Edo 2020: APC needs united house to defeat PDP

Stanley Osifo is a former PDP presidential hopeful and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State. In this interview with Daniel Adeleye, the business man turned politician sues for peace in the state chapter of the ruling party. Excerpts;

The crisis within your party in Edo state is getting messier. What is your take on the allegations and counter allegations?

Sincerely, every sane politician should be worried. Everybody is worried and I am worried as well and sad about what’s going on. I had a meeting with people in the state, talking about how things can be resolved and I discovered that a lot of people are not happy on both sides. If you talk to the people on the side of the governor, they will express displeasure over what’s happening, likewise those in the other side. What I strongly believe is that there should be a peace, understanding and reconciliation ground to come together and unite again. Because I tell you when a house is divided against itself, it cannot really stand. So we need a united house. Whatever the case is, sometimes when things happen and you don’t handle it properly and you allow sentiment to override your sense of judgement or get carried away by the support that come from a particular set of people, then there is bound to be a problem.

What do you think is really responsible for the festering crisis?

When the issue started, it was believed that it would be handled properly. I could recall when there were talks here and there. The governor went to the national chairman’s house in his home town and the national chairman assured that there was no problem, likewise the governor. But later on, we discovered that the opposite was the case. What is going on right now is not supposed to be. It behoves on the leadership of the party to call everyone together and see how we can resolve this issue and talk to ourselves so that the party can be united and strong for 2020 election. It will not be nice for us to be fighting ourselves while the opposition is looking for how to gain ground. That is not good and is not going to be something that we wish for ourselves. The governor is leader of the party in the state and the national chairman, they are both in the same party from the same state, they should come together and call all their supporters to see how reconciliation can take place. Politics is about give and take, is about negotiations, lobbying. It’s not about fighting most time, because fighting can be destructive not just to the fighter alone but to the people and to the party itself. So we need to come together and manage things as far as Edo state is concerned.

President Muhammadu Buhari has signed 2020 appropriation bill into law, to take effect from January and end in December. What do you make of this development?

It is a welcome development. It shows the level of commitment of the current National Assembly to ensure that Nigeria move forward. Before president Buhari came on board in 2015, many Nigerians never knew that there was anything called budget padding. And to a large extent, that development delayed budget passage in the past because Mr. President was not willing to allow any form of budget padding. The past National Assembly did their best though, but they have not been able to achieve what we are seeing right now. So I will say the 9th Assembly has done a very good job by showing commitment to the progress of Nigeria. When they were inaugurated in June they assured Nigerians speedy passage of the budget and pledged their supports for development stride of the current administration. The quick passage of 2020 budget will impact greatly on the nation’s economy. The businesses that depend on government can now sit down before the year ends and make appropriate plan towards the implementation of the budget that will kick start in January.

The Senate recently threw its weight behind the federal government to approve a borrowing plan of over $29 billion and every Nigerian is worried about the issue surrounding the current state of Nigeria debt profile; how would you react to this?

Before that time, I remember some ministers were invited by the Senate to give explanation on why Nigeria should borrow again and what the money is going to be used for. And those ministers went to the upper chamber and explained to the senators on why the loan should be taken. In fact they listed some of the projects that are already going and the connection that are going to take place in between the projects that already going. The problem I think many Nigerians have is that they are not really aware of what the government is doing and that’s where I want to mention that the National Orientation Agency (NOA) is not doing enough. NOA is supposed to be an agency that expounds government policies and achievements to Nigerians and canvass for their supports for government. I will tell you that the current administration i really working. Other loans that were taken by government in the past had gone for the projects they were meant for. So the $29 billion that the government is requesting for has been there during the 8th Senate, it was part of medium-term financial plan that was sent to the 8th Senate but was rejected because they were a bit political about the whole thing.

On the issue of increasing Nigeria debt profile, I think the government is also looking at other areas for generating funds. If you look at the financial policy of the government, you’ll see what is outlined in form of what I will describe a kind of Progressive Taxation System that increase VAT to 7.5 percent and all that. Government has looked at what is going on and where they can tap into to get revenue. So if that bill in the house of representatives is passed into law it will also help the government in getting revenue to support itself and also to repay most of the loan that is being borrowed right now.