The former Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of Edo State, Hon. Henry Idahagbon, ESQ spoke extensively on how and why he and two others formed the Edo Peoples Movement (EPM) and the plan to oust Mr. Godwin Obaseki from the Government House in 2020.
Excerpts:
The genesis and objectives of Edo Peoples Movement
Those that are saying that the Edo Peoples Movement (EPM) is in disarray are uninformed and unaware of the goings on in the polity of the state. The EPM was a child of necessity that was given birth to by three of us on the 1st of May, 2019. Of course, there were meetings and consultations preceeding the formal launching. Two of us became conveners – my humble self, Hon. Samson Osagie, the third person is a bigger masquerade than us. I choose to keep his name secret for now. In future, we will let Edo people know. There is a tactical reason for us not wanting to disclose his name for now. We had two major objectives. We realised that the fortunes of the party was dwindling in the state as a result of the poor governance and the poor party politics management by the governor. This culminated in the colossal losses the party suffered in the presidential and National Assembly elections. The situation we have where our governor is perhaps the only governor in the country whose house of representatives member is a member of the opposition party and whose senator is a member of the opposition party. A governor that could not deliver his federal constituency and the senatorial district. One of the reasons that led to that abysmal showing in that election was because of the total alienation of critical stakeholders and party members. The governor imported friends and associates from Delta, Rivers and Lagos States. In my local government he brought a nonentity from Canada and parades him as one of the leaders of the local government and one other very respected gentleman, who though is from our local government, has never played politics with us. He did that across the length and breadth of the state. So all party members folded their arms, stood aloof and kept watching from the sidelines. On the election day, many did not vote and those who even went to did not mobilise others to come and join them to vote. So we lost woefully. Edo Peoples Movement came to rekindle the zeal of party members, to bring the party back to its winning ways during the days of our national chairman as governor when we won the 18 local government areas and almost all the 192 wards in the state. We were to help to revive the party. It was a revivalist movement and we have succeeded in doing that. You can see new enthusiasm. People that were not been invited for meetings we gave them an opportunity because politicians don’t want to sit idle. They always want to meet, they want to know what is the latest. What the trends are. We gave them that opportunity to meet in the 192 wards and 18 local government areas of the state. We have our structures intact. The second reason we formed Edo Peoples Movement was to shop for a suitable alternative to Godwin Obaseki.
How we exposed Obaseki
You will agree with me that Edo Peoples Movement has been the issue in Edo politics from May 2019 till now. We have been able to showcase the real Obaseki to the people. Before Edo Peoples Movement, people thought he was a nice guy, cool, calm and quiet but people now know that he is vicious, authoritarian and draconian. He sees himself not as a governor elected by the people but as an emperor before whom everybody must kowtow and genuflect. We have been able to expose the real Obaseki. We drew him out of his shell. We knew what to do to provoke him and we provoked him. We sold him a bait and he took the bait, hook, line and sinker. So the whole world, especially Edo people, now know him that he is not a cool and gentle guy at all. That his mind is as dark as his skin pigmentation if not darker.
The transformation of Edo Peoples Movement
What people do not know is that on the 13th of November, a day after he celebrated his three years of non-performance in the state, we (EPM) convoked a major political rally at the residence of General Charles Airhiavbere on Boundary Road, Benin City, where a very detailed speech was read to members of the press by our member, Hon. Patrick Ikhariale. In that speech we stated clearly that we killed the vehicle we created on the 1st of May, 2019, which is the Edo Peoples Movement and that we are going to do the burial ceremony on that day. Edo Peoples Movement lifespan was very short but very eventful and impactful. Edo Peoples Movement lived from the 1st of May to the 13th of November 2019. On that day we transformed from the Edo Peoples Movement to authentic All Progressives Congress under the chairmanship of Col. David Imuse and the secretaryship of Lawrence Okah. We are now the authentic APC. The suspended chairman and soon to be expelled Anselm Ojezua is the fake APC. Himself and the governor can hold their meetings while we hold our own. We have been recognised by the national executives of the party. Let me use this opportunity to inform the Edo political class and members of the public once more that there is no longer Edo Peoples Movement. It has been rested. It was a special purpose vehicle set up to attain two objectives. One of them has been achieved while the second one is almost 90 percent achieved and we have laid Edo Peoples Movement to rest. We have transformed into the authentic All Progressives Congress.
Role EPM played in the return of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu to the APC
The defunct Edo Peoples Movement is at the forefront of receiving Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu come 13th of December. We will be there. We participated in wooing him back to the party. Pastor Ize-Iyamu is not decamping. He is a foundation member of the APC (ACN then). He was the first national vice chairman of the party. So, it is homecoming for him. We are happy to receive him. We believe and know that he is coming to add value to the party and to the struggle.
