Dr. Adinoyi Ojo Onukaba is a former Special Adviser to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and was a Peoples Democratic Party governorship aspirant in Kogi State in the 2011 election. In an interview with Shola Oyeyipo, he contends that the defection of some key PDP members to the All Progressives Congress is a big blow to the ruling party and Governor Idris Wada. Excerpts:
How do you see the defection of some of PDP leaders in Kogi to the APC?
I think it is unfortunate that the party lost so many key leaders to the APC. Clarence Olafemi, Isaac Onu, Benjamin Ikani, Abdul Bello, Michael Ozovehe, John Odawun, and others were very influential members of our party, the PDP. The fact that they defected with thousands of their supporters shows that all is not well with the PDP in Kogi State. The national leadership of our party ought to be concerned about it. They must end this conspiracy of silence and intervene decisively to save the party.
The people of Kogi State are disenchanted and disillusioned with the Governor Idris Wada administration. They are not happy about the low standard of governance in the state. The defection is a vote of no confidence on the government. Nothing is happening in the state. Salaries are not being paid as and when due. The public education system has almost collapsed. Kogi State roads are the worst in the country. Even the road leading to Government House in Lokoja is full of potholes.
The state capital, Lokoja, is getting dirtier by the day. It looks like a glorified village. Yet, state resources are being looted or misappropriated. The governor leaves in Abuja and visits Lokoja once or twice a week. He and his wife are often the first to show up at IBB Golf Course in Abuja in the morning. There is no one in charge of Kogi. It is obvious that Wada was not prepared for the office. He is totally clueless. This is why the national leadership of our party must intervene and ensure that Wada does not return to office at the end of his current four-year tenure in January 2016.
Some of us will be happier if he leaves much earlier. He is killing the PDP by his lack of leadership and poor performance. When those of us in Kogi Elders Forum sent open letters to the president and the National Chairman of the party two years ago about the situation in the state and the need to halt the party’s hemorrhaging, nothing was done about it. Our predictions have come to pass. The PDP is in its death throes in Kogi. If there is an election now and the PDP fields Wada, our party will lose woefully to the APC even if the APC fields a goat. It is that bad. Ask anyone on the streets of Lokoja, Kabba and Idah. This government is very unpopular.
What do you think is the way out?
Make sure Wada does not return in 2016. The party should pick a dynamic, competent and visionary person to lead it to victory. The national leadership of the PDP made a mistake in 2011 by allowing former governor Ibrahim Idris to impose on the party someone who was not a card carrying member of our party. Ibrahim Idris ruined and vandalised the state for nine years and when it was time to go, he brought his brother-in-law to come and complete the wrecking of the state and end the reign of the PDP.
Sometimes, the situation in Kogi makes me cry. How can a state that is so endowed be so unlucky with leadership? From Abubakar Audu through Ibrahim Idris to Idris Wada, it is a sad tale of mediocrity and ineptitude in public office. Kogi is clearly today the least developed state in the country.
Why don’t you join the APC then?
I am still in the PDP and will remain in the PDP. Kogi Central senatorial zone where I come from is still a PDP enclave. In fact, it is the safest PDP cluster in the state right now. All politics is local. And since my people are still solidly PDP right now, I will remain in the PDP. I hope to work closely with other party leaders to rescue our beleaguered party and state. The Kogi State APC is itself a troubled party. Former governor Abubakar Audu is suffocating it.
He is not allowing the party to grow because of his overbearing nature. His posters are out. His billboards showing people that are crying for his return as governor are all over the state. It is all part of the careful orchestration of a possible Audu return to office. But Audu’s time has passed.
The state must not look backward. Kogi State has to move forward. The sooner Audu realises the better. The Audu factor in APC presents the PDP with an opportunity. As they say, in every crisis there is an opportunity. If Wada is out of the way, the PDP can reorganise itself and present a credible and competent person for governor. Such a person will beat an Audu-weakened APC overwhelmingly. So the PDP still has a chance to redeem itself in the state provided it rids itself of the unpopular Wada.
And where do you come in?
I presented myself for governor in 2011 and I had to withdraw from the race in protest when I saw that there was no level playing field. When the time comes again I will present myself to the people of the state. I know that I have what it takes to turn the state around and make it a state that we can all be proud of.
God we need Mercy over our state