Former National Presdient of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and senator representing Kogi West, Smart Adeyemi, is the Director-General (DG), Governor Yahaya Bello/Edward Onoja APC Campaign Organisation for the November 16 governorship election in Kogi state. In this interview with TOPE SUNDAY the journalist turned politician expresses confidence that his principal will win the election, even as he said the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of institutionalizing corruption in the state, among other issues.
As the Director-General (DG), Governor Yahaya Bello/Edward Onoja APC Campaign Organisation, how prepared is your party for the November 16 governorship election?
Well as a party, I can tell you we are fully ready. We’ve set up all the committees, and very soon we would go to the field to campaign in the nooks and crannies of Kogi state.
All that is required is already on ground, the next couple of days, we will commence campaign traversing the length and breadth of the state to remind the people the way the state was before this administration came on board; and ask them for maximum support to take the state to the desired position.
I want to assure you that I am personally delighted to champion this course. I am saying this against the background of my understanding of Kogi state. For decades now, I have been active in politics so I know the needs of the people, the sentiment that must be guided against and turned to our advantage. So, by and large, I am within a familiar terrain and I don’t see any problem.
For the opposition, they are already in trouble without us telling them that we are fully on ground because they are confronting a party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) with quite a number of seasoned politicians.
I can assure you that the opposition will be very lucky if they can have up to 25 per cent total votes. Politics is not about the internet, it’s practical and the loopholes that they capitalised on have been tightened. We are not going to be talking about personalities now; we will be talking about issues.
So, would you say that Kogi has moved from where it was before now in terms of the socio-economic structure?
Nigeria is a country where people like to hear the bad news, where fake news is circulating and it is consistent. We are going to come out with facts and figures. We are going to show them what we have gone against opinions of the opposition.
You said you will be campaigning about where Kogi was and where is it now, but the opposition are saying that the state is worse off under APC?
Luckily, I was in the PDP and I can tell you that it institutionalised corruption in Kogi. I am bold to tell you that in Kogi state before this administration came on board, they institutionalized corruption to a large point. The numbers of people that are shouting that they have not been paid are those who are not living in Kogi state at all and whose names were not on the payroll. They are not residing in Kogi state but if the opposition pushes us to the, wall I will personally write a petition to the EFCC to look at the past administrations in Kogi state.
There is what they called stakeholders under the PDP administration stakeholders in the local government, when the allocation comes, you would have like N2 million to N5 million paid into their accounts, that is the stakeholders. These people were not contributing anything and they did not have any office. That tells you the level of corruption at that time.
I can equally tell you that most administrators and chairmen of the local government areas compiled the names of their relatives and put them on their payrolls.
Also, at the state’s level that was what was happening. They put their children’s names on the payroll, fake workers and ghost workers were everywhere. Governor Bello is a highly courageous man, a visionary leader. He is a man people don’t understand, they misinterpret him.
When he came up with the screening, they didn’t want it to be successful, though some people due to error were removed; a large number of those removed were defaulters. There was a woman who was a director, but everyday people saw her in her stall in Lokoja, the state capital. For decades, everyday she was in the market only for us to discover that her husband was once a chairman of a local government and he put her name in the payroll. Nobody removed it because the past administrations perpetrated their own, it was a circle.
Why is it that is it that almost three years after the governor is yet to prosecute those indicted in the screening exercise?
There is a panel already working on it. The panel has been sitting. They did not know the magnitude of the problem at that time. A friend of mine was telling me of a story of somebody that was very close to him, and the friend was telling him that he has not been paid his salary by the Kogi state government. He asked if he works in the state and he laughed and said that he is part of them but based in Abuja.
In Kogi state, we have people who are living in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna enjoying salary in Kogi state. The genuine workers were less than 30 per cent, the other 70 per cent then teamed up to make things impossible for the government. So, it took time for the government to do something about the ghost workers became if you want to do good job, you should take your time.
As the DG of the Governor Bello’s re-election campaign team, how would you react to the allegation that some sections of the state are marginalized?
Today, I can tell you that Kogi is on the right footing. Today, the state is more united than before in terms of appointment and projects. Under Governor Yahaya Adoza Bello, we have commissioners in my senatorial district, we have the commissioner for finance, and secretary to the state government, the commissioner for agriculture, the Speaker of the House of Assembly is also from my senatorial district. Now, we have the sense of belonging.
We now have what we called EBIGO ( Ebira, Igala, Okun) ideology, it was never like this in the time past. We, the Okuns were not seen as part of the state by deliberate action of past administrations not to talk of the extremely minority part who were not recognized under the PDP. But today everybody is recognized under Governor Yahaya Bello and that is why some of us are courageous enough to say we are going to champion his victory.
This is because you can see his sincerity of purpose, honestly as a leader, he belongs to everyone and he belongs to nobody. We are giving him the deserved support and that is why I am proud to campaign because my people have not been marginalized.
As a stakeholder in Kogi, what has been done to resolve the issue between the governor and his estranged deputy?
Well, I think this question is belated now because already there is a case is in court and already an impeachment panel has been setup. Whatever I say here may affect the case in court.