Why we want Obaseki out of Edo State Government House
The struggle now is to wrest power from somebody who denigrates the political class. All the political class in Edo State, no matter which party they belong to, must come together to ensure that come November 12, 2020, we have a new governor in Osadebey Avenue and not Obaseki. That’s why our slogan is “anybody, but Obaseki, help remove Obaseki (HERO).” If we don’t have any Edo man that can replace Obaseki, we are prepared to go to other states to borrow provided that by November 12, 2020, Obaseki will no longer be the governor.
Obaseki was collecting N30m monthly from Oshiomhole
I have asked him several times if he says the cause of the problem is that he is not sharing money, let him first tell Edo people during the eight years that he served as Special Adviser to Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and head of the Economic Team how much was shared to him? He was in that government for eight years. He told Edo people that he was doing the job pro bono – no salary. The fact is he was collecting N30million monthly as imprest. Infact, till today he doesn’t want to see Dr. Larry Aghedo, who was Commissioner for Budget and Planning because one particular year, he(Aghedo) was directed by then Governor Adams Oshiomhole to reduce the recurrent expenditure and Obaseki’s imprest was reduced from N30million to N24million. Godwin Obaseki was angry with Dr. Aghedo for daring to reduce his imprest. On the average for the eight years that he was in government he collected between N24million and N30million every month. Yet he told Edo people he was not on salary. How much was a commissioner’s salary? Less than N1million.
Nobody is asking Obaseki to share money
Nobody is asking him to share his spoils of office. Governors don’t share money. I am not aware. I have worked with at least three governors. Yes, it is true when party leaders travel from different parts of the state to see the governor in government house for meetings or visits, they may be given between N200,000 and N1million depending on their political status. We, the politicians, people come to our houses and offices every day. We give them money. I am going to transfer money now to one of my supporters who needs money to pay school fees for his child who has not resumed school since its resumption. So, Obaseki’s allegation was just a smokescreen. It was a device by Obaseki to demonize the political class. If we didn’t ask Obaseki for money when he was contesting (that is when politicians ask for money). Let him tell Edo people if I, Henry Idahagbon, collected N1,000 from him when he was contesting. Instead we spent our money because we knew he didn’t have the money. He sent us on several occasions to go and represent him at several fora. You don’t use ordinary mouth to say you have come to represent the governorship candidate, you back it up with money. It is one of the ways he demonise the political class before the public and that’s why the political class irrespective of party ideology or philosophy must come together to send him back to Afrinvest in Lagos. Whatever loot he has been able to make from our state let him go away with it. We want to bring a governor with a human face. A governor that is capable of sympathising and empathising with his people.
Obaseki is not a happy man
This guy is not a happy guy. Look at him from his face, head to toe. He is not happy with himself and everybody knows why. He cannot be happy with others. A man who is not happy how do you expect him to make his people happy? Obaseki is only happy in the presence of thugs when they wine and dine and do all those other things that they do of which Iran Omigo has informed the public now. He is not a happy man. We are happy people. We are jolly good fellows. We like not only to be happy, we like to make people around us to be happy. Obaseki is not. Let him go back to his solitary, sedentary lifestyle in Lagos with TJ (Tijjani Nwadei) and all his other boys and let them enjoy their loot. Within the first week of his becoming governor, women leaders across the 18 local government areas visited him. At the end of the visit he put hands in his pocket and brought out N50,000 bundle. He counted N18,000 and gave it to them. N1,000 per woman leader. Tell me how somebody who came from Akoko Edo Local Government Area would use N1,000 for to and fro transport. The first time Edo State NUJ visited him when they were done with him did he give them ‘kola’? Normally, when people like that visit the governor he gives them money for entertainment because you can’t entertain within the confines of governor’s office. You give them money for lunch. In any case, that’s why he collects N500million as security votes monthly. It’s on such sundry things that they are spent on apart from the core issue of security. But we know that this guy is tight fisted. Nobody expected any money from him. All we expected from him is to manage the party well by granting the leaders and members access to government and governance, we hold meetings periodically, we’re able to express our opinions, we applaud him where he is doing well, where he is not doing well we draw his attention to it. If I was seeing him from time to time I will be bothering him about Evbotubu Road. But I have not been able to see him for the past three years. The road which he promised during his campaign that he would construct to link Ugbowo and called it Western Bye Pass is still there. It remains the worst road in the whole of the state. The people of the axis have been completely cut off from the rest part of the state. You don’t see him to talk to him. He is always high. Once he leaves his house in the morning he is high. When he is looking at you he doesn’t even see a human being in his presence. He is seeing an animal that should be kicked and tossed around or that should be killed by his thugs. A lot of blood is already on his hands. The blood of Edo people. So, we wish him well.
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