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If you had not emerged the governorship candidate, would you have defected from the APC to another party?
I did not join the APC to become the governorship flagbearer. I joined the party for two reasons. The first reason is that I believe in the philosophy of the party. I believe in the leadership of the party in Rivers State as having the capacity to represent Rivers interest. I believe that Rivers State interest would be best served under a better arrangement in the All Progressives Congress. So, it is only incidental that being a member of the APC, one person must be chosen as the flagbearer and the lot fell on me to represent our collective interest on the ticket of the APC in Government House, Port Harcourt.
You talked about your four-point agenda for the prosperity of Rivers State. How do you intend to achieve this when the revenue of the state is dwindling?
We have what we call the Rivers State Financing Strategy. In that document, we captured in numbers what should be our budget in the first year up to the third year and sources of funding. We have looked at diverse sources of funding and we dovetailed to four major sources.
One is the federation allocation account that will come from the centre. This is going down because of dwindling oil price. The second is the fund we access from multinational agencies at rock-bottom interest rates. The third is the fund that will accrue to us in the course of doing public-private partnership.
There are some programmes that would best be funded by public, private sectors working together. There are things governments currently do now; social projects, capital projects, economically viable projects that can be undertaken by the private sector. We will also look at this and provide the robust framework for private sector participation.
The final thing we are looking at are ways of boosting our internally generated revenue. That stream of income is about the most dependable. But two things must be in place if you must maximise benefits from internally generated revenue: the first is provide conducive regulatory environment and the other is provide a conducive fiscal environment. These will help you to attract more businesses and this means more people paying tax. The second one is that you boost current businesses and block leakages and loopholes in the current tax administration system so that we can maximise the current tax regime without introducing new taxes.
The issue of the monorail project embarked upon by the current administration has always been on the front burner. Do you intend to continue with the project if you are elected the governor of the state?
I will continue with monorail. Let me give it a little background so that you will better appreciate it. If you talk about population in terms of land, Rivers State is one state that is under pressure. In terms of population density, we are about number two in the country after Lagos. Now, if we don’t run the vision, in the next few years in the city of Port Harcourt, people would not be able to move about freely.
So, monorail is a product of vision to provide mass transportation, not just for today, but for tomorrow. The other thing that has inspired the monorail project is tourism. Today, the monorail project is contentious; similar monorail projects in the world are also contentious.
When monorail was initiated in Seattle in Washington, it was a contentious project. For eight years, between conception and foundation, nothing was done in Seattle in Washington in the United States where people are enlightened. When monorail was initiated in Mumbai in India, it was a contentious project. It took eight years before it took off. Today, everybody appreciates monorail in India. It remains the safest means of mass transportation. So, we will continue with the monorail project.
Monorail is not designed to be completed in four years anywhere in the world. Governor Amaechi has initiated the first phase of the project and has almost completed it. We will continue with the second phase and we hope that those who will take over from us will continue with the third phase of the monorail project until we have an efficient mass transportation system in Nigeria and particularly the city of Port Harcourt.
As a member of the House of Representatives, what experience have you gained in the National Assembly that you may want to bring to bear if you become the governor of the state?
I am sure you know that I am perhaps the only person who is in the race that has served in the two arms of government that are electable. I have served both in the executive arm and the legislative arm of government. I am perhaps the only person in the race who has served at three different levels of government; at the local government level, at the state level and at the national level. If experience means holding government positions, I can say yes. I am coming with a lot of experience.
But one thing that no one can deny me is that I am coming with integrity; I am coming with a vision that is unmatched, I am coming with character. I am coming from being part of a team that conceived the shared vision of the Rivers State of possibilities, which Governor Amaechi started its implementation in 2007. This is why I have said we will continue to run with that vision because I am part of that vision. I know the challenges we face trying to implement the vision and I know the next level we are planning to accomplish.
At a time, you were the Works Commissioner in the state. The opposition party said you did not manage the ‘Operation Zero Pothole’ programme established few years ago in Rivers State well, how do you react to this?
Operation Zero Pothole was an intervention programme I initiated and got the approval of the state executive council as the then Commissioner for Works. In the two years that we executed Operation Zero Pothole, I challenge anybody; there was no single pothole in the greater Port Harcourt City or the Central Port Harcourt Business District. I received commendations from all well-meaning Rivers people. Now that I want to run election, somebody is talking. I left Ministry of Works and few people are saying Operation Zero Pothole did not work.
