Patrick Eholor is a renowned activist and social crusader based in Edo State. In this interview with our correspondent, ONAZENA ABBEY, he spoke on the legacy of the, in Edo State, where he was governor for eight years. He also spoke on his planned mass movement against the rampant incidents of extra-judicial killings across the country.
You have been away rom the state for so long. Are you satisfied with the present level of development under Governor Godwin Obaseki in the last few years now?
I am very satisfied with the level of development I met in the state. I spoke about it sometime ago. Some people took sides that I gave Obaseki credit that he did not deserve. Obaseki is doing very well and he is working; he deserves all the credit I am giving to him. Obaseki is working very well; things are changing for the Edolites. I mean, look at the infrastructure, look at the roads he is doing. I think if Oshiomhole had done these in the last eight years, things could have been better than this. Oshiomhole put us in a huge debt burden and Obaseki is loyal to a fault. The N30 billion storm water debt is there. The money was taken by Clement Agba, the then commissioner for environment and Oshiomhole and I believe that Godwin Obaseki was then the chairman of the state economic team. I could be wrong but don’t also forget the same Oshiomhole wanted to sell Edo House. I was the one that led the protest to Lagos to stop the sale. Let me also say that I am very disappointed today about President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. He is talking about fighting corruption and has a man like Oshiomhole with him, who is an epitome of corruption. The Benin Central Hospital has not been functioning for over three years. Do you know how many people have died; do you know how many doctors have left this country all because of the sins of Oshiomhole.
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So, I say again that Godwin Obaseki is doing exceedingly well in terms of infrastructures, roads and other things. I’m giving a plus to him again because, before, when you wanted to buy land, you would be afraid because some youths were waiting to embarrass you by demanding for money or take the land from you outright. Obaseki was able to enact a law in his time that anybody caught forthwith in such acts should be imprisoned. Obaseki also went further to stop touting; people embarrassing your mother, my mother by collecting illegal fees from people who are trading around Ring Road axis. Today, if you go to Ring Road, it is like you are in any of the countries in the Western world. There is no intimidation, no embarrassment. I want to state categorically again that I am not ashamed; I am proud of him. Obaseki is doing exceedingly well, he has surpassed his predecessor.
Tension is currently mounting in the state over the governor’s second term bid. Where do you stand?
I am with any government that is doing well. I am not a registered card carrier of any political party. I was the former South-south leader of Labour Party. I was the former vice chairman of Labour Party. I will tell you, I am somebody who exercises my right at all times. Even if I am in America, I come here and vote. If Obaseki continues in this way and he is given the opportunity (to contest again), I will have to make comparison with other candidates and if I feel he is a better candidate and he is going to do more for my people, I will vote for him. So, I don’t know where they are bringing this idea that when you are playing politics, some are enemies, some are friends. It should not be like that. We are all Edolites. We are all Nigerians; we are brothers, we are sisters. He who the cap fits has to wear it.
What is your take on the seeming inability of security agents and the Federal Government to tackle Boko Haram and wanton killings in the North and other parts of the country?
The menace can’t be tackled because if you cannot trust a messenger, you cannot trust his message. Not all the service chiefs are bad. Some of them are good people. Some of them are my relatives and personal friends, but most of them convert funds meant to purchase equipment to fight the insurgents into their private pockets or buy outdated weapons. You don’t fight this Boko Haram when they are more sophisticated than the Nigerian Army. It is going to be tough. So, what is going to defeat Boko Haram is transparency and honesty.
What are your expectations of President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term tenure?
Well, I am not disturbed about it. The election issue is still ongoing. As at now, I recognise President Buhari as the president; he is still our president. And he is still the one who is entitled to be referred to as the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces. So, we cannot take that from him. However, there are a lot of litigations in court. There are three arms of government, the judiciary, executive and legislature. Whatever the judiciary decides between him and Atiku Abubakar is what we are going to respect. But for now, he is more or less a president, who is occupying an office or holding it for any person, who is going to occupy that office.
We equally learnt that you are embarking on a movement to checkmate extra judicial killings in the country. What informed your decision?
Well, I’m not satisfied with the issue of security and policing in the country. If you want me to rate policing and security in Nigeria, I will score them two per cent. There are a lot of police officers, who went to school, who aspired to become policemen, were not influenced by corruption and conducted themselves very well. But, unfortunately, the vast majority of policemen that we have are characters that, after they had failed in all ramifications of life, decided to wear the black and black (police uniform) to intimidate and be collecting money from people forcefully. You can imagine the extra-judicial killings going on all over Nigeria. The police have no right to take life but they have the right to prosecute and arrest offenders. The judge decides on what happens to criminals, whether to be discharged or jailed. The police take the laws into their hands by arresting innocent citizens whether armed or not and we are saying enough is enough.
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I am taking it upon myself to have a million-man march against these killings of innocent Nigerians and that is the reason I am going to write President Buhari. That is the reason I am writing to the leader of the senate, the leadership of the House of Representatives, DSS, police commissioners in all the 36 states of the federation, all the notable Obas, that we have to have dialogue to tell these people that they have no right to kill defenseless citizens. They have no right to search anybody without search warrant. That is what we are going to do and we are going to do it now and as I speak to you, I have 87 lawyers and I am going to cap it to 200 lawyers to tell them enough is enough.
I am also going to invite Amnesty International, Human Rights groups, Trade Union Congress, TUC, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC. Everybody is going to be on board. I am a man who seeks justice, I seek for equal right. There is no need for police to harass, intimidate, seize or even confront anybody in the streets. But they have the right to arrest but not to carry out any unlawful search or seizure.
Why are you contemplating instituting suit against banks in the country?
It is not about committing offence or so. It is just that we have been seriously abused by some major institutions; the banking institution without negotiation and the so-called Christian institutions, especially those men of God, selling miracles. They have abandoned us, they are many but I just want to take the lead by suing the major banks in Nigeria for one reason. What is very clear is that they are exploiting us. There are various fees they charge you in the bank. They charge ATM fees. They tell you they are going to charge you N65 for one transaction. They charge you N1000 for collecting card, without even telling you. They charge you for everything. Imagine when you are sleeping in the night, they charge you for stamp duty and VAT. I mean, what is this? This is wickedness. Something is wrong with us. That is why I am charging them before the court. Let them explain to us why they are treating us the way they are treating us.
I already have some lawyers standing by me to have class action suit against these unscrupulous banks.