People Democratic Party (PDP) Kogi state governorship candidate in the November poll Dr Joseph Ameh in this interview with OYIBO SALIHU speaks why he wants to be governor, among others.
There is high rate of infrastructure deficiency and poverty among others, in Kogi state, why have you decided to aspire for governorship position despite all these challenges?
I am not unaware of the challenges that we are facing in Kogi state: Challenges which range from inability to pay salaries, this despite the increase in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and the huge sums, which accrued to the state from the federation account.
Whatever happened in Kogi state before I don’t see them as challenges which are not surmountable. I am a great man with great ideas and vision. I started my private security organisation in 2005 with nothing because I had no brother or sister that can help me at that point, but with commitment, hard work, honesty and transparency, we were able to reach the amiable stage we have attained today as the best security outfit of the year 2017, 2018 as bestowed on us by Senate Committee on Police Affairs.
I started the business with just two staff and today we are rated as the best private security firm in Nigeria and we have over 9,640 staff all over the country.
With this wide process, I have passed through successfully with enormous result to show for it, the issue of governing Kogi state effectively and harmoniously will not be a challenge to me because I have what it takes to move the state to the land of progress and prosperity.
Again, Kogi state is blessed with arable land that is fertile for farming and we have abundant mineral resources that can be harnessed for the economic development of the state. There is hope in the Kogi state, but what the state needs now is a man with great ideas, a man that can turn things around for better, a man that can change desert to a very fertile land, a man who has the interest of the state at heart. I possess these qualities going by my antecedents as a person and what I have done for government and humanity.
As an employer of labour, if I am able to pay my staff salaries from the income we generated at a click of a button, I don’t think payment of workers’ salaries will be a burden to me. Besides, to govern the people you must see yourself as a servant leader because governance is all about bringing to the people some of the amenities and incentives that the people are lacking.
I am saying this without mincing words that I am not aspiring to be governor because I need money, the little God almighty has given to me I am content with it and what I need now is how I can better the lives of the people of Kogi state because the hardship being experienced by the people is becoming too unbearable.
In Kogi, there are many sons and daughters of the state that are professionals in many fields of endeavour that have the capacity to contribute to the development of the state, but are not able to do so. I will assemble them and give them the opportunity to contribute their quota and change the fortune of the state for better.
Ironically, the government of the day is more into rhetorics than action. Look at Ajaokuta Steel Company that can turn this country into an industrialised nation, that can turn Kogi state into a mega city, but it has remained moribund for over thirty years and federal government seems unconcern leaving the people perpetually in unemployed and in abject poverty.
Leadership has been a major problem in Kogi state, what are you going to do differently if you take over the reins of governance of the state?
By God’s grace I am well experienced and I have said before that no governor in the state has ever had the quantum experience I have accommodated so far, none of those that had served or still serving the state can boast of having 500 staff before they become governor of Kogi state.
To do something differently means you must have the ability, capacity and knowledge to effect positive change. I lived in Lagos where things change on daily basis in terms of infrastructural development. If I am given the mandate I will bring these attributes to bear to change the concept and rewrite the negative stories associated with Kogi state to positive ones for the betterment of the state and the people.
I will do something different first by accepting my people, I will weave all the three senatorial districts together and accept them as one. I will ensure that I build bridges across the three districts and treat them equally without sentiment or bias. If I am able to break this barrier I will be able to make difference where leaders, elders will be created, where potentials will be harnessed to decide the fate of the state.
Do you think you have what it takes to dislodge the incumbent governor from Lugard House?
Traditionally, Kogi state was a PDP state and it is still a very strong hold of the PDP. In my ward that consist of seventeen polling units at the presidential election PDP got 1553 votes while APC manage to scored 154 votes and during House of Assembly election, PDP got 1324 votes and APC got slightly above 600 votes.
In other wards all over the state the PDP pulled surprises but guns were used by the ruling party in the state to always scare voters away. If a man claimed that he is popular why would such person resort to giving guns and other dangerous weapons to the youth to torment people during election? If you are popular you don’t need to kill to win an election.
Those who used guns or security agents in an election are weak and have nothing to offer. I wonder why the ruling party- APC- in the state was busy chasing people away and carrying ballot boxes. This is a clear indication that they have failed to deliver dividends of democracy to the people.
A government, who cannot pay salary for several months, cannot get the people’s votes. Imagine the AK47 they distributed to youth to use to unleash terror on innocent people. How much did they buy the guns?
We are not unaware that a single AK 47 rifle cost minimum of N1.5 million and they distributed the guns across the 21 local government areas of the state. This is a government which cannot pay teachers, cannot pay civil servants, cannot pay full salary to local government workers and above all cannot pay pensioners who have worked for 35 years and retired because of old age.
I am assuring you that the PDP is more than prepared to send the incumbent governor away from the Lugard House come November 2019 when candidates will face the electorate.
What will you do to match the ruling party given claims that thugs are usually armed to chase away opposition parties, electorate, and snatch ballot boxes, among other electoral violence?
This is the concern of everybody in Kogi state and we believe that the federal government will not be insensitive to the situation in Kogi state. The federal government cannot also belittle itself by allowing gun running and militancy to prevail during the governorship election in Kogi state in November.
We expect that the federal government will create a level playing ground for all the political parties to showcase their strength and popularity. Definitely, the situation will not be like what we saw during the state House of Assembly election in Kogi state because some of the things that happened that day were not known to the federal government and if the federal government was aware and yet turned a deaf ear over it. If that same scenario re-occurs and the federal government maintains same posture then it would be a big blow on the integrity and the corruption drive of the federal government.
We will not leave any stone unturned to impress it on the federal government to do the needful by creating a level playing ground for all the political parties.
Some civil servants were unjustly laid off at the state and local government levels as a result of what the state government referred to as civil service reform. How will you address this if given the mandate?
There is nothing God cannot do. I am an employer of labour and I have been paying salaries regularly as at when due. So when I become governor, I will close all the loopholes in the government and ensure that all the monies that come in are spent judiciously.
I will clear all the backlog of salary arrears and then I will look into the issue of those that were unjustly thrown out of jobs. If their complaints are genuine I will bring them back to civil service.
I am assuring the people that our administration will be felt positively across the state and gradually we will be upsetting the debts so that the state can come out of bondage.
