A former Governor of Edo State, Chief Lucky
Igbinedion, in this interview with ALEXANDER
OKERE, speaks about the corruption
allegations against his eight-year
administration and the forthcoming
governorship election in the state
Why have you been silent on the political
developments in Edo State?
I always wonder why people would be reading
meanings to my silence. I think I am a very
dignified person in the sense that I have served the
state as a local government chairman. I have served
as a two-term governor. I really have nothing to
prove and our own candidate is mature enough. He
does not need to be babysitted; he does not need a
feeding bottle. So, as far as I am concerned, our
party is well-grounded. Our party chairman is very
versatile, he is capable and he has been doing very
well. He has my full backing. He has my
endorsement and I give them my tacit support and
cooperation at all times.
How would you react to the criticism that
your administration was very corrupt?
They said that the PDP stole money. There is
nowhere in any of the charges where they said that
Lucky Igbinedion embezzled money. There is nowhere
in the charges where they said that Lucky
Igbinedion mismanaged so many resources. But a lot
of people just talk because of lack of knowledge or
maybe their illiteracy is worrying them.
We did not have the money to be corrupt with. We
were receiving one of the lowest incomes in the state.
For the first four years, all we were doing were just
paying pensions and wages. If you look back at the
records, there was nothing to be corrupt about
because there was no money to be corrupt with. So, I
can say categorically that my administration was not
corrupt.
So, why did you opt for plea bargaining
instead of pursuing your corruption case at
the court?
Well, it depends on what you mean by opting for a
plea bargain. You do not know whether it was the
EFCC and I who initiated the plea bargain. I just
felt that I should move on with my life, first and
foremost. I have done my thing. What has happened
has happened but I can tell you that I never stole
Edo State money. I never mismanaged Edo State
money. I was never charged locally or internationally
for embezzlement of fund. So, as far as I am
concerned, the people are talking rubbish.
What is your assessment of the level of
preparedness of the Independent National
Electoral Commission to conduct the
governorship poll?
Well, we have been hearing all sorts of rumours and
information about their level of preparedness. We
just have to take them for their word that they are
fully ready, just as they were before the initial date
of September 10. So, I do not have any reason not
to believe them that they are fully ready for the
September 28 election.
How did you feel when your party’s
candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu left
your government and campaigned for
Oshiomhole?
Like I said, he is a matured politician. Everybody
has the right to do what they have to do and you
know that our polity is not really based on ideology
as of today; that is the truth. People jump from one
party to the other for different reasons. Maybe they
have been pressurised out of the system. You have to
know why they did what they did. You cannot just
use a blanket judgment to say that what they did
was right.
Do you think he could be trusted with a
public office having allegedly betrayed you?
Pastor Ize-Iyamu has never betrayed me. He has
always kept me in the know on all his political
moves.
Ize-Iyamu was said to have enriched himself
while in your government. Is this true?
I am not aware he enriched himself with public
money while I was in office. There was paucity of
funds during my tenure, so it was not possible for
anybody, including Ize-Iyamu or myself to enrich
ourselves.
You did not respond to series of criticisms
against your administration by Governor
Adams Oshiomhole. Why?
Well, I do not have the same background with the
incumbent governor. We come from different
backgrounds and we have our ways of approaching
various issues. I do not believe in calling people
names. I have never criticised his government; that
is not my style. I believe that I have given him
enough rope to do his own thing. It is now time for
the people of Edo State to really look inward and
search their souls to see under whose administration
they have lived a more comfortable life, a more
secure life, and a more people-oriented life. So, I
will leave the people to make that judgment.
He believes in ‘listening to himself’. I believe in
‘watching and listening to other people’ rather than
making unnecessary and vile, rude statements about
other people. I was not brought up in that way. I
was brought up under a very strict, disciplined
family. Both my father and mother brought me up
well; they did not teach me to start abusing my
elders or even abusing people of equal status.
The seat of the governor is highly important that you
must watch what you say because people are
listening. People associate your words with that seat
of authority. So, when you talk, you have to be very
diplomatic. You have to be dignified in your words
and carriage. It is not a position or seat where you
talk just because you feel like talking. Like they
always say, if you have nothing better to say,
maintain the silence.
