“My Government of Integrity”
— Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Edo State Governor

Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Edo State Governor

By Walid Ogunseri, Benin City
Your excellency there have been an upsurge in crime wave and kidnapping recently in the state. What is your government doing to address the situation?
I know that people are concerned with the increasing upsurge in crime rate in the state, particularly as it relates to the rather relatively new development of people being kidnapped, in most cases for ransom, which is a pure criminal act, taking advantage of people to abduct and to demand for ransom.
Our attitude have been that it is not helpful for government or anyone to agree to pay ransom, because each time we do that we consciously or unconsciously encourage these criminals to continue with their notorious activities. But however we have said that government is ready to pay a handsome reward. I think in the past we said one million naira, but we are willing even to increase for anyone who can assist government or the security agencies with any useful information, that will lead to the arrest and eventual prosecution of those involved in these criminal act of kidnapping and other related crimes.
But in addition to that, we had series of meetings with security agencies including police, the State Security Services, and the military, and we have agreed to set up a Joint Task Force that will include both military, police and SSS to ensure effective policing of Edo State and every necessary facilities would be provided to assist the task force to ensure that they are effective and they have access to communication gadgets to improve on their efficiency. We know that people are increasingly frightened. We are concerned and I want to assure the good people of Edo State that everything is being done to ensure that we bring an end to these criminal acts. But there isn’t much we are going to do. The police, no matter how they try, if we do not assist them with information: people or families of victims of kidnap, if they are not willing to cooperate with the police, our efforts at identifying the criminal gangs, putting them where they belong will remain a big challenge. So I am appealing to our citizens to be rest assured that any information they provide cannot possibly be used against them, but on the contrary, it will help the security agencies to deal with the gangs.
Your government has been accused of being insensitive to the feelings of the ordinary Edo State citizens who against all odds supported you during the battle to reclaim your mandate at the court. They appear not happy with your government new tax regime. What is your reaction?
I am also aware that there are concerns, which have been raised by various groups on the new tax regime. And maybe I may again reiterate that as someone who was duly and popularly elected, I have no reason if I have choice to make any decision to bring any discomfort to any section or sections or indeed any class of our people, because I have benefited enormously from the goodwill, the support, the sacrifices and indeed the prayers of Edo people without which our struggle to Osadebay Avenue would have been impossible. And having drawn so much on the goodwill of the people I have the duty to ensure that public interest is protected. But we are in times that are hard and there are no painless options, and as we speak the revenue accruing to the state have dropped from an average of about N3.5 billion in a month over the past 15 months to my assumption of office to just about 50 per cent down, to as of last month N1.6 billion. And that represent less than what we need to even to be able to meet our fixed cost; non valuable costs like payment of salaries, paying our bills, pensioners, and gratuities and modest overhead cost.
Now, when we discovered that for quite sometime government was actually subsidising many sectors that do not require any subsidy, for example, we had people in this state, who were allocated government land possibly for farming. They in turn sublet these farmlands to the actual peasant farmers who pay taxes to these landlords. And they became landlords, by reasons of the fact that government allocated official land to them and we decided that those who farm in government areas, (and a lot of these people, we discovered many are not even from Edo State, but that is not the issue, the issue is the money that they have been paying to private landlords) that money must now be paid to the government and be able to raise up to N60 million to N70 million.
What about the issue of private schools as regard the payment of tax?
I am aware that private school owners have complained of excessive taxes. The truth of the matter is in Edo State we discovered that to set up a secondary school before now, all you needed to pay to government was N10,000 a year, we know that some pupils in some of the private schools pay as much as N10,000; N12,000; up to N40,000 to N50,000 per annum. Some pay N12,000 per term amounting to about N36,000 per annum. An yet all they needed to pay to government is N10,000. Now without even being scientific to carry out impact assessment, the cost of providing security without, which these schools can’t function, is well in excess of that. And we said look we have to have a realistic taxation. If you have to run a private school for obvious reasons of profit, first and foremost, we say you are obliged to pay tax out of that profit you are making. We also believe that it is not responsible for government to close its eyes and allow education to be privatised by default. Because what has simply happened is that because everybody is taking his child to private schools, some of which are ill–equipped, they don’t have most of the basic facilities that schools should have, the result is that we have all closed our eyes to public schools and today our public schools are in total state of disrepair. We decided that this year we are committing over five billion naira. We have hoped, we will spend about six billion naira, but the Assembly has reduced the vote meant for 18 model schools, but we can live with that for now. While we are pumping about five billion naira into public schools to restore some integrity to public education, we also believe that government has to ask those who are making profit from private ownership schools to part with part of that as taxes to government, so that government can use part of this revenue to strengthen the quality of public education, otherwise, you will find that we wake up one day to find that public schools are gone and only private schools are in place and the common man will have no access. And there is no way the poor can breakout of poverty without access to free and qualitative public education. But we are happy that some of the private school owners are already cooperating. Some have paid, but as you would expect, there are few who are still insisting that they would not pay. Everywhere around the world, not too many people rush to pay their taxes. And Edo State cannot possibly be an exemption.
