Chairman of Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Anselm Ojezua, in this interview with JETHRO IBILEKE says Ikimi was unwise to have jumped ship As the newly elected Edo State Chairman of APC, what strategies have you put in place to take the party to the next level? APC is yet new now, we are just building a strong party but one is confident that we have very experienced and intelligent people of integrity, which will make it easy for us to constitute a very strong party. As it is these past two months or so, we’ve been able to establish all the structures of the party and they are now all functioning. You can see a lot of activities around the state. Rallies are taking place at different parts of the state at the same time, and we are already in the period when preparations for the general elections are already at play. Already, things are taking place. What we want to achieve is a party that has rules and has the spirit to obey its own rules. We want to be able to establish a process by which whatever candidates we come up with will be candidates that are products of a process of integrity. So we will emphasise on the process rather than the personalities. With the gale of defections hitting Edo APC in recent times, do you think APC still stands the chance of sweeping all elections in the state like it did in the past? [caption id="attachment_10614" align="aligncenter" width="300"] •Anselm Ojezua[/caption] You are the one who calls it a gale?. I admit that we have lost some people, but what we have lost is not sufficient for me to believe that it will affect the fortunes of the party. From my own assessment having gone round the state, I’m satisfied that we have lost not much. As a matter of fact, it seems to me that what others would have seen as a loss for us may be what we will gain in terms of reduction of hostilities and animosity in the process of primaries. We will have less of that. And may I just add that wherever those people are going, they will either meet with hostility or their entry will create hostility within that party. So I wish them luck. Some people are expressing worry that imposition of candidates will tear Edo APC apart in the forthcoming elections. How would you allay their worries? Well, we have developed guidelines, and the guidelines are clear that there will be no opportunity for imposition. Rather, there will be election. And that’s why I told you that what we want to do is to come up with a process that will obey the rules, and it will be transparent in such a manner that everybody concerned, including the onlookers, will agree that the process has integrity. You can see that the Adamawa State governorship primary election of the APC is adjudged to be very transparent and credible. That is a reflection of what you will expect across the country. You see, APC is anchoring its entry on the word ‘Change’. Change in terms of the way in which things are done. One of those fundamental things that have actually been the bane of our society is the inability of political parties to obey their rules with respect to internal democracy. So I believe that this is the first opportunity we are going to have to convince Nigerians that we indeed are introducing change, and I’m happy with the way it went in Adamawa. Before Adamawa, we had primaries in Anambra as well as in Ekiti. So what happened in Adamawa is just a reflection of the kind of culture that we are trying to introduce to Nigeria. What is your party’s position on the recent allotment of polling units by the INEC where the number allotted to the FCT is slightly more that those of the entire South-South? Well, it was not something that was done arbitrarily. I think INEC made it clear at that time that all they wanted to do was to make the process of voting easier and more efficient. Therefore, the creation of new polling units out of old units was going to be based on the number of registered voters in those units. Where you have more than 500 voters, you create another one. It is the population of registered voters that determines the number of units. So it is not a matter of whether you’re South-South or South-East. Once there are more than 500 registered voters, another unit is created, and I think to that extent, INEC has got it very right. I am very happy about it because it means that accreditation will be faster, voting will be faster, counting will be faster, the process will altogether be faster. So, rather than wait till the early hours of the morning, with this kind of process, if we start at 8 o’clock or 8:30, I don’t see why we cannot declare results by 6 p.m. Are you not worried by the crisis rocking Edo State House of Assembly The state House of Assembly is not embroiled in crisis. We have a House of 24. Fifteen members are meeting and doing their legislative work. The constitution requires eight to form a quorum. What is the crisis in this? If the House, in accordance with its own Rules, moves to discipline its own members and those members become intransigent, does that amount to a crisis? Because they are being backed by a party that considers itself above the law, including court orders, including the constitution, that is not crisis. That is an attempted coup, which has failed. But the two factions are running parallel plenaries... You are the one who said so. We know only one Speaker of the House of Assembly, and that is Rt. Hon. Uyigue Igbe. The other man who parades himself as an Acting Speaker, you know the circumstances under which a person can act in any capacity, including that of the Speaker. Can there be an Acting Speaker when a Speaker is on his seat? So, you are the people promoting them. You’re seen in some quarters as Tom Ikimi’s boy, and that you may one day go the way of Ikimi. So tell us point blank, are you Ikimi’s boy? I am 55 years old. I can no longer be referred to as a boy. Secondly, I’ve been in politics since 1982, which I dare say predates Ikimi’s advent into politics. But I acknowledge him as my political leader. On this issue of where to go, we disagreed. I did not think his decision was wise, and I said so. And I dare say also that it is not right for a man to take a decision in a fit of anger. Usually, it ends up with regret. We were all in PDP together, we left PDP at the same time. The conditions for which we left PDP remain there, they are still valid. Why should we go back? Must we cut off the nose to spite the face? I do not agree. If Chief Tom Ikimi had emerged victorious, I would have expected that Chief Odigie-Oyegun would work with him. And if it happened that Chief Oyegun is more acceptable to the leadership of APC, I expected Chief Ikimi to respect that decision. But he had to take his decisions and he will take responsibility for those decisions. He does not affect me in any way. If you had the privilege of advising Chief Tom Ikimi, what would you tell him? I have advised him, but that is not for the public?. But you know where I stand on this matter.