The programme then was supposed to be some palliative measure before those roads are reconstructed. In any case, of all the roads we fixed, the areas we fixed, not one failed till today. Some of the roads were constructed 20 or 30 years ago, some were constructed during the colonial period. Rivers people can still recall the passion with which we pursued the Operation Zero Pothole project.
For me, that is one high point upon which I am riding to the office of the Governor of Rivers State. People know that I am associated with efficiency and effectiveness and that whenever I am given the opportunity, I approach it with seriousness; I approach it with single-mindedness and with a passion to serve the people of Rivers State.
How do you react to claims in some quarters that you were once a member of a cult group?
I challenge anybody born of a woman; anybody on earth to show proof. I have never in my lifetime joined any cult group; not as a student, not after graduation and I have absolutely no need to. I am a born-again Christian and everybody knows that I fear God and I don’t profess God for nothing.
I have a track record of the fear of God and integrity. I believe that mischief is becoming a characteristic of Rivers politics but I am confident that Rivers people will be able to separate mischief makers from those who are saying things that are factual. This allegation is strange, but I know that nobody who knows me will take it seriously.
Rivers people are discerning; they know those in the race who are Ogboni and those who are true Christians. The people know our antecedents and I am sure, I am very hopeful, very optimistic that given the opportunity anytime, any day, Rivers people will make a choice that best represents their interest and who they are.
You were in Okrika when violence broke out and suddenly you disappeared, we did not see you. How were you able to leave the scene?
I was in Okrika as you said and what happened in Okrika is unfortunate. Worst still, the trend has not stopped. After the Okrika incident, several of our rallies have been attacked. Recently in Port Harcourt, we had a ward rally and after the rally, at about 2.20pm, I got information that our members were attacked and six of them were wounded while several cars were destroyed. This happened on Saturday, the 28th of February. It is most unfortunate.
The orgy of political violence in Rivers State is becoming unbearable. It is not a trend that will do anybody any good. We must all rise up and stop this political violence. I was at the National School Field in Okrika and we started hearing sporadic gunshots. We were very calm and trying to identify where the gunshots were coming from. We noticed that the gunshots were coming from the Okrika Cemetery. The security men attached to me insisted that I must move. They had to literally whisk me away and put me in a vehicle and took me away out of Okrika and after some time, I reconnected with members of Greater Together Campaign Organisation. We later addressed a press conference, drawing the world’s attention to the incident in Okrika.
But the PDP in the state later came out with a statement, blaming the attack on APC members in Okrika on the division in your party?
The implication is that PDP knows what happened in Okrika. They had prior knowledge of what happened in Okrika. I expect that the police will invite them (PDP) to provide further information on what happened in Okrika.
But nothing can be farther from the truth than the claim that it is a faction of the APC led by the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sampson Parker and another faction led by David Alagbere. There is absolutely no APC faction in Okrika. Alagbere is the leader of the APC in Okrika; there is no dispute about that and Dr. Parker will tell you that. We don’t have dispute in Okrika among our people.
What the PDP sought to do was to misinform the people for a selfish reason. If they know that they are not culpable, they should not bother themselves. But today, the whole world knows that the PDP has some explanations to give on the incident in Okrika and I expect the security agencies to do what is right. Two things; God is watching all of us and the people of Rivers State are watching and history will record all of us.
Are you not afraid that the charged situation in Rivers State could mar the forthcoming election?
If the current situation is not brought under control, there is the likelihood, the tendency to affect elections in Rivers State. But like the incurable optimist that I am, I believe that the security agencies would rise up to the occasion; I believe that the authorities will rise up to the occasion and bring the stage of stress and strain under control. If we can’t achieve a peaceful atmosphere, there is no need conducting an election here and exposing our people to risk.
No man’s ambition, like our President would say, whether he means it or not, is a different matter, is worth the blood of anybody or the life of anybody. We cannot continue with shedding of blood, with this unnecessary wastage of lives. It is unacceptable to any well-meaning political leader. It constitutes danger and if we don’t stem the violence, it would outlive the election.
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