What is the position of the proposed payment of the annual ground rent in the Government Reservation Areas (GRA) in the State?
We feel that if you can afford to build houses in GRA, that there is no point for government to subsidise such person. If you can afford to build a N100 million or N50 million house even, N200 million, N300 million house in the GRA, it is only fair that you pay something that is enough to cover the cost of processing the title document, like the Certificate Of Occupancy and other necessary documentation, as well as Annual Ground Rent. But we are not extending this policy to high-density areas, where over 80 to 90 per cent of the people live. But this is restricted to low density and to a lesser extent medium density areas. And it affects only those in our judgment that can afford to pay. If you can find a N100 million N200 million to build a house, you can as well afford two or three million naira to ensure that you have proper title to the property and pay Annual Ground Rent from time to time.
You were alleged to have squandered N911million on security vote and another N200 million on the construction of a swimming pool in Government House, while Bendel Insurance Football Club is facing financial crisis as they may not be able to honour the remaining league matches. What is your reaction to these?
This government believes that Edo State must regain its leadership position in sports including Football and Bendel Insurance is our flagship. You will recall one of the very few committee we set up when we came into office was a committee to look at the entire sports sector and see how we can reposition it and they have done that and they did it extremely well because we made sure that the panel members were seasoned sports administrators. We are cleared that we have to revisit how Bendel Insurance is managed, and just two weeks ago, we penciled down some names to constitute a management committee for Bendel Insurance and immediately after the Easter, we will inaugurate the committee so that they can function independently of the ministry and apply rules outside the usual bureaucracy associated with ministry activities. We provided them with a bus recently because before now they had to hire private buses for competitions and we thought that we needed something branded Bendel Insurance. Once we inaugurate the committee, we said, we will now allocate funds quarterly to the committee. We are sure that because they are seasoned administrator and they are not people who will collect sitting allowances; they are people who have passion for sports and in doing that, we have to draw from the man who used his personal resources in the recent past to run Bendel Insurance before the state government introduced politics into the process and he lost control of it, Igbinomwanhia Ekhoesuehi who had devoted his own personal resources. I called him in and some other persons and we reflected on the option and agreed that a management committee be set up. I challenged them to identify people who believe in football and Bendel Insurance and not people who want money from me, people who are ready to travel at their own cost and to hold meetings without demanding sitting allowances, and they came out with some names whom I believe that when we inaugurate the committee will make some difference in the management of Bendel Insurance. These are medium term and in the long term, we have to revisit the way the club is managed, until we return the team to its leadership position. But you know that when a team has gone down the way Bendel Insurance has it is not easy to return back to the premier league. But the players are hard working and determined, and I believe that with logistics and support they have what it takes and this is very dear to the people of the state. We also contemplated changing the name to Edo Insurance but we thought Bendel Insurance has a history and we also think it is important even though Bendel as state does not exist with the creation of Delta State, but we still have a relationship with Delta people. I still see myself as a Bendelite in certain quarters in terms of Nigeria geo-political equation and in certain places, I like to introduce myself a Bendelite because that is something I am proud of and we want to maintain Bendel Insurance so that it reminds us of one common history, and one of the advantages is that when they are playing anywhere, people from Delta State take the team as their own and that is what we are doing about Bendel Insurance.
Now the N200 million swimming pool, this is one aspect of politics that is somehow irritating where people chose to throw mud because all that we invested in the journey to the office is our integrity and our name and that is what we used to fight and defeat godfathers. In the course of the dispute over the budget, we disputed over the budget, we are also transparent and open about what the issues were and nothing personal, and we spoke on those issues but we have a gentleman in the House who felt for reasons best known to him, personalised the issue and decided to throw mud believing wrongly that by lying, he can swing public opinion against the Executive. I think Edo people know better than that, but let me now use the opportunity to shed light on the whole thing.
