The Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada, has said he would not be intimidated by the emergence of one of his predecessors, Abubakar Audu, as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the November 21 election.
The governor stated this during an interactive session with journalists at the Government House, Lokoja.
Mr. Abubakar, who governed the state between 1991 and 1992 and from 1999 to 2003, recently won the primary election of the opposition APC. He is often credited with the development of the 24-year-old state during his tenure.
The APC won in the three senatorial districts of the state in the March 28 National Assembly election.
But Mr. Wada, who is also bidding for a second term in office on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, though yet to pick the party’s ticket, said like he did in 2011, he would defeat Mr. Audu in the coming gubernatorial contest.
“I am not going into the election as an individual. If by the grace of God, I emerge as a candidate of PDP, I am going as representative of the political party, which is the government in power in our state,” he said.
“In 2011, we ran against Audu. He was in Action Congress of Nigeria then. He is a human being who also comes under the platform of a political party. So I’m not intimidated at all.
“It will be a competition between parties, not individuals. Individual attributes will play a role but then it is up to the voter to decide whether they want to support someone with a gentle mien or someone with a rough mien. It is a democratic choice that people will try to make.”
“We have different types of governance that people may tend to approach and I don’t tolerate violence.”
Stating that he had performed well, Mr. Wada said since assumption of office, he had worked with sincerity and without propaganda because he did not want to deceive the people of the state.
He said by the time the campaign for the coming election commenced, the people would have a clear choice to make between him and Mr. Audu.
“Yes, it is true that the APC won the presidential election but we won the state assembly election,” he stressed. These elections are different. It depends on what platform you are running – is it presidential, gubernatorial state or national assembly?
“And all of this will impact on the state differently. I believe that for this election, based on our record, what we have done and what we have in mind for the people, by the grace of God, PDP will achieve victory.”
On the claim that he had performed poorly since assuming office about four years ago, Mr. Wada said it was natural for the opposition to make such claim.
“The issue of saying I have done nothing is natural, coming from the opposition,” he said.
“The sitting government has a lot of issues to deal with; the opposition has nothing to show. They are not in government. So all they have is what plans they have.”
The governor said contrary to the claim, his administration had done well. He cited instances of road construction, agricultural, housing and water projects across the state.
He said, “In reality, we have done things and I can tell you here in Lokoja, we are ending a 16 kilometres dual carriage road, which is going to open up a new development area for this capital.
“It hasn’t happened in the 24 years of our existence. Lokoja is a historic town. It has a culture of people who have sentimental attachment to their father’s property. So, we can’t just go and knock them out and start building modern buildings.
“We have to tolerate the culture and the society so we decided consciously, let us open up a new area and develop it consciously as a modern city. That is a major decision of a government to do that.
“We are building 500 housing units at Lokoja. Two of them are at the roofing stage. We hope to complete them in two or three months or four.
“We are doing that in three sites. We just built the most modern vocational centre in conjunction with Korea Development Centre to train young people on IT, welding, mechanical and automobile engineering. The diagnostic equipment for modern vehicles that you have now, we just commissioned it about a month and a half ago.
“We have water projects all over; we have done over 300 hundred bore holes in towns and villages. The electricity, we have brought to many parts of the states. We have brought water to all the major towns of the state. Some of them were done 20 years ago but we are doing a total rehabilitation and refurbishing.”
Mr. Wada said his administration had built five zonal hospitals and currently building a university teaching hospital and a tertiary institution.
He also said six months ago his government began to erect an 11-storey building in Abuja to be known as Kogi House while also converting the state liaison office in Lagos to a more modern and useful property that would generate income for the state.
“I believe that following our record, we have done a lot; but don’t expect the opposition to praise us. If they praise us, they have no business coming into power,” he said.
On the current demand for power rotation among the three senatorial zones in the state, Mr. Wada, who is Igala in the eastern senatorial district, said he was not opposed to the demand but that it required the engagement of all the political leaders.
“In regards to power shift, I believe in power shift. We call it rotation now, not shift. That is the terminology our people have invented for it,” the governor said.
“I believe the state belongs to all of us and every citizen has the right to lead the state. For me it’s not an issue for which one man can drive. I can show leadership by expressing my view, and making all endeavours towards actualizing it.
“But it requires continues engagement of our stakeholders, our political leaders. Our youths, women in the three senatorial zones must discuss about it. What are the modalities? Is it clock wise or anti clock wise, who should come first.
“We must also consider the interest of even the minorities. We are all citizens of Kogi state and this issue must be discussed over time. We shouldn’t bring it up only when we are running for governorship. Let’s start now and work towards 2019, for example. That’s my take on that.
“I support it, but let’s start now. Let’s not leave it till when somebody is running for governorship and then you will start using tribal sentiments to report people, because no zone can rule alone. We need the other zones.”
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