Before the case got to court did you try to do anything?
Initially, the deputy governor was purportedly going on leave, and because he was on leave we were not sure of the situation. I used to be close to the deputy governor himself, and efforts were made in the time pass for them to get closer and resolve their differences. Don’t forget he was not part of the struggle that brought the emergence of Governor Bello, but was invited based on the belief of the administration. But before, now they were having a good relationship.
It could be some forces outside the circle of government that may be responsible. I am aware that the Chief of Staff, Edward Onoja did his best in reconciling them. He was disturbed and he even encouraged me to see what I can do to the situation.
Do you see Governor Bello returning to power going by the voting strength of Kogi East where the governorship candidate of PDP, Engr Wada comes from?
Agitation emanates when people are being marginalized. The Chief of Staff is a Christian from the Kogi east senatorial district. This has never happened before him. What they did was to appoint their in-laws, cousins as chiefs of staff under family affairs.
In 2010, I topped the agitation for power shift. I went on a tour with my security men to Kogi East; I wanted to know how far they have gone in terms of infrastructural development, in terms of empowering the people. I wanted to know how far they have oppressed others quote and unquote. When I went there, I discovered that my place was far more developed than theirs. I saw uncountable numbers of communities without electricity, without pipe borne water, and water was being sold by tankers.
In my own community, we had electricity in 1974, in 2012. But theirs are places where they have had governors but no electricity, no good roads. I could see that the district is in abject poverty and when I came back, I told my people that I will never agitate for power shift.
Now to your question, it does not really matter where a governor comes, that governor is effecting a change in the lives of the people. Gov Bello is a man that the Kogi east senatorial will never forget because he has provided electricity, their road is now motorable, water is being provided, and these are the basic things of life.
That Yahaha Bello is not from the Kogi east will not mean that the district won’t give him support because he has done what their sons didn’t do for them. Nigerians are getting wiser; the electorate are not the same as 20 years ago, now they are conscious and cautious.
We are looking for a robust campaign, free and fair election with 75 per cent of total votes. We want PDP to come and take their 25 per cent.
In the West, just last week we went to inspect 99.9 per cent completion of the Egiba rice mill that will employ a minimum of 5,000 direct workers. It will produce 1,000 bags of rice every month.
When you take 5,000 unemployed people off the street you can imagine what it would turn out to be. Within three years, that mill will have expansion of what it would turn out to be and you need to see the rice. It’s like imported rice and that speaks volume for us.
APC is more united as a party, the PDP is not. They are still in court over a primary that we have forgotten, we are already set to go.
This election will be purely on your performance, what you have done. Winning election is not internet calculation and English grammar, there is more to it like unspoken sentiment that we must take into consideration.
There are a lot misinterpretations about Kogi state government, may be because it was too early to fight corruption by chasing ghost workers out of the state. Those responsible were sponsoring manners of fake news about the state, misleading the people of Nigeria and causing confusion in the state just because the man was fighting corruption. Those were the reasons why Gov Bello was confronted and that the major reason why salaries were not paid for a long time and they had to embark on the screening to eliminate ghost workers.
There is an allegation that the last election in Kogi was massively rigged, that the bye-election of Lokoja/Koto Federal Constituency was also rigged, as well as that the APC has purchased PVC’s ahead of the November election. How would you react to this?
What do you expect from a party that lacks focus to say? What do you expect of a party that is divided? Of course, they would start giving excuse for failure. It’s so glaring that they are going to fail. Ask them how come PDP lost in the state in the last elections.
APC was governing in Bauchi but PDP took over, count a number of states that they took over. Is it now the same federal might that is still there? How come APC did not win all the states? Why are they talking about rigging when we have not started campaign? Now, if that’s the allegation, let’s ask them what happened to their primaries in Bayelsa and in Kogi states?
PDP has loss its glory; the earlier they realized that the better for them. In Kogi they are nowhere to be found, the only time I am aware of the party in Kogi is on the internet and newspaper.
I left the PDP and am still relevant, when I am in the senate I built hospital in Igbagun, Ayetoro, Odoere, Igbaruku. I built market stalls in Egbe, Mukutu, Ayetoro, Iteju, and Isanlu. I went to the United States and brought 22 ambulances and distributed it to every community in my place.
Also, I bought 550 beds and mattresses and shared to hospitals. As a senator I gave bursary to over 2,500 students and sent 200 people to Jerusalem and Mecca. I also gave 500 motorcycles to the people and that explains why I am still relevant today because I made a difference even in PDP. Now, I can see Gov. Bello making a difference in the lives of our people.
Lastly, there is this rumour that the Chief Staff, who is Dov Bello’s running mate, is the defacto governor. What is youyr take on this?
I feel it is unfair for anybody to say that. It is an insult on the integrity of the governor, and don’t forget that they have been friends before now. They understand each other. The Chief of Staff of anyone in power is the transmitter that transmits information that the generator is dishing out.
One thing I can assure you is that Edward Onoja is a very intelligent and energetic young man. When you are sure of yourself people want to pull you down. Edward is sure of himself and he is not someone you can push over.