He replies to everything. As a governor, you do not
reply to every comment that is made. Otherwise, you
will just over-talk, which is what everybody now
knows him (Oshiomhole) for. He overreacts,
exaggerates the truth and blows his trumpet. He
should let the people decide. Let the people create
that opinion; he is trying to force it down their
throat and the people say, enough is enough.
I once asked him to look back at his inaugural
photographs and find out how many people are still
with him. If he found out that most of them are
still there, then he is doing well. If he could not
find those people that were there on the first day of
his inauguration in 2008, then there is a problem.
So, do you think that he has failed?
Definitely. His loyalists left when they started
discovering his characteristics and his mannerism.
What comes out of your mouth goes a long way. It
is like an egg; once it comes out of your mouth, you
cannot put it back together. You can think that you
can go back and apologise behind, just like him
telling a woman to go and die. How can you tell a
widow that is struggling and wanting to make ends
meet to go and die? The worst part is that the
people he is now abusing are the people he knelt
down for before his election and started praising
them. But today, he is abusing all of them. So,
where is his judgmental capacity? When you talk too
much, you talk nonsense.
But the governor accused your
administration of massively laying off
workers and grounding the state civil
service.
When you get to the retirement age, you retire.
When we came on board, we discovered that our
wage bill was high and, for one reason or the other,
we had to do some restructuring. We employed many
teachers. It is like in the private sector when
companies retire people and employ new hands. The
Federal Government retires and employs, so it is a
continuous exercise. But we did not owe anybody. The
backlog of salaries that were up to 18 months was
paid up to date.
Today, the state owes over $200m and I do not
know how many billions of naira inclusive. But when
I left in 2007, I was not owing any bank, not even
overdrafts, not salary arrears, not pension arrears,
even though they are lying left and right now. It is
a well-known fact and well-documented. I believe
in the development of human capital and I believe
that I did that very satisfactorily.
What is your reaction to the ranking of Edo
as the state with the third highest debt?
It is not normal. It is very unusual. It is very bad
for our people. I feel sorry for the next PDP
government coming in on September 28 because it is
going to meet an empty treasury, a big hole in our
finances. So, I just pray that by God’s grace, he
(incoming governor) has the wisdom and the
wherewithal to create some ingenuity. The state of
indebtedness they have put us is frightening.
What are your regrets after leaving office?
I have no regrets whatsoever. I did my best. I
believe my best benefited the people of Edo State. So,
I have no regrets at all.
There has been a speculation that you are
gradually withdrawing from the PDP. Are
you still an active member of the party?
I have never left the PDP; that is one thing for
sure. I have remained a staunch member of the
PDP since inception. We are the founders and I
have never denied being a PDP member and I
remain so. It is true that I have not been active the
way some people expect me to be. I believe that after
serving the state at the highest level, it is better to
take the back seat. I am not a political jobber. I
have other jobs to do. I have businesses to run. I
have my family life to live.
I believe (that) once you have served the public,
there must be a time when you should now take the
back seat and let the new hands come on board,
rather than trying to pamper them as if they are not
mature. These people (candidates) at the stage now
are mature. When I was the governor, I was not
even 50. I was just 42.
So, the person running on the platform of the PDP
is over 50 years already. He is not a small guy. He
is not a baby, so he does not need me to carry him
on my back. He does not need me to start talking. He
is matured. He knows the state very well, so you do
not need to entertain any fear.
What role are you playing in the current bid
by the Edo people to elect a new governor?
I am playing my role as a PDP helmsman and as a
two-term governor of the state. They say experience
counts. So from time to time, I do meet and discuss
with the party chairman and other members of the
party that come to seek my advice. So, just because
I am not in the public glare does not mean that I
am not in full support of our party or that I am not
making the statutory contributions or obligations that
are expected of me.
I just decided not to be in active politics because,
like I said earlier on, I am not a political jobber. I
believe there should be a time to move on in some of
these aspects of life.
