkerchief was the musician, Sam Okposo who was singing Ijaw song waving the handkerchief. Nobody cried. I want to tell you that today we are one big family