A former aspirant to the Delta State House of Assembly for Uvwie Constituecy, in 2019, Hon. Amos Dickson Ejedegba, has spoken on his experience during the election, the crisis rocking APC, insecurity in the country, and other national issues. The legal practitioner, who contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in this interview with Daniel Anokwuru, deplored the leadership style of the APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.
You contested for a post in Delta State during the last election, what position was that?
I contested for House of Assembly, Uvwie Constituency, under the leadership of our amiable leader, Otega Emeror.
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How was the election?
Well, the election we all know, was full of irregularities and fraud by party leaders. APC had taken over Delta State at the earlier stage, even before we had our primaries. All of a sudden, we found out that people who were brought into the party by Otega Emeror now hijacked the process of the party, reason being that most of our leaders are selfish. Personal aggrandizement now became the order of the day. The matter would have been settled then when the option of direct primaries was put forth; everybody would have keyed in. But in this case, it was not like that, as candidates were handpicked. There was imposition of candidates. There is no way you can impose candidates on the people without expecting crisis. That was what happened in Bayelsa, imposition of candidates always brings failure to the party.
After you lost, did you take any legal action to regain your mandate?
Of course, I resorted to legal action; I was in court. We were trying to see how we could vacate the issue of consent judgment because that consent judgment was said to have been obtained by the other faction.
What is your take on the crisis between the National Chairman of APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, and the Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki?
Oshiomhole, we all know, is too combative. He is running APC as if he is running a labour union. You don’t run a party like that. Oshiomhole is the problem of APC, not just in Edo State. You said that you are against political godfathers but now began to play godfatherism in your own region. Let us take a look at Bauchi, Zamfara, Rivers, and the recent tsunami in Bayelsa. The cause of these problems is just imposition of candidates. How do you expect a party to move forward when you impose a candidates on them? Look at Bayelsa, where the deputy, his certificate is questionable, they would have picked the right candidate for such a sensitive position.
What do you think that APC need to do to restore peace in the party?
I have said it that Oshiomhole is the problem of APC. You don’t need a fortune teller to tell you what is happening. And I am sure that the Buhari I knew use to be a very disciplined person. I don’t think that they are telling him the truth. They are not giving him the accurate information, that is why you see these entire crisis happening. As the President, he is not expected to know everything. He is not a magician, but they should tell him the right thing. If Oshiomhole continues like this, I will tell you to forget APC in 2023. APC as the ruling party now become a big joke. Look at the insecurity in all over the country today, you will know that we are in a serious problem.
With the current happenings in the country, how would you rate the administration of PDP and that of APC?
This is a national issue. APC really has much to do in terms of security and infrastructure; they have a lot to do. If we APC continue this way, I don’t see us emerging in 2023 because presently, almost all the states, some still have about two factions, some three factions. How do you think we can wrest power from the opposition, just like in Delta? In Delta, Okowa was jittery we had taken over, but all of a sudden, we now became a laughing stock in Delta State. There is a lot to be done.
Do you think that the Federal Government decision to grant pardon or amnesty to Boko Haram members is right?
Honestly, as a lawyer, when I saw the news, I just felt that it was one of the fake news. I never believed it, not until I did more investigation. How can you release a killer? How can you release bandits? Their sin is even worse than common criminals that some of them are serving jail term. If you say you are releasing terrorists, you should release everybody. This is posing a great danger to the country. We have cases where criminals are granted bail, at the end of the day, they become worse. I have never heard it anywhere in the world that terrorists were granted amnesty. I am still trying to study the situation. It is not a welcome situation to the nation.
What are the things you would have done for your people if you had won the election?
Everybody sees government as an easier way to loot. They see government as financial institution where your wealth is guaranteed. That is why you see Nigeria going back. If we have a serious measure to curb political looters, political prostitutes, we can get it right. I was not going there to loot. When I was campaigning, in my manifesto, I made it clear that I pray that God should give our constituency a better candidate, who felt that he had more reason than I to emerge. Our people are suffering.
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Are you still going to contest?
Of course, my people need to be liberated. They need to feel the impact of democracy. I have no regret whatsoever; I was formerly in Ogboru camp, who contested for governorship. But when I saw the level of play, the way and manner they were manipulating, impositing candidates via Oshiomhole, to the deputy senate president, I knew it that this is going to thwart the actualisation of APC in the corridor of power in Delta State. That was what happened. Now Otego Emeror, we all know, is the pioneer after the late Senator Pius. He built the party strongly. All of a sudden, those he introduced to the party claimed that they were the originators of the party. He now said that if we wanted to grab power from the PDP government, let us have a candidates from the North, Anioma, Aniocha, Ndokwa, which would have been easier for APC. Although, the issue of rotation is not in APC constitution, but it is a thing of the mind. Otego Emeror was like a man, who saw tomorrow but they never listened to him. Politics is all about calculation. Ogboru and the deputy senate president were fighting him. Today both of them are fighting. During the crisis, the vice president came to harmonise. The harmonisation you read about was newspaper harmonisation. It is not internal because there was no settlement anywhere. APC in Delta still has factions. This crisis is expanding. Look at Bauchi, what happened? The style of leadership of Oshiomhole is too combative. Party issues are not labour issues. You don’t say things to incite the public. A good leader must lead by example. Look at Edo State where Oshiomhole comes from, even the people, the governor, they rejected him because of his style of leadership. That is why they are having crisis in different states to tell you that his style of leadership is not acceptable to the people. If President Buhari allows Oshiomhole to continue as the APC national chairman, I will tell you that APC cannot get it right come 2023.