By the time I assumed office on November 12, last year, the House of Assembly voted and approved N355 million for Professor Osunbor to renovate the governor’s lodge, it is called Presidential Lodge. Happily before the gentleman could start the work and get paid I came in and we look at the figure and said that with N350 million we can build Baghad Villa, and so we terminated the contract and reappraised the project and give it out at the rate that is about 40 per cent of the N355 million and we paid the contractor N130 million drawn from the N355 million the House approved and I said we don’t need that kind of money to renovate a house. The N130 million include the renovation of the entire house including the swimming pool and N130 million as a percentage of N355 million. Tell me what is the fraction and that is about 40 per cent and I saved Edo tax payers about N180 million. If the House of Assembly in which the Honourable member who made the allegation had approved N355 million and I came in and scaled it down to N130 million, I leave the judgment to you and the N130 million inclusive of the swimming pool. Actually the swimming components to my knowledge is about N15 million which he chose to elevate to N200 million and then of course he raised another allegation which you didn’t mention which is that we requested for N600 million to paint the place, and that was completely ridiculous that after we have renovated the house, then we paint. What is renovation if it does not include painting? Again that was just something he manufactured from the blues. The truth of the matter is that Edo government by the time I arrived had no official Guest Houses. The Guest Houses had been sold by previous governments and the result is that when we receive VIPs we have nowhere to house them. The last time former President Obasanjo was in Edo State , he had to stay in a private Guest House owned by an individual. I don’t think you will have too many presidents who will be willing when on official visit to a state to stay in a guest house which is not owned by government, and the last time the Speaker of the House of Representative came visiting, we checked him into the only guest house we have. But they decided that the Speaker couldn’t stay in such place and they decided to stay in a private hotel. So we decided that if President Yar’Adua is to visit us today, he has no place to stay particularly if he has to spend a night and we had allocated N600 million to build a presidential guest house and VIP guest houses and as of today I can’t host Southern governor’s meeting because we have no guest houses to keep them. There are security challenges when you have to keep governors in one man hotels in Edo State because we don’t have corporately owned five star hotels complete with banquet facilities in Edo State, and again this we hope to deal with in the very near future. I think the House ought to celebrate the governor for determining to cut cost, cutting cost to as low as 40 per cent inclusive of the so called swimming pool. When you see the honourable member next time, ask him and I invite you to look at the appropriation Act 2008 including the supplementary appropriation and see how much was provided for the renovation of that house, you will find it was N355m and I am very proud to say that we refused to spend that money and we have cut it down to N130 million.  Now the issue of N911 million is again a clear mischief. Yes, by the time I assumed office, the state House of Assembly had appropriated on the first budget about N3.5billion for security, and in the supplementary budget which Professor Osunbor signed a day before departure, there was additional appropriation of two billion naria, bringing the total to N5.5billion. By time I assumed office in November, Professor Osunbor had spent N4.4 billion out of the N5.5 billion, leaving a balance of N1.1 billion. Now as a governor, there are certain things I may not wish to say in the interest of peace, but I insisted that I will not spend the N1.1 billion even though I could equally have spent if because the House of Assembly in its wisdom had appropriated it to be spent. In the month of October which was the last month of Osunbor in office, he spent one billion naira for security vote, and I don’t think the House raised one query. I don’t think there was a voice comment that Osunbor spent so much and we have brought these facts to the attention of the House. I argued that I will not spend part of it and what they were looking at was the balance which they have assumed or probably someone thought I should have spent and I have a responsibility and I am conscious of the fact that the only thing or power we deploy to defeat the godfathers was the power of integrity and that is our greatest weapon and we will preserve it. What Omoigberai sought to do was to throw mud, and as a governor I cannot go to his level. In any case, if you see a mad man in the river according to our people, and ordinarily you want to bath and you undress to join him, the person passing by may not know the difference and he may just say these are two mad men. That is how I can describe Omoigberai’s reaction but I have drawn the attention of the speaker because he used the name of the speaker and the speaker said that he never asked him to say so and that he never gave him any written speech. That whatever he said was his own. In the interest of peace between the Executive and the House, I had requested them to retract that statement. I had a meeting with the entire members of the House, and in the meeting, they had offered that Omoigberai will retract that statement because there is no part of it that is true. Omoigberai had told me he will do so within 72 hours, but as at yesterday, he hadn’t done so which I have also informed the House leadership about it. Now that he hasn’t done so, I have taken it that he does not want to do so and therefore I will now fight within the law. I have instructed my lawyers to write formerly and to sue him because he came from the tradition of people who place zero weight on integrity, and you know even as a candidate, Professor Osunbor had accused me of killing his commissioner for Information and it took a threat of law suit of him to retract it. And now because it is difficult to fight a member of the House without being seen to antagonise the House, that is why I took the pain waiting and asking them to retract. But when I saw PDP Ekiti State faced with a drowning governor who had been found guilty of clinging on that statement and who had been properly removed from office and is apparently still determine to rigg back to office, I saw them clinging on that statement to make advertorial and I just smile. We will go to Ekiti and tell Ekiti people the whole truth, but that is matter for another day but all I want to assure you is that I have informed the House yesterday that I regret I can’t wait any longer and have to go to court. I can’t fight him physically and that is not a civilised thing to do, but we will take him to what it has to do because our greatest asset and indeed the only asset is our name and they know it. That is why he wants to throw mud at it, but I am happy that the people of Edo State are no fools. I have lived in my house, my rented apartment since I assumed office on November 11, and I am still in my personal house and I know that as a matter of fact I am entitled to a hotel allowance because I have no residence in Benin and the rent I paid personally before I assumed office. I am very proud to say that I have resisted the temptation of asking Edo State government to pay me in lieu of accommodation which I could have legally collected under government fund because Edo people gave me everything, and to them I will offer my all and the Omoigberais of this world can’t change the facts of history, namely, I have what he doesn’t have; integrity and I will